Black Tail Stout
Howling Henry's Brewery

 

This next horizontal as part of the eradication of The Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody is going to be fun, if nothing else. I first met co-owner & brewer Greg Schertzer at the Annual Capital City Invitational Beer Festival, held at Appalachian B.C. in Harrisburg several years ago & continuing. He seemed to be a passionate sort, but I wondered as to his sustainability. I no longer doubt in his longevity & he even came to The FGBS recently for a tasting of his wares. Howling Henry is his beagle, who sits in on every brew day & howls. Ha!

From the bottle: "Crafting Beer Without Rules".

Once again, poor Henry howled as I Pop!ped the cap & commenced a gentle pour. An in-glass swirl raised just under three fingers of foamy, soapy, rocky, deep-tan/light-brown head with modest retention. Color was Black/Opaque (SRM = 44), allowing ZERO light penetration. Nose had a pronounced dark/baker's chocolate bittersweetness as advertised. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste, while chocolaty, was not as bitter as the nose had led me to expect. That is not to suggest that it was sweet, either. It had a light bittersweetness offset by a light smokiness, giving it a kind of cocoa flavor. Interesting. The finish had notes of coffee, making it semi-dry to dry on the finish. Given what is stated in the notes, I would say that this one is spot-on.

A little thin. Needs more smoothness to enhance mouthfeel. Taste a dark/bakers chocolate (pale chocolatr malt?). Overall a good first effort and look forward to more. Poured from a 12 oz. bottle.

This is one of my favorite stouts. I had some at a local restaurant and ended up getting a case at distributor. The only thing I slightly agree with other reviews is the feel but not overly dramatic about it as they are. I can't remember if the one I had at restaurant was draft but seemed to have better feel. Still not an issue for me personally.

Im sampling a cellar temp 12 oz bottle poured into a snifter. Picked up a bottle over the holidays. The beer pours jet black with a large rocky tan head of 3.5 inches even with the gentlest of pours. I cant even get the whole bottle into my glass on one pour. The head recedes slowly to a frothy surface layer with clingy windowpane lattice.
The aroma is a little chalky chocolate, like a dry hot chocolate mix and some roasted malt notes. The nose isnt very robust but doesnt seem flawed either.
First sip reveals a slightly lighter body than expected and very very fine tingly carbonation. The texture is a little thin and goes down very easy.
Flavor is some roasted malt that is almost smokey and hints of bakers chocolate. I do get a little bit of grassy or herbal hops on the finish, and on the burps, but nowhere is any alcohol present.
This is a simple straightforward American stout that could benefit from a thicker body or silkier texture. Im glad to have tried a local bottle from near where I grew up, but I wouldnt chase this beer down unless the recipe is tweaked to give a little more heft to the physical traits of the beer.

Let me start by saying this is a pretty good stout. A good interpretation on a traditional English stout, I think - in the strong porter genre. I poured this from a 12oz bottle into a pilsner glass- it may have been slightly over-carbonated.

There is a bitter, burnt aroma with a matching taste, perhaps a bit much black patent. The coffee notes were present, but the chocolate notes were somewhat subdued. Slightly chewy mouthfeel.

I'm not sure why the description suggests this is a sweet stout - I could not detect any sweetness and I don't think this was the goal of the brewer for this beer.