Silkie Stout
Loch Lomond Brewery

Poured from 440mL can into a tumbler. Canned 2/5/26, best by 4/8/27.

Appearance: nice brown hue with a murky body and a finger of frothy brown foam atop.

Smell: quite sweet with a nice roasty, chocolatey character.

Taste: like the aroma, rather sweet, but I think really too sweet for the style. There is a little roastiness but it’s kind of lost in this kinda fruity sweetness that is not strictly *bad* but also not my favorite.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a good carbonation and creaminess. The Silkie is indeed silky!

Overall: it’s not a terrible beer or anything but the sweetness and honestly the hints of almost acetone-line estery fruitiness just aren’t my favorite.

Poured from cask at The Bow Bar in Edinburgh. Pours a somewhat thin black with a nice layer of tan head. The nose is smooth roasted malts and chocolate. The taste is creamy and smooth. Slight toffee, dark roasted malts, coffee, and burnt wood. Nice stuff!

 

 

 

 

Third (cask) at Jolly Judge, with Craig. Flat, oily black pour. Aroma is sweet, chocolate, roasty malts. Taste does not deviate too much, and it is the texture and feel of this cask pour which really makes it stand out. Aptly named " Silkie" for a reason.

 

 

 

 

330 mL Bottle. ABV 5% (LCBO sticker lists 5.8%).
Appearance: Pours black, One finger of caramel coloured and low density head which dissipates into a thin frothy collar.
Aroma: Vanilla, Chocolate, Toffee, Roasted coffee, Molasses, Faint funkiness, Intensifies a bit more with warmth.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, Creamy/Syrupy, Light carbonation.
Flavour: Roasted barley, Caramel, Molasses, Fairly rich, Dark chocolate, Bitter coffee grounds, Hops on finish.
Overall: Very underwhelming aroma, everything noted was initially very soft. Quite satisfying mouthfeel. It's well balanced. I'm not really getting the oatmeal... but I enjoyed it and would like to taste it again to see if anything else comes out.

Review: 8

 

Review from notes. ABV on bottle listed at 5.0% but LCBO has stamped something on saying it's 5.8%. Cost was $3 for a 330 ml bottle. Served fairly cold into a pint glass

Appearance - Black looking beer, small half finger of tan head. Incredible head retention (like 20 + minutes good) and no lacing to speak of.

Smell - Subtle coffee aroma and a dash of vanilla. Hints of mineral water initially that strength upon consumption. Too much mineral water to be pleasant.

Taste - Same as the nose but more bitter. Quite bitter with robust coffee and dark chocolate flavors.

Mouthfeel - Quite smooth, medium bodied and easy drinking with sufficient lively carbonation.

Overall - Don't like the nose but otherwise an above average stout.

 

330 mL bottle from the LCBO, which has slapped a "5.8%" sticker over the original label. Best before Sept 2019 and served barely chilled.

Pours black as night - almost totally opaque, except with some deep reddish highlights near the narrower part of the glass. One centimetre of loose, frothy, tan-coloured head dissipates within 90 seconds, leaving behind a wide, bubbly collar of sticky foam. The aroma is rich, with quite a lot of roasted grain and/or malt character - cocoa powder and coffee scents come through clearly, with minor hints of molasses, oats and figgy dark fruit. Earthy and a tad floral, but that's all I'm getting in the way of hops (at least, off the nose).

Mmmm... good stuff. Roasted barley does a lot of the heavy lifting, imparting flavours of espresso, cocoa and dark chocolate to the profile, with suggestions of fig and plum buried underneath. Notes of molasses, oatmeal and milk sugar sweetness also come through - not sure if there's actually lactose in this one, but I'm getting that vibe either way. Finishes with roasty, burnt malt, earthy hop bitterness and some coffee grounds, followed up with a bittersweet aftertaste. Medium-light in body, with soft carbonation levels that gently brush against the surface of the tongue, doing little to alter this brew's silky smooth, rather satisfying texture. It does feel a little thin for an oatmeal stout, but it's only 5% so that's not a surprise - and besides, the beer's all the more drinkable for it.

Final Grade: 4.0, a very solid A-. Loch Lomond's Silkie Stout probably won't blow you away, but if you have any affinity whatsoever for English-style stouts then I'd say there's something here for you to appreciate. It is beautifully balanced and, while I don't know if I'd call it particularly complex, it's definitely flavourful, rich, and an absolute treat to gulp back. I'll be picking up a few more bottles while it's available, and would encourage other Ontario BAs to seek this out and do the same while it's around.

 

Look is about standard for the style. Thin head, breaks to a nice collar. Some minor lacing. Smell is a little odd, I'm almost picking up a sour smell along with the expected roasts and chocolate. Flavor is quite peculiar as along with the roasts there is a definite funky flavor that does not work. Feel is okay, about right for the style.

Not really something I enjoyed. The odd funk was not intended I would think.