Wheelhouse Series: The Pearl
Grey Sail Brewing of Rhode Island

Canned 1/22/19

Well, we’ve reached peak beer weirdness with this one. I know they’re not super uncommon, but this is still my first oyster stout. Let’s see if oysters are as weird of an adjunct as mushrooms were in the one from Smuttlabs (gross)

Pours jet black with a finger and a half of khaki colored head that quickly fades to a cap and leaves minimal lacing. Looks very still

The aroma is actually pretty mild, just a lot of roast and dark malts like a standard stout. I pick up roasty coffee, dark chocolate, and caramel. Maybe the tiniest hint of salty seaweed but it doesn’t get in the way

They certainly did not hide the briny flavors of the oyster here, as it pretty much is the only taste in the front end. It’s super salty, but also smooth. Towards the end of the sip, the salinity subsides in favor of drip coffee, chocolate, and heavily rosted malts. Still, in the aftertaste everything else except the oyster seems to fade, leaving an astringent aftertaste

A surprisingly light body for a stout combines with mild carbonation and results in a rather thin drink. It finishes just short of dry

So, this was well executed, I’ll give them that. It struck a pretty decent balance between rost and salt, but I’m sure others do it better. Regardless, I don’t think oysters belong in beer. I’m happy I tried it just to check it out and I’m sure I’ll check out other ones, but this was just something for fun

 

 

 

Canned on 1/22/18

Pours straight black with two fingers of foamy, soapy khaki head; very nice retention, with foam lingering consistently after the full head dissipates, first as a thick cap and then as a foamy collar; heavier amount of thicker, soapy lacing is left in strands around the glass.

Aroma of huge burst of roasty chocolate matched with a healthy dose of salinity as the beer warms, with everything calmed by soft hints of creamy vanilla; the chocolate and salinity ultimately produce a bouquet fluctuating somewhere between toasty cocoa and wet seaweed, and it all somehow works.

Taste brings roasty, slightly chalky cacao nibs accompanied with what resembles sea salt-soaked driftwood; vanilla is again the ever-important background player here, as it evens the dueling but expressive primary notes nicely; hops show a pleasant bittering presence on the finish, as well.

Mouthfeel shows a lighter body than expected, with a vague salinity potentially the cause; carbonation is on the lower end, as well, but it livens things up enough to allow a roasty grit to build through the finish, smoothing with just a hint of char as it comes to a close.

One of the more nicely done oyster stouts I’ve tried (not that there have been many). The salinity is definitely a more combative element here, but the bigger notes of chocolate and lighter notes of vanilla manage to handle and balance everything well. The beer itself feels like a handful, but it all comes together in the end to result in a surprisingly easy drink.