Texas Tea Honey Stout
Neustadt Springs Brewery

 

Seems thin for a stout. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Neustadt Springs Brewery’s Texas Tea Honey Stout. 5.5% alc.

The beer has a thin beige head. The colour of the beer is dark brown - almost black.

The aroma is faint. Smell is brown bread and malt. I expected a stronger aromatic profile.

The taste is simply delicious. Think dark malt, brown bread, hints of cocoa or chocolate. There was no bitterness at play but there is a slight sweetness.

The beer is medium to full bodied and quite smooth.

There’s no tea in the beer. I believe that’s in reference to the colour...Texas tea...the look of oil.

There is some honey that might contribute to the bit of sweetness I detect.

Whatever the case may be, this is a nice beer. I’d certainly try it again.

Another Neustadt from hopsolutely. Cheers!

From a can into a pint glass.

APPEARANCE: Pours our clear brown and yields a one finger, medium looking, foamy, light tan head with decent retention. Head quickly fades to a thin film. Clear black body with medium carbonation. Splotchy wisp and ring remain leaving touches of lacing down the glass.

SMELL: Roasted notes, chocolate and cocoa, light cream notes, some touches of leather and coffee as well. Mild but certainly characterful.

TASTE: Roasted, leather and toffee notes up front. Medium finish of leather, dark malts, sweet dark fruits, some light cocoa, and bitter, earthy hops. Touches of coffee and leather linger. A little mild but enjoyable enough.

PALATE: Medium body and medium levels of carbonation. A little watery on the palate, goes down fine and finishes a bit mouth-coating. Could be creamier for the style.

OVERALL: Okay I guess. Perfectly average, really. Much better than their porter, that's for sure. Not quite as bold and enjoyable as other English stouts, perhaps, but there's certainly enough character here and it's plenty drinkable as well. Something I wouldn't jump at again, but I'd gladly drink one if I found it in front of me. Try it if you get the chance. Cheers again guys!

Flashback #299 - Sampled a few years ago at Le Mondial.

Light mouth feel with a hint of creamyness. This is sweet but with subtle chocolate hints and a definite smokey presence.

 

 

Tallboy can picked up fresh from the brewery, listed at 6%. I decided to take a little detour through Neustadt on the way back from my last camping trek, hoping that they might have a few one-offs or brewery-only seasonals available - and lo and behold, this is one of several I managed to grab. Never had a honey stout before, but damned if it doesn't sound like a tasty concept. Served slightly chilled.

Pours a total pitch black colour, topped at first with two fingers of puffy, foamy, tan-coloured head that melts away fairly rapidly over the next minute or two. It eventually settles into a thin, creamy cap and narrow collar. Not a lot of lace, but attractive otherwise. I am really digging the aroma - a solid mix of roasted malts, mocha, dark chocolate, treacle and some faint floral hop notes. Not overly complex, but they blend together very nicely and the end result is one enticing bouquet.

Starting off in the flavour department is a pleasant mixture of dark roasted malts, cocoa and hazelnuts, followed up by a mild honey sweetness. I can also pick out some dark fruit tanginess, with the finish offering up some leafy, almost herbal hops and a charred coffee bean note that hangs on into the aftertaste. Flavour-wise it comes together quite nicely, but I really wish it were a bit bolder/more intense. On the lighter side of medium-bodied, with moderate carbonation and a somewhat creamy mouthfeel. Smooth, tasty, and extremely drinkable for a 6% stout.

Final Grade: 3.73, an approachable B grade. Neustadt Springs' Texas Tea Honey Stout is a yummy brew, but there is still room for improvement. The sweetness and the roasty aspects of the flavour profile are balanced exquisitely - this is a very well-brewed beer; I just wish it had a little more oomph. Minor quibbles aside, this is still a pretty good stout - and in a market so starved for quality, locally-made, year-round stouts, it's a brew that really needs to find a way onto LCBO shelves. Worth a try, and one that would enter my rotation if it became available locally.

 

 

 

One of Neustadt's best thus far!
Beautiful dark colour, nearly black with limited head and no lacing. Aroma of caramelized malts with milky, oaky tannins. Flavour isn't as robust or complex, but still very enjoyable. Roasted malts and dark chocolate lactic tones. Well balanced with little residual aftertaste.

On tap as recommended by the bartender at Black Tomato. From notes.

A - Poured black. One finger of creamy light brown head. Spotty lace with no retention.

S - Slightly floral, teas, flowers and a slight roasty note.

