Steer You Right Stout
Farmstrong Brewing Company

Pours black with two fingers of dark khaki head that dissipates into a small cap and leaves sheets of lacing.

Red wine, roasted coffee, chocolate, cream and umami in the nose.

The red wine mixes with some berries and light toffee in the taste, and the umami is thankfully absent. There’s strong dark chocolate mid-palate. Nice roasted malts and some char show in the finish, making for a bitter aftertaste. There’s a hint of warming alcohol, too.

It’s lighter bodied than I expected, but nothing inappropriate for the style. There’s strong carbonation in there, too.

I like the bitter aspects of this, particularly on a chilly evening, but the fruitiness wore on me after a while.

Pour is jet black, medium tan head. Aromas have the obligatory char/dark chocolate, but there's a HEAVY caramel/toffee thing going on. NOTE: I absolutely LOVE caramel/toffee notes in a big stout.

The taste is creamy, with the char mingling exquisitely with the caramel/toffee, plus there's a smokiness coming forward as this warms.

I should've sat on this, but I couldn't resist cracking it open now. I'm not sad that I made that choice, because this is excellent.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours black, opaque in the glass, with a fine one finger light brown head with great retention and lacing. Aroma of dark toasted and caramel malt, licorice and slight cocoa. Flavor is dark toasted, chocolate and mild caramel malt, licorice, cocoa, hints of toffee; mild hop bitterness in finish. Remarkably creamy with a great mouth feel evidence of oats. A somewhat offbeat stout, with more licorice and light caramel than I have experienced in other stouts. And it works quite nicely. The flavors are nicely integrated. The body is really closer to an oatmeal stout with both the creamy flavