Pooka Irish Cream Golden Stout
Rusty Rail Brewing Company

Got in a BIF from Ozzylizard. 16 ounce can into tulip glass, canned on 01/23/2022. Pours moderately hazy/cloudy golden yellow color with a 2 finger dense and rocky off white head with fantastic retention, dense soapy lacing, and streaming carbonation on the glass. Aromas of vanilla, lactose, cocoa, coffee, cracker, bread, herbal, floral, grass, peppercorn, and yeast earthy/fruitiness. Weak and a little too fruity in the nose. Taste follows with vanilla, lactose, cocoa, coffee, nuttiness, cracker, bread, herbal, floral, grass, peppercorn, pine, and yeast earthy/fruitiness. Light pine, herbal, spicy bitter finish. Medium-plus carbonation and body; balanced creamy/grainy malt and lactose with sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Very clean finish with no cloying/astringency. A bit crisp from carbonation. Overall a very good beer for the style, but I've had others that have a larger coffee presence. Good oat/lactose body, but maybe a tad thin feeling from the higher carbonation. Minimal warmth of 8%, very drinkable for the ABV due to the low sweetness.

Possibly the best testing beer of my life.

 

16oz can into a pint glass. Stamp no help in determining age.

Looks pretty good in the glass. Hazy honey colored body. Decent bright white head persists almost throughout, though leaves little lacing.

There is a strong aroma of sweet coffee.

On tasting, sweet and creamy coffee. No roast or bitterness for balance, but I think with this beer, that works in its favor.

Mouth closer to full than medium, fi ish creamy and slightly sweet. There is a faint metallic note right at the end.

Overall, enjoyable beer with a leg of lamb. Can see that some might find it a bit cloying, but works for this sweet tooth.

Rusty Rail Brewing Co. "Pooka Irish Cream Golden Stout"
16 fl. oz. can coded "020322". Samples on 041322.
$2.99 @ Total WIne & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: I'm a little trepidatious about this as the last beer that I tasted with Irish Cream flavoring was a disaster. It's poured a hazy deep gold beneath a finger's width of creamy white foam. The aroma is sweetish and nutty with a hint of chocolate, a flicker of vanilla, and just an edge of ground coffee. It's not bad so far. The taste is pretty good as well. I get more coffee, more chocolate, a bit of vanilla, and just a touch of nuttiness. I initially thought that it smelled like almond but I'm not really finding that here so maybe I imagined it. Ah, no I'm wrong, it's there in the finish for sure. The coffee is like a basic medium roast Arabica bean that's maybe been in the bulk bin at the local market for a little too long. I don't mean anything negative in saying that, just that it's not bright and fresh and oily like you'll sometimes find in a coffee beer, and I feel that in this case it works. The malt is grainy and lightly sweet, but beyond that I'm not sure as I just can't tell what's coming from where. I'll assume that it rested in the tank on top of coffee beans for a day or so but you never know. I once worked for a brewery that made their "juicy IPA" by adding orange juice to the tank instead of using hops so anything is possible. There's some bitterness to it and it's balanced, finishing mainly dry with some bitterness lingering. Ahh, you know what makes that bitterness linger, at least for me? It's the lactose. For whatever reason I'm very sensitive to lactose and it tends to stick in my mouth, especially at the back of the throat, and in this case it's holding those bitter resins with it. That means that you might not find this beer as bitter as I do, although it's not really even that bitter to begin with, it's just sticking with me. Haha! It lists 12 IBUs right on the label, so there you go. It also says it's 8% and I don't really get that. Normally I'll find the alcohol at least to have a 'presence' even if it doesn't stand out but I didn't get that here - ehhh, just a little bit. That's probably adding to my heightened impression of the bitterness though. I thought I was going to have some good head retention and lacing on this but that didn't happen. The head retention was fair, and the lacing, well I guess that was just fair as well. In the mouth it's medium bodied and creamy-smooth. All in all I think it's nicely done. I still have about a third of it left and I've enjoyed it and I'll finish it up. Golden stouts are kind of a weird beast to begin with so to get it right with extra flavors added in is a job well done.
Review #7,882

 

Not a Stout based on color…Hazy deep gold with stout (?) 2 finger head that lasts leaving soapy lace. I have a cold so aromas elude me.. Vanilla is what I get from this.. sorry if that’s vague but I am enjoying this…full mouthfeel with mild carbonation..I likey!!

 

Canned on: ????

A - Nice dark medium golden hue with a thin layer of white foam resting on top. Carbonation is moderate

S - Toasty/roasty malt aroma with some cream and a small amount of coffee bean.

T - Follows the nose. Roasty sweet coffee malt, toasted chocolate, and cream from start to finish. Ends balanced with some lingering lingering roasty chocolate and cream.

M - Medium body with soft carbonation on the tongue and semi-dry on the finish.

O - This is a pretty interesting and fantastic stout worth checking out.

I had this at the Susquehanna Valley Country Club today. What a surprise! It is delicious. I had to have it verified it was called a Stout. I am still trying to understand.

Pours a golden amber with a cream colored head.

Malt grain buttered toast coffee and bitter herb.

Creamy malt grain, buttered toast, bitter herb and coffee.