Darkling
Cannery Brewing Company

 

Poured from a 473ml can.

Appearance - Pours a jet black with three fingers of frothy mocha tan head.

Smell - earthy, leafy, and floral hops, roasted malts, oats, cocoa, milk chocolate, coffee bean, nutty aromas, and earthy yeast.

Taste - earthy, leafy, and floral hops upfront. The roasted malts, oat, cocoa, milk chocolate, coffee bean, and nutty aromas follow suit. The earthy yeast rounds out the brew.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes smooth with the roasted malts, cocoa, and coffee bean lingering.

Overall - A flavourful oatmeal stout that delivers on all fronts. This one is definitely a nice brew to sample on this rainy Cowtown evening.

 

 

Poured from a bomber into a Spiegelau stout glass.
L- Pitch black with a slight amber glow and a gorgeous, thick mocha head.
S- Yeast, dates, blackberries, strawberries, espresso, dark chocolate, grass, vanilla, caramel.
T- Vanilla bean ice cream, dark chocolate, espresso, and dark fruit. Notes of cinnamon, garlic, and hops on the finish.
F- Full bodied, very creamy, with a nice dry bitterness.
O- This beer strikes a perfect balance between richness and fruitiness. The creaminess makes it quite the treat and it is not over indulgent on the yeast flavor like similar beers of this style. Most of all it has minimal sweetness which allows the flavors to stand on their own.

pours from a bomber.black as night with a very slight coffee coloured foamy head, reduces to a ring . nice lacing.
smell is not very strong, but i get serious roasts and malty goodness coming thru. just subtle. may just be too cold.
I tend to forget and chill stouts too much. tastes chocolatey and smooth, like a milkshake of malty stout awesomeness.
ends with a buttery kind of roasty flavour. very nice mouthfeel, sharp to start, then fades out to the roasty side. a nice bitter end, refreshing and very drinkable, which is surprising in a way, I love the occasional oatmeal stout, and I've been exploring the darker malty side of things,& I had expected this to be a bit heavier, so finding it very drinkable is a good thing.
a nice relaxing stout after a very cold windy day. perfect choice.

 

Part of the joy of travel is the opportunity to find new beer. Darkling is an interesting looking beer - definitely lighter than one would expect for an oatmeal stout. The requisite roasted malt, black licorice and chocolate notes are evident in abundance, so there is no mistaking what this beer is all about. This is much less about char and darkness than it is a well-rounded and enjoyable beer.

 

 

 

Cannery Brewing 'Darkling' Oatmeal Stout @ 5.5% , served from a 650 ml bottle purchased for $6
A-pour is cola brown from the bottle to a near black in the glass with hints of red along the glass edge peeking thru a small tan head leaving a spotty lace along the pint after every sip
S-oatmeal
T-sweet creamy smooth & rich tasting oatmeal stout
MF-ok carbonation , feels full bodied
Ov-nice beer , possible good oatmeal stout
prost LampertLand

 

 

650ml bottle, so named, I presume, after Lord Byron's 'Darkness' poem, with an excerpt written in cursive script adorning the bleak black label.

This beer pours a clear, very dark mahogany amber colour, with two fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and well bubbly beige head, which leaves some streaky storm front lace around the glass as it gently subsides.

It smells of roasted pale and caramel malt, bittersweet chocolate, dry cafe-au-lait, muddled dark orchard fruit, a twinge of black licorice, and faint earthy, weedy, and musty hops. The taste is bready, somewhat doughy caramel malt, a bit of wet ash, chalky sweet cocoa, overripe red apples and bruised pears, a growing earthy anise character, and more plain leafy, floral, and herbal hop bitterness.

The carbonation is quite light and understated in its softly rendered frothiness, the body a decent medium weight, and generally smooth, with a pleasantly engaging, if perhaps a bit shy at first, creaminess. It finishes well off-dry, the roastiness having more or less left the building, while the gritty cereal malt and perky vegetal licorice thing carry on and on.

Well, this is certainly one of the odder renditions of an oatmeal stout that I've yet come across - starting with that still predominantly amber colour - say what? For something with such dark overtones in the marketing presentation, you'd think the stuff inside would be black as night. Not so, but in the end, it doesn't matter, as the flavour and beguiling mouthfeel win out.

Tasty toasted hops with a kiss of caramel