Killagh Stout
St. Peters Brewery (Australia)

A: Looks more like a porter than a stout. Head could be thicker and colour more black.

N: Yes, nose definitely like a stout, dark malt aromas coming through.

T: Roasted grains, cereal, fairly dry on back palate, a light stout.

M: Needs improvement, specifically needs thickening.

Overall, good, but I think this beer either needs reclassification as a porter or souping up to bring it towards the stout end of the dark beer spectrum.

Pours a darkish red-brown colour, very light for a stout, with a loose bubbled, but firm head of beige foam. Body looks a little thin. Lacing is good, but overall, it's lacking some solemnity for a stout.

Nice roasted notes on the nose, really redolent with toasted grains, wholemeal bread and smoke. Crushed cereal meal, and a faint light sweetness. There's even a touch of lactic acidity creeping into the wafts. All great organic characters in a stout.

Taste is also full of grain characters. Nice cereal notes up front, before a subdued but pleasant roasted bitterness wells slightly. Finish is dry and a little sour, but there's very little depth to the back palate. The carbonation is hit just right, the mouthfeel is a pleasantly smooth slickness, aerated just a little. Overall, it comes out quite smooth, although it lacks some robustness on the palate.

There's no doubt it's a very drinkable stout, it makes a pretty decent beer to session, but it's a pretty light one too. That being said, there's plenty to enjoy here, and if you don't go in looking for a rip-roaring mess of charred craziness, you should be pretty satisfied.

Purchased at Porter's Pyrmont.

Pours a dark brown, haze-free from what I can make out.. Beige heavy head, sticks to the side of the glass.

Roasty charry notes initially, then dark chocolate, coffee beans. Warms to a fleshy, smallgoods aroma.

Wonderful combination of the above, but on the palate. Chocolate bullets, coffee beans, ashy aftertaste (in a good way). Caramel at the back.

Some roasted grain astringency, dry finish.

Pours a dark (yes, a stout is dark) appearance with a pillowy foam beige head sitting neatly atop it. The head sticks around for the encore. Thick, wonderful lacing.

Nose has a nice brown sugar kind of character blended very well with burnt and roasted espresso kind of aroma. Kind of like if you stirred molasses into your coffee. Very, very subtle herb fragrance destroys this analogy. Pleasant nose though, just a bit simple.

Taste is full of subtle roasted flavours with Arabica coffee certainly being an apt comparison. It's all very underplayed and mild, and yet the flavours flourish and penetrate the palate very well. What I mean is, it's not watery. There's a sweetness that kicks in around the mid-palate, but again it's not intrusive, just mellow and pleasant. Mouthfeel is velvety and smooth.

This is a very mellow, smooth drinking beer with a lot to recommend it. While not being a towering emperor of a brew, it's very pleasant drinking, good for a winter's night by the fire.