Lightning Strike Stout | Rockyard Brewing

3.18/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.25

Nice, solid looking stout- frothy, very light tan, nice and bubbly. Smell isn't too great. A sort of of weak, tinny light-stout aroma. Plasticky. Tasate is much better-- nice roasted grain tastes, lightly adjunct-like finish, minimal hops, more like nonexistant. Mildly sweet, lingering finish. Good oatmeal stout feel, fuller-bodied and smooth with subdued carbonation.

Not a bad stout, not too heavy, sessionable. Will definitely seek out again!

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3.75/5  rDev +11.6%

3.2/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours black with minimal head, however generous lace. Mild licorice roast aroma. Extreme carbonation. Slightly underaverage mouthfeel, licorice, a tad of chocolate, and some roast, and mouldy finish.Received this bottle IP from JMBSH in February. Drinkable though.

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3.49/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured mahogany/black with virtually no head. Zero head retention & lacing

S: A little bit of chocolate & coffee

T: Bitter chocolate & coffee up front. A little oakyness & vanilla in the middle. Finishes dry with roasted grains & a little more vanilla

MF: Medium bodied with a little oiliness & pretty flat

Drank alright, this would be good with more carbonation or nitrogen. Flatness muted all the positives of this offering. Weak sister to the bourbon-strike stout

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3.37/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

3.5/5  rDev +4.2%

3.24/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

3.92/5  rDev +16.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance - Dark brown, head was already gone by the time the it got to my table.

Smell - Malty, coffee.

Taste - Full flavor, rosted malts and coffee. Nice mix.

Mouthfeel - Felt watery, not thick as expected.

Drinkability - Good beer. I picked it after a quick taste test between this one and a few of the other brews.

If you go to this brewery you must try the burgers, best I've had in a long time.

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3.25/5  rDev -3.3%

3.51/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3.5

Pours a dark color. Not to much head. Little lacing. Starts smooth like an oatty but goes dry fast . To me this is a very dry stout with a touch of coffee bean .

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3.9/5  rDev +16.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured from an undated 12oz bottled into a pint glass.

Pours rather like a porter, with deep reg highlights surrounding a dark body under a very minimal head. If I could re-pour I would really dump it into the glass to produce a better head.

Smells strongly of roasted coffee beans, roasted nuts, and slightly smoky roasted barley. Lots of roast in the nose, with light chocolate notes to go with it. Smells like it is going to taste very good.

The taste mirrors the nose to the T, with a big nutty smooth roast flavor making up the bulk of what my palate experiences. Hops are minimal, but the roasted elements of coffee come through strong. I wouldn't say I taste coffee, but I do taste some of the elements of coffee flavors.

The mouthfeel shows little carbonation, which is a refreshing change in my opinion. This quality lends a smoothness to what otherwise might be a rather thin stout. Good work here.

Conclusion: I like this beer quite a bit. It has good flavors and a very good feel. If you like the roasty (and not hoppy) side of the broad American stout spectrum, I would give this one a try.

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3.41/5  rDev +1.5%

3.38/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a black color. 5/4 inch head of a tan color. Great retention and slight lacing. Smells of alcohol, strong grain, hops, hint of roasted malt, and a hint of sweet malt. Fits the style of an American Stout. Mouth feel is sharp and crisp, with an average carbonation level. Tastes of roasted malt, slight sweet malt, hint of grain, and a hint of hop. Overall, decent appearance and blend. The strong grain in the aroma and body is not pleasant.

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1.64/5  rDev -51.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

A: Lightning Strike pours a deep, Earthy brown, like cola with too much syrup or coffee that's been on the burner too long. There's virtually no head on the pour, just a thin collar of tan. Not much to see here.

S: Charcoaled cabbage. This beer is a DMS bomb. Faint bitter chocolate and toffee, and a hint of nail polish remover, but little is distinguishable above the nasty old vegetable smell. As it warms, some coffee notes and baby diaper come through.

T: Thankfully, the taste is better than the smell, but only by a narrow margin. Again, cooked vegetables are dominant, but the mellow roasted malts help to cover the DMS. Some sweet caramel, and a hint of chocolate break through to the palette, but then oh god, there it is again: cabbage. This beer tastes like licking a carnie's sweaty face. Circus people. Specifically, the ones that blow fire.

M: Thin, watery. All i can think about is DMS.

D: Low. I love stouts, but this has to be the worst one I've ever tried, even behind some bad homebrews.

Even without the DMS, this beer would have only been a mediocre stout. They say lightning never strikes twice. Thank god for that.

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3.5/5  rDev +4.2%

3.75/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

3.5/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

3.35/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

2.82/5  rDev -16.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3

On-draught @ the brewery.

C- / BELOW AVERAGE

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3.55/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Pours a thinnish-looking dark brown, light black color, with some decent creamy off-white foam. Aromas of milk chocolate, roasted malt and heavy cream. Similar on the palate, with some nice espresso flavor coming through. Another solid, but unspectacular effort from Rockyard.

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3.44/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

3.63/5  rDev +8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

3.45/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Enjoyed at the brewery on nitro on February 24th, 2012

Appearance: good half-inch head; light lacing

Smell: roasted chocolate nose

Taste: creamy b/c of the nitro, cocoa and coffee

Mouthfeel: a little flat, minimal carbonation (also chalked up to nitro)

Overall: fairly good offering improved by nitro option

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3.15/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

lost my notes, but i vaguely remember just an overall standard stout with not much going on with it. a bit malty which i enjoyed, otherwise wasnt much there to enjoy. a little more flavor wouldve been appreciated.
to my recollection it did get a bit better as it warmed but not so much so

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3.14/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3