Extra Stout
Raquette River Brewing

Pours jet black (SRM 40+). It is murky brown when put to strong light. A creamy chestnut head gradually compresses from four inches to a thick seafoam. Messy lacing clumps in places on a Pretentious Glass Company "Malti" pint.

Dark roasted malt competes with dark roasted coffee. Some baker's chocolate gets squeezed out in the struggle. Roasted malt ultimately wins the competition.

The flavor is just short of burnt malt and is VERY bitter. Baker's chocolate gives way to coffee grinds. The finish lingers with bitterness that becomes astringent over time. Warmth causes the malt to slip and astringency to build.

It has a medium to light body and a watery texture. Alcohol is as expected, however, carbonation is a bit fizzy for the style.

The strong dose of roast helps this one overcome some of its deficiencies. I can imagine shooting pool or throwing darts with friends while enjoying a pint or two. The bitterness reminds me of my opinion of Guinness when I was younger and first enjoying that beer.

 

Had on tap at the brewery. Pours opaque, black in color with minimal head. Taste is dark roast coffee and dark chocolate. Medium body, low carbonation, roasty. Not bad but a rather average, straightforward American stout. It could use a bit more heft in the body, but it is inoffensive. The brewery makes better beers.

$ 6.99/bomber, more or less, if the price sticker on the cap is to be believed. No idea where I got it other than maybe the Oneonta Beer Depot (non-itemized receipt) last October. Reviewed 8/30/20.
I can find neither date nor ABV on the bottle nor do I know how it was stored at the place of purchase. Stored at home at 42 degrees and served at 52 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 3.
First pour – Amber brown (SRM 18), clear.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. When held to direct light, same.
Head – Average (Maximum three cm, aggressive center pour), medium tan, high density, begins fizzy, average retention, diminishing to a three mm crown and a thin partial cap.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4 – Strong roasted malt with a suggestion of caramel, no hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 3 – Starts slightly sweet with roasted malt, then becomes markedly bitter and chock full o’ short chain organic acids (acetic, lactic, and some butyric at least). No hops, no yeast. No alcohol (? % ABV, NOT marked on container) taste or aroma. No diacetyl or dimethylsulfide.
Palate – 3 – Thin, oily, lively carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3. Well, we start off losing 0.25 point for no date and an additional 0.25 point for a secret ABV, to give a final total of 2.75 remaining of the 3.25 average of the initial scores. Now the only decision remaining is whether to subject my sink’s drain to this.

 

On tap at Bella Brooke Vineyard in Hammond, NY.

This one pours a murky dark brownish color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like roasted malt, and chocolate, but it's a pretty weak aroma overall.

This is just so watery - that kind of murky brown color gives that unfortunate fact away. It's insipid, kind of stale tasting, with somehow (both) not enough roast or not enough sweetness. It's just so mild - like stout-flavored water.

This is too thin, and not creamy enough, with an astringent finish.

This is not really to be recommended. It's just too watery and too flavorless.

Since it said 'extra stout' on the bottle, I figured this was a "foreign/extra stout" so I poured into a snifter.
The appearance was a nice looking extremely dark brown close to black color. The head was moderately eggshell white in color and slid off to a messy film coating the sides of the glass.
The aroma had a nice blend of sweet milk and dark chocolate up front flowing over a little bit of marshmallow/light fluffiness / little bit of vanilla wafer.
The flavor was moderately sweet with a stifled sort of bitter to roasty bite; some sticky marshmallow/vanilla wafer sweetness came in underneath. Nice roasty and coffee ground-like bitter dryness in the aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a fair sipping quality about it. Carbonation felt fine. ABV seemed to have felt on par. Finish was moderately roasty with a nice grip to it.
Overall, somehow I want to agree with Beer Advocate more than the brewer. I don't really see this as a 'foreign/extra stout.' This is an American Stout with some brewer creativity of that marshmallow/vanilla sweetness. Next time, I'll have this in a becher pint glass knowing that this is an American Stout.