Winter Stout
Columbus Brewing Company

Half pint on tap on 2/13/12

Appropriately dark color (I'm sure it's just brown, but close enough to black). 1/3rd inch of sandy brown foam drops after a few minutes resulting in a filmy layer that bunches up on one side. Solid rings of lace catch a few sips in.

The aroma has lots of dark sugars - brown sugar, molasses and maybe a touch of sorghum. Hints of herbal foliage and... raw honey? Yep. Doesn't smell very sweet, though. There is a nice blanket of roast.

While the aroma might be a bit of a trip, the taste is more in line with a stout. Lots and lots of roast, mainly in the form of coffee, but there is a less-sweet-than-bitter chocolate note underneath. The roast comes across tangy at times. Earthy overtones. Very dry throughout, increasing on the finish. Lingering bitterness, too.

Medium body; seems appropriate for the style. Carbonation is frisky (dare I say pesky?), but it's to be expected with a plain old American stout.

For me, this is a nice change of pace. I like it fine, but I doubt I'd be inclined to drink it often.

Winter Stout arrived a very dark, chocolate fudge color. It looks opaque, but it’s hard to tell since the restaurant is a little dim. A really nice mocha tan head tops it off and rises to about a finger and a half in height. It’s very slow to recede and leaves a nice, stick web of lace trailing down the glass.

The nose is pretty good. It seems a tad weak and would benefit from more strength. It does feature a healthy amount of chocolate and coffee. It doesn’t smell very sweet. The chocolate smells a tad cocoa-ish. Roasted coffee comes through rather strong and smells nice. There is a hint of roasted malts late. Alcohol is blended well and doesn’t seem strong at all.

The flavor is notch better. The malt base is definitely chocolate and, to a lesser extent, roasted malts. Bittersweet dark chocolate comes through loud and clear. Roasted coffee is very, very strong. Tastes almost like espresso. Given that I’m a huge coffee fan, I like that…a lot. It complements the malt base really well. Secondary flavors of faint caramel, light molasses, and charred barley add some nice depth. Alcohol isn’t all that strong. Finishes chocolaty and dry with a strong dose of coffee.

Winter Stout has a body that’s on the lighter side of medium. It feels a bit thin, but isn’t bad. Carbonation is relatively light and soft. It goes down easy. It’s more of a friendly Stout, rather than a big, badass overbearing Stout.

Columbus Brewing did a pretty nice job with Winter Stout. I enjoyed it. It could be easily be improved with a bit more body. Adding a little more malt to the mix seems like the right answer. It might even take a little of the espresso edge off and add some balance to the flavor. That wouldn’t be a bad thing. Pretty impressive stuff nevertheless.