Near And Dear
Brewmaster Jack

Near And DearNear And Dear
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From:
Brewmaster Jack
 
Massachusetts, United States
Style:
American Stout
ABV:
8%
Score:
88
Avg:
3.94 | pDev: 6.85%
Reviews:
10
Ratings:
41
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jul 28, 2019
Added:
Dec 06, 2015
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  7
There is nothing better than a pint of hearty stout on a cold winter night. This beer was tinkered with for over two years before we arrived at a final recipe. The base stout is layered with mountains of cocoa to provide a lucious chocolate flavor. A blend of espresso roasted by Esselon Coffee Roasting in Hadley, Massachusetts is added to enhance the flavors of roasted Carafa malt from Germany. The final product is a full-bodied brew with chocolate and coffee flavors percolating to the brim.
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Ratings by PJCarnell:
Photo of PJCarnell
Rated by PJCarnell from Massachusetts

4.04/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Feb 22, 2018
More User Ratings:
Photo of sulldaddy
Reviewed by sulldaddy from Connecticut

3.98/5  rDev +1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Sampling a cellar temp 12 oz bottle poured into a snifter. No best buy or born date on the label.
The beer pours a dark cola brown color with a creamy dense beige colored head of 1 cm. The foam slowly fades leaving dense lattice after each sip. I also find one large island in the center of my glass. This island remains through the sampling.
Aroma is rich and malty with roasted notes, almost charred actually. I also get some dark chocolate and a bit of coffee. No real hop profile and the 8% is well hidden too.
First sip reveals a silky smooth texture with very mild almost cask like carbonation. The body is medium and this beer drinks very easy. QUite nice physical traits on this brew.
Flavor is malt forward, just as the nose predicts. I get roasted notes with some dark chocolate and a bit of coffee too. There is a little sweet brown sugar in the middle and then the roast comes back on the finish. Again, no hops nor any sort of hints of the ABV. Interesting and straightforward stout with some well hidden booze that keeps this from being sessionable. Glad to have tried this one and would do it again for something well made and tasty.
Jul 28, 2019
 
Rated: 3.74 by Franklin-Yeo from Wisconsin

Aug 26, 2018
 
Rated: 3.98 by bigpoppa67 from Wisconsin

Jul 15, 2018
 
Rated: 3.47 by SpaethJam from New York

Feb 22, 2018
 
Rated: 4.32 by Abstractspirit from Rhode Island

Dec 12, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by zotzot from Vermont

Jul 24, 2017
Photo of Lone_Freighter
Reviewed by Lone_Freighter from Vermont

3.5/5  rDev -11.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
The appearance was a sly film of a little white head that dissipated at a nice pace. Sticky super speckled lace running all around. The aroma blends the roasty coffee beans, subtle clean sweet cocoa beans, sly vanilla bean. Rugged edgy roasty caramel and toffee malts. Light toast. The flavor starts sweet with a crisp roastiness to it blending the caramel to coffee to cocoa and vanilla bean. All melding nicely right on into the aftertaste and finish. On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with fair sessionable-esque sort of feel as much as any stout could actually give. Carbonation feels good for what it is and fairly low. Overall, pretty good as an American stout, could possibly come back to.
Jun 21, 2017
Photo of fscottkey
Reviewed by fscottkey from New York

3.76/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
A: [4.00] The bottle lists the ABV (8.0%). No date info is listed. Perfect stout pour. Rich black liquid with 1-1/2 fingers of dense khaki head. The head has some grab and leaves arcs of lacing on the glass.

S: [4.25] Coffee, nuts, charred hard wood, toasted marshmallows. All in nice harmony.

T: [3.50] Similar to the nose but leading with the chared hard wood. After that getting coffee and toasted marshmallows. There is also something a little bitter in the back end that detracts from the taste and the feel.

M: [3.50] The feel is a little prickly for a stout and there is a harsh bitter edge to the finish which is out of character for a stout and is not that pleasant.

O: [3.75] The bitter/harsh finish detracts from what smells and looks like a really nice stout. It seems to mellow a bit but it took about 1/2 of the bottle. I am not sure if it was coffee bitterness - or some hop bitterness but it made the beer unbalanced.
Feb 21, 2017
Photo of timmy2b
Reviewed by timmy2b from New York

3.78/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
12oz bottle. Poured a very dark black with a thin cream colored head. Coffee and Cocoa were the main scents in the nose. This was a sweater stout with dark chocolate and some espresso flavor in the taste. The strong coffee taste leads to some bitterness in the aftertaste of each sip. Smooth Medium bodied stout with very light to no alcohol taste. Easy to drink if you are looking for a nice taste of coffee in your stout.
Feb 11, 2017
 
Rated: 4.06 by Gkruszewski from New York

Feb 11, 2017
 
Rated: 3.43 by The_Beer_Guru from New York

Jan 30, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by paulish from New York

Jan 27, 2017
 
Rated: 4.07 by samibr from New York

Jan 27, 2017
 
Rated: 3.83 by paresis from Massachusetts

Jan 24, 2017
Photo of metter98
Reviewed by metter98 from New York

3.78/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
A: The beer is jet black in color. It poured with a thin tan colored head that quickly died down. leaving thick wisps of bubbles on the surface and a collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Light to moderate aromas of coffee beans are present in the nose.
T: The taste follows the smell, but has stronger flavors of coffee beans along with hints of dark roasted malts. There is a faint amount of bitterness.
M: It feels medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This is a nice choice if you are looking for a coffee stout that isn't too heavy on the palate.

Serving type: bottle
Jan 22, 2017
 
Rated: 3.43 by mpmcguire11 from Rhode Island

Jan 14, 2017
 
Rated: 4.27 by LeftHanded666 from New York

Dec 22, 2016
 
Rated: 3.96 by acurtis from New Jersey

Dec 16, 2016
 
Rated: 4.08 by dental from Massachusetts

Oct 30, 2016
Near And Dear from Brewmaster Jack
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 41 ratings