Hitman Stout
Prison City Pub & Brewery

Sits in a Harp nonic glass with a short lived, dark chestnut head that falls from one and a half inches to a narrow band fairly quickly. The black beer invites one in.

The aroma opens with sweet roasted malt, followed by a pleasant burnt paper ash.

The flavor is very bitter with the malt and ash carrying forward. The finish is long, dry, and astringent.

The alcohol is much more present than expected, while the carbonation has a light fizz. It has a medium body and the texture of coarse nylon.

This is a decent Irish Dry Stout, even though it is more astringent than I had expected.

32 oz crowler into mug

Not quite pitch black, more like extremely dark brown, off-white colored head. Roasty aroma reminisent of black coffee. Taste is fairly dry, a touch acidic and a bit of charred smokey flavor. Medium bodied.

 

 

if i had this beer and never had the porter at prison city, i would have rated it higher and probably liked it a lot better, but having the two back to back, this seemed almost under flavored to me. too mild in every way, and while i know thats the appeal of the style to some, this is really tame, too tame for me, and their porter isnt even all that robust, this just paled to me a lot in comparison. its smooth and creamy, fuller bodied, and super super dry. maybe thats what does it, the lack of a prolonged roasty finish, that makes it seems dull or bland. the grain flavor that is there earlier on is delicious, deep and dark with a bitter coffee presence and a bready yeast that fits great. the first 75% of this thing is a dream really, but then it all fades so fast. nothing wrong with it, no bad flavors ever come in, its pro level beer for sure, but it just disappears before it should be done it seems like. maybe the low abv is indicative of a lighter mash and consequently a more mild beer. for the purpose its great, but on a chilly winter night i would suggest the porter over this one. this is more of a breakfast beer to me, still real well made though.