Crux Stout
Crux Fermentation Project

 

 

 

Canned 9/11. Pours very dark, almost black, opaque pour with a tight head. Very dry to the taste, with each sip unfolding roast malts, a mild bitterness and a long finish. You definitely should take your time with this one. No added flavors such as coffee, no barrel aging, nothing else besides malts and hops. Let warm to cellar temps to get the full effect.

Bottle from Albertsons. Perfectly balanced stout. Beautiful pour, near black body, thick, creamy head.Soft roasty aroma follows through to taste, gentle roast malt bitterness. Very subdued, but hits all the right notes. Simple, yet elegant.

this is sensational stout, straight up, no chocolate, lactose, coffee, barrel, none of it, and its not missed even a little bit. one of the more satisfying, hearty, and well made classic stouts i can recall having in a very long time, i was incredibly impressed with this from top to bottom, and the overall quality is off the charts, a total winner from these guys and a great score by my mother in law! pint can was only slightly intimidating at this abv knowing i had a lot of beers yet in front of me, but im so glad i went for it. the deepest brown you can get to that isnt black in the glass, high shine, obsidian luster even, and a frothing couple of inches of deep tan permanent head, looks like fermenting bread dough with bubbles popping of all different sizes, sexy lace on each sip, looks rich and splendid! the aroma and taste go together, similar and inseparable, heavy roast, really loaded on the bass note grains, but only middle of the road in terms of perceived bitterness. usually all the complexity of a stout is in the middle malt layers, but here the complexity is in the black, probably more than just roasted barley in this, some specialty black malts, some darker chocolate malt too, and it brings hints of campfire smoke, organic dark chocolate, and oily espresso, all so silky smooth too without any acrid harshness that the more robust examples of the style like this can often have. no sign of its alcohol strength either. there is a great smoothness and length to this, whispers of vanilla, honey, and milk chocolate as it warms, but its never even a little bit desserty. i also get layers of graham cracker, wet tobacco, and good coffee. i love that there is a little bready yeasty thing from the ferment too, super complimentary and unifying. relatively fast finishing for what it is, soft and round feeling, even refreshing in the context i was having it in, and frankly this is about as good as normal stout can be. perhaps a new gold standard in the northwest. wow!

 

16 Oz can poured into a pint glass. Canning date 02/22/22

Pours a solid dark brown body with a tan head. Good retention. Multiple rings of thick lacing.

I'm getting a lot of wort on the nose at first pour. Reminds me of an N.A stout. (That green bean vegetable thing ) Some grain and raisin notes are present with a little burnt coffee.

Taste is better than the nose. Roasted malts and coffee. Nice bitterness going on here.

Smooth feel is appropriate for the style

I liked the bitterness on the taste but the heavy wort scent was a huge turn off for me. Maybe it was just this batch. Probably a one and done.

Can:

B- / WORTHY

 

 

Pours a dark ruby brown with plenty of foam in the Stella Artois goblet. Pleasantly sudsy on the tongue. Appealing grainy aroma. Malty and sweet with a dark roast flavor. Lots of dark caramel with a coffee dry finish. A touch of chocolate in the aftertaste.

Just a modest bitterness and while it's dark flavored there is just a hint of the scorched grain. Overall it's a rich and mellow strong Stout, fine for sipping after dinner. From the 500 ml bottle.

Alright

Pitch black with three fingers of tan head. Rings of lace appear as the head falls.
Smell is caramel malt coffee dark chocolate.
Taste is chocolate caramel roasted malts a bit of warming alcohol also.
Mouthfeel is medium with good carbonation. The finish is bitter and lightly sweet.
Overall a tasty Stout. Bottled on letters on the label but no numbers stamped there.

 

 

500ml bottle

Pours almost two fingers of brown head into my tulip glass. The body is black, with no hues, even when held up to the light. Good looking beer so far.

Nose is full of clean, wonderful, roasted malt. Coffee notes. Some bitter chocolate. Pretty dry overall, but it gets sweeter the more I sniff. Really a great nose, super clean and full.

The flavor is pretty darn similar. Coffee and dry chocolate are the first flavors, and take most of the attention here. Roastyness takes a supporting role, and hangs out in the background. Bitterness hits mostly in the end, and a lot of it comes from the malt I'd imagine, not getting an overwhelming amount of hop bitterness. Maybe a hint of hop flavor though. This is a little smoother than I was expecting, not quite as full and robust, so that's a good and bad thing. There is certainly an assertive flavor, don't get me wrong. Just slightly less. Overall this is still a very good taste, zero complaints.

The mouthfeel is quite nice. Carbonation is maybe a hair below medium. The body is a little thinner than expecting, again, this is good as bad - it aids in the smoothness of the beer, but takes away from the fullness. Bitterness is relatively high in some areas, but this is welcome. Doesn't have any lingering sticky sugars, which is always good.

The drinkability here is pretty good. For being almost 8%, I don't detect any alcohol. It's a little bitter. By no means heavy though. It tasty, that's all that matters right now.

The appearance turned out quite nice. The head retention was above average, and the initial head was good. Lacing was a little unorthodox, but not bad. Good looking beer.

Overall this is a solid beer. Nothing crazy, but very flavorful, and an all around solid stout.

Whole Foods, Portland OR. August 2018