Small Batch Series: London Stout
Moosehead Breweries Ltd.

Enjoyed at family's place. Pours a clear deep brown colour, not quite opaque black. Light brown frothy head. Aroma's are roasted, licorice root, sweetish, berries. Retronasal it's sweetish, chocolate, drop. Flavour is moderate sweet, moderate roasted bitter. Light medium bodied. Finishes with berries and chocolate, moderate bitter. OK.

 

Coal black with a strong head and lacing. Some grassy hops on the nose as well as mild malts. Thinnish malt body for quaffing, not sipping. Better than expected!

473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Oct 15 2018 and served slightly chilled. Listed at 5.5% and reviewed from notes.

Pours a deep blackish-brown colour with ruby red highlights; seated atop is nearly an inch and a half of foamy, light beige-tinged head. It seeps away at a steady pace, lingering for five minutes and splattering a beautiful doily pattern of lace against the glass in the process. The aroma is very muted - I'm getting very slight hints of toasted grains and burnt sugars, and maybe just a touch of leafy, earthy hops. It opens up a bit as it warms, but not much.

Taste-wise this is actually a respectable stab at this classic English style. Toasted bread, burnt sugar and roasted malts each play a prominent role, with the latter mostly represented by notes of coffee grounds and cocoa. The profile becomes more charred and/or burnt towards the finish, concluding with an herbal, leafy hop bitterness adjacent to a milk chocolate, treacle-like sweetness in the aftertaste. Light-medium in body, with average carbonation levels that provide a gentle, prickly quality to the brew's smooth mouthfeel. Very quaffable - I found it hard to stop sipping this one.

Final Grade: 3.71, a B grade. Moosehead's London Stout is a reasonably good homage to a true English stout, particularly for something that was pumped out of a macro operation. The aroma could stand to be less, um, bland, but a weak nose is hardly the worst thing a stout can have - the truth is that it tastes nice, and it's exceptionally easy to drink, and that's really all you need to end up with a serviceable pub ale. Not perfect, but who is these days - I might pick up another can or two, though if this is really a "small batch" brew then I may have already missed my chance.

473 ml can served cold into a pint glass. Review from notes.

Appearance - Dark brown, nearly black and a small half finger of light tan foam forms on top and lingers for a short while. Minimal lacing.

Smell - Not much here, some light roasty notes, hint of coffee and light burnt and ashy.

Taste - Robust and lots of coffee, some smoky and ashy flavors, roasted malt and something familiar about the yeast that brings back great memories of youth. Not sure how to describe it but a warm and welcoming flavor.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, bubbly carbonation and slightly dry finish with silky smooth finish.

Overall - A pretty tasty stout that has an element in the yeast I think that is warm comforting and familiar. Doesn't score super high but a rather enjoyable stout. Would enjoy again.

Medium: Canned.
Opacity: Almost opaque.
Color: Black with a slight copper hue.
Head: Creamy and foamy beige 2-3 finger.
Legs: Strong with decent swirl reaction.
Smell: Toffee/Berries.
Taste: Dark grains/Coffee/Chocolate/Herbal.
Feel: Roasted/Earthy/Leafy.
Body: Medium soft creamy.
Carbonation: Moderate crisp.
Overall: Classic stout. Flavors are a bit dull. Good quality.

Visual 8/10 - Flavors 5/10 - Sensations 7/10 - Balance 5/10 -
Freshness 5/10 - Intensity 6/10 - Complexity 6/10 - Appreciation 6/10

Pours near pitch black with a compact but everlasting espresso head. The aroma is of fresh cocoa and roasty malts. Dark chocolate cocoa and roasty, smokey dark malts in the taste. Some herbal hop bitterness and milk chocolate sweetness in there too. The mouthfeel is medium to light bodied with sparse carbonation. Medium bitterness and roasted malts in the shortlived finish.

A nice, balanced English Stout. Could be a little dryer. Worth a try for sure though.

Jan 11 2019

A- I appreciate the ode to the English monarchs with the crowns on the labeling! The beer itself pours a very dark brown and shows signs of lightness and clarity when looking from the underside of the glass. The head is smooth, creamy and dense in appearance, is a coffee foam color and has excellent retention, becoming more of a patchwork of froth over the liquid. The lacing is equally impressive, with a solid film of foam clinging to the inside of the glass. So far so good!

S- Nice aroma overall and not overpowering in any direction. Freshly ground dark coffee bean, a blend of milk and dark chocolate, hints of burnt malt and dark fruits and nearing the end an ever so slight presence of nutty dark toffee sweetness. The finish seems clean and perhaps a little dry.

T- Wow! Traditional stout pleasantness dominates the palate straight upfront, with heavy flavors of black coffee, high cocoa content chocolate providing some bitterness, some rich dark fruit, burnt almond, and an Earthy dryness that runs right from start to finish. The finish itself is a blend of dry burnt black malt and some mellowed bitter hops. It finishes rather clean, yet with enough of an aftertaste to make me want to get into another sip!

M/O- This has a lighter body than I would have expected, but still it is a solid medium mouthfeel, with soft creamy carbonation releasing on the palate, which allows this flavorful Stout to flourish. The alcohol has just a very slight bite, but otherwise is well hidden, and the drinkability factor is high in my opinion.....I would enjoy at least a couple of these over an evening! Would pair well with a red meat dish, or as an accompaniment to a platter of strong cheddar and sausage!

 

Another winner in the small batch series. This one really grabbed at me. A nice English Stout with a good flavor, roasty, fruity and just enough hops to make for a nice smooth drink.