Ridge Run Stout
Backwoods Brewing Company

This is the type of stout I like, nice roasted malt with just a hint of coffee and chocolate and a nice sweetness. This beer is not overly heavy and is smooth due to the oatmeal. One of my favorite non-flavored stouts. 20 IBUs Rated 9-7-2020

 

 

a really excellent beer here, shockingly good even, a base stout without any barrels or apparent adjuncts of any kind, just a well made example of the style without any frills, seems like we hardly see these anymore, as stout drinkers have wanted more barrel aged and pastry type beers. i for one am stoked on a stout with this much flavor and none of the other bells and whistles, including the price. this is rich and roasty, smooth and mellow, dry and bold, drinkable but strong, i liked everything about it. there is a deep roast to this, not quite the bitter burned or charred dark grain, but definitely some of that unmalted roasted barley at the core of this, with a slightly sweeter caramel malt middle, plenty of dark chocolate complexity and the faintest dried berry note as well, like what would come off of a nice natural process espresso. there is an almost oaken character to this even without wood ageing, and a yeast flavor thats slightly english to me, not irrelevant in the flavor, which makes the beer more round and complete. there is a creamy texture here, a fullness without it being filling, and a little biscuit note coming through all the dark as well. this is exceptionally well balanced and well made, an easy pint to drink for its strength too. reminds me of the good old days when a stout could just be a stout, and didnt have to mimic some god forsaken dessert...

 

Polished brownish-black with a large foamy tan head settling to a creamy collar.

Smell is woody, medium-dark roasted malt and mildly smoky coffee with a touch of char and vanilla.

Taste is leafy tobacco and cigar skin with a smoky, woody roasted mix of cacao, baker's cocoa and coffee, all masterfully from the malt. A slight tang comes out in the swallow with a touch of rooty nuts.

The medium-light body has a soft, minimal carbonation on the palate, finishing with a semi-dry chomp. For something with such a roasty punch, this is not heavy at all and is very drinkable. Normally stouts at this ABV (6.5% on my 2018 bottle's label) with this light of a feel have a cheap, cola sort of flavor. This is a stark contrast to those pretenders, and is definitely an impressively enjoyable light stout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a finger and half of tan head on a black body.
The aroma is chocolate, milk, a little vanilla, wood and toasted malt. Wonderful.
The taste has a bitter coffee start, then goes to sweeter chocolate and vanilla and finishes with a mild bitterness.
The texture is fairly smooth.
It has a great aroma and a good flavor.

Had on nitro so I may be biased

Bomber > Nonic Pint pour.

Appearance : Jet black motor oil coming straight out of the bottle, creating a delicious pool of obsidian goodness. The head is tan/almond colored, stands up a towering four fingers, and recedes slowly to 1 finger leaving sparse broken webs of lace on the glass.

Smell : Burnt to a crisp malt backbone, with chocolate and coffee surrounding it. Several short sniffs yield both plum sweetness and bubblegum aromas. It appears there's a hint of Belgian inspiration to this one. The aroma is medium to strong and as the head disappears further the sweetness actually wins out over all the other aromas.

Taste : Some off-flavors going on here, namely tin and bad yeast strains; but beyond that it's tobacco out front, with coffee ground, cocoa plant, some hop, and a light earthiness. Perhaps a hint of peanut hull on the finish. Not very impressive, unfortunately.

Feel : Pretty small for such a large bottle. Medium bodied, a bit of stickiness, and what little carbonation there is doesn't help it along much. It ends text-book semi-dry.

Overall : Ridge Run is a pass for me. I don't get it in my area but if I did, I wouldn't feel bad if I never had it again. There's quite a bit of off-flavors and overall it just doesn't come together for me. Try it if you want, I only paid $6 for my 22 oz bottle, but it really DOES taste like a $6 beer...and not a penny more.