T - Roasty, floral, chocolate, teas and flowers again. Really tasty.

M - Nice carbonation. Medium to full body, sweet floral finish.

O/D - A neat one coming out of Ontario. Sessionable. A nice change for our neck of the woods. This feels alot more like something I would find at Mikkeller Bar rather than in Ottawa. Good to see some experiementation.

Cask at C'est What?

A - Dark brown, slightly black with a small amount of off white head.

S - Some dark malts and chocolate. Light nose.

T - Cocoa, roasted malts, some dark fruit, hazelnut and chocolate. As the beer warms up the hazelnut flavours become more evident.

M - Medium body. Light carbonation.

Pint at C'est What.

Pours almost black, with a super dense and creamy cap of light brown head. Looks fantastic, and could be confused for something on nitro instead. Nose has a bit of coffee and milk chocolate; a gentle creamy quality is here too. Pleasant and simple. Taste does just the same with more coffee, and again, a creamy milk chocolate type feel. Some bitterness and roast linger in the finish. Reasonable mouthfeel that lends a substantial creaminess to the palate. Some dryness in the finish, and a general good feel overall. A simple and relatively standard but effective milk stout. Certainly something I could revisit.

Can from the brewery

A: Inky black body with a big head that leaves minimal lacing.

S: Quite metallic and sulfuric. Coffee dominates the nose. some dark fruits. Overall, not the most appealing scent.

T: same off profiles in the nose are present here, although more muted.

M: low carbonation with creamy feel. not too sticky. medium/full bodied. a little dry but not parching.

D: Ive had this before and thought it a better beer than this. This time however, I'm not impressed and am toiling my way though this pint.

Had this on cask at C'est What. Pours a deep brown colour with little hints of amber around the edges. Small off-white head with good retention and some mild lacing. I think I can smell some tea, but that may just be power of suggestion. Dark fruits with some mild roast in the smell. Flavour is quite sweet, almost no bitterness. Mouthfeel is a little bit thin, I wouldn't have thought this was a stout. A pretty good beer.

Off cask at C'est What?, in Toronto.

Texas Tea looks indeed like something pumped out the bottom of an oil well; it appears black and almost sludgy. But the light above is quite dim and when inspected against a brighter backdrop, brown highlights abound and it starts to look much more like a long-steeped Earl Grey tea. Either way, the name seems (doubly) appropriate.

They say everything is bigger in Texas but this aroma isn't so profound. Toasty brown malts and roasted barley dominate with remiss notes of cream and hazelnut to accent. The aura of black tea may be noted purely because the power of suggestion but there is definitely something earthy, herbal, bitter and lightly smoky and faintly savory about it.

Texas Tea is not 'oil rich', but it is well-off in terms of flavour: dry, roasted barley and toasty brown malts tower over the tastes of chocolate-covered hazelnuts and cinnamon spice that underline and embellish the beer. That cinnamon spice and bold hazelnut flavour (or something) make the beer notably distinct and really blur style guidelines.

The extent to which the easy carbonation of the cask benefits the beer can hardly be understated. Despite its relatively burly and roasty character, the beer drinks (and sits in the belly) light as a cloud. Moreover, its delicate coffee-bean like roast and acidity would likely collapse under the weight of conventional (or especially nitro) carbonation.

I'd also expect the distinctly bitter, pithy taste of the hops - that same taste that strangles out all those roasty, chocolaty flavours on the finish - to retreat into hiding if not for such a temperate, permitting carbonation. Most significantly, the beer drinks with all the same milky, creamy texture (and a fraction of the sweetness) as a frothy latte.

Texas Tea is not plum but pert near; it's both hat and cattle. Neustadt is a competent maker of cask beer, C'est What? is a competent caretaker of cask beer, and so I'm not surprised that this (frankly unusual and hard to classify beer) was in such tip top shape and so deliciously enjoyable - nor that I'm already fix'in for another! Yeehaw!!

Can from the brewery poured a deep opaque brown , smallish mocha cap, decent lacing.

Aroma is pungent with roast grains cocoa and a honey sweetness just below the grassy-spicy hops.

Rounded mellow character chewy mouth feel,

Big roast-cocoa-malt with a underlying tangy honey note which is pleasantly sweet nowhere near cloying. Rich roasty- cereal body gives way to a long wet finish punctuated with roast and some char astringency and a light hop bite.

A unique take on a sweet stout with local honey substituting for lactose usually used in these sweet stouts and Pacific Jades out shining the traditional goldings. A milk stout with a couple of twists ....Another great release from this brewer.