Hackett Irish Stout
Mickey Finn's Brewery

 

Serving: On tap, 4oz sampler
Served: 7 April 2015

Appearance: Pitch black stout with a soft red glow around the edges when held up to the light. Creamy dirty-dishwater colored head. Leaves some lacing, even in the sampler glass.

Smell: Soft roasted notes of fresh-roast coffee or dark-roast espresso, a pinch of gooey caramel sweetness, and a touch of baker's cocoa.

Taste: Similar notes as the nose, but done in a masterfully subtle manner. Espresso, bakers cocoa, brown sugar, and gooey dark caramel notes are present, but none are overpowering. Imagine a more assertive, flavorful Guinness that still maintains its approachable light nature.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium-light body with low carbonation. Excellent.

Overall: One of the best from Mickey Finn's yet, and one I highly recommend. An excellent Irish dry stout.

 

 

 

Served in a shaker pint glass at the brewpub.

Named for Buddy? Who knows? It pours a Guinness-like black-brown topped by a finger of light ecru foam. The nose comprises coffee, dark chocolate, roasted malts, and brown sugar. The taste is pretty much identical, though, similarly to Guinness, there is that very faint sour touch near the end. The body is medium, with a very light carbonation and a ridiculously smooth feel. Overall, a very nice IDS, a paragon of the style. Get some!

Served in a pint glass at Mickey Finn's in Libertyville, IL

Presents as a dark stout with ruby edging in the light. The head is nice fine nitrogenated thick tan foam. The aroma is of coffee, Irish cream, oak, and chocolate malts. The taste is a nice smooth coffee and toffee flavor with a backer of nuts and cream. The sour that is used in it is perhaps the only thing that makes this not an outstanding example of an IDS. The nitrogen is perfect and smooth. It's a very drinkable Irish stout and if it's available when you're there, and you like stouts, I say it should be what you look for first.

Served in a pint glass, this brew is a dark, almost black color. It sports the now ubiquitous nitro-head, but it’s not overdone. I was pleased that they kept the carbonation, and head, truly restrained. The aroma is fantastic…lots of roasted grain and coffee. Burnt, smoky, charcoal and espresso-like aromas waft up from the glass. The taste has a touch of sweetness in the very beginning, but is quickly replaced with a long, drawn-out dryness. The taste is full of flavor…coffee and caramel, chocolate and roasted grains. The flavor is clean and alive. Solidly bitter and dry finish. Medium body and very drinkable. This one is great.

(Served in an American pint glass)
5.7% ABV

A- This beer has a midnight black body with a thick tan head that last and last. No sign of carbonation in that opaque body.

S- The smell of earthy dark malt had some black grain notes to it but it was pretty clean until it warmed a bit.

T- The taste of black malt with some black-toasted grain had notes of dark chocolate, earthy dark roasted coffee beans and a slight pot caramel note. The finish was a soft bitterness that I think was part grain and part hops but it was not real distinct. The finish was pretty dry as was the malt flavors.

M- This beer had a medium-full mouthfeel with a pretty clean finish after the nice bitterness.

D- This beer had some nice big dark flavors but some of the flavors might have been a bit off. They offered a nice depth to the big roasted notes and it had a good finish.

Nearly black with sligthest trace of ruby-orange. Small, but infinitly retained tan cream.
Muted, but lovely nose of charcoal and roasted goodies.
Taste, on the otherhand, is far from subdued. A big charred blast up front, which fades to a quieter expresso exclamation. Interwoven bitter chocolate. Persuasive buttery characteristic and wooden nuances enter in the later half, before evaporating to a light herbed hop finish with lingering ash.
Cask carbonation and smoothness adds alot here.
Just stunning.
Far and away the best Irish-style stout I've ever encountered.
What a pleasure it is to be totally thrilled by a previously-thought unthrillable style.