Crown Brewery Stannington Stout
The Hillsborough Hotel

Enjoyed on tap in The White Horse, Parsons Green, London

It poured a nice dark brown with a mocha coloured head. The head was short lived but looked great whilst it was around.

It smelled of a lovely toasted maltiness with a touch of smoke and nuttiness.

The taste was fantastic. A good effort at this style. Whilst it wasnt the best stout in the world it had a great depth of maltiness and balanced smoke to it.

Mouthfeel was really my only complaint as it was a touch thin for my liking but you cant please everyone! Looking forward to having more stuff from Crown in the future

Purchased at the brewpub where this ale is brewed, Hillsborough Hotel in Sheffield. This bottle-conditioned version was newly launched not long ago, along with three other products by this tiny brewery. BB 07/2008, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.

A: pours a black, fluffy, khaki foamy head with o.k. retention, on top of rather lively carbonation (with very strong hissing noise).
S: a pronounced fruity and flowery aroma surrounds the richly roasted maltiness... really rich is the maltiness but smokiness and nuttiness also are at presence. Good and rather straight forward for a traditional Stout.
T: smoky bitter-sweetness with an effervescent palate, leading towards chewy and tannic roastiness as of light coffee, yet given a surprising balance due to sweet maltiness and licorice... Dates and walnuts last in the bitter aftertaste, where my tastebuds find a lightly tart hint of grapes too.
M&D: the mouthfeel is effervescent at first but softens as it goes... This stout shows a solid body of sweet maltiness and hop bitterness on a par with tangy and roasty black malts. More fizzy than the cask version, but the flavour somehow remains intact. Overall, a very good attempt at bottle-conditioning from this solid microbrewery!