Espresso Stout
Bad Seed Brewery

Chocolate brown with off white film. 3.75
Coffee and cocoa. 4
Big brownie, some char, plum, and espresso. 4.25
Lean finish.
Medium, chewy, round. 4

Lots of chocolate, coffee not overdone or astringent, and good body - “rich” like the tag says. A head above the rest in a crowded field. Liking Bad Seed. 4.25

 

 

330ml bottle poured into a tulip glass - Batch 3905, BBE 12/2015 - ABV on the bottle is shown as 6.5%

Look: Pours deep, deep black with a bubbly, brown head which settles down to a tan-coloured foam cap. Not much lacing, but looks so dark it's almost like it's drawing the light into it.

Smell: Espresso stout is well named - there's a big, big dark roasted coffee vibe here, slightly burnt smelling with a lot of maltiness in the background.

Taste: More of the same - plenty of coffee, burnt malts and sugar with a nice, lingering bitterness to follow. There's a nice transition from coffee/sugarto maltiness too. Very, very tasty.

Feel: Fairly dry for a stout, but still very smooth despite the relatively earthy flavours. I personally didn't find it particularly bitter or astringent.

Overall: I like to support local business whenever possible, and since the Bad Seed brewery is only about 20 miles from where I live I'm more than happy to do so in this case. This is the first coffee stout I've had, but it's a combination of flavours that I'm quite happy to explore more of. Absolutely fantastic.

 

 

A 330ml bottle with a BB of June 2014, so it's a bit out of date. Acquired a while back from Trembling Madness in York. As the label says: Black as sin and just as much fun!

A: Poured into a Duvel tulip. Bottle conditioned. A very dark reddish-brown hue that appears pitch black in the glass. Yields a huge head of creamy light-brown foam with good retention; this slowly reduces to a thick surface layer.

S: Aroma of rich roasted malt and coffee with hints of burnt grain, dark malt, espresso, bitter cocoa, mild molasses, earthy yeast and faint stewed leaves.

T: Tastes of intense roasted malt and coffee, with a powerful bitter finish. Notes of dark malt, burnt grain, coffee, bitter cocoa, subtle molasses, earthy yeast and stewed leaves. Well-attenuated, followed by a strident, malt-driven bitterness upon swallowing.

M: Mouthfeel is smooth, tingly and dry, with pleasant carbonation and decent body. Could be a shade thicker for the style. Pretty astrigent, accompanied by an aftertaste of roasted coffee/malt, burnt grain and earthy yeast.

O: Tasty stuff - a solid attempt at the style. Looks great, while the aroma and flavour are stuffed with roasted coffee and dark malt notes. A hefty bitterness rounds it off nicely. Body is OK but could be a tad creamier. North Yorkshire's answer to Founders Breakfast Stout; worth your while if you chance across it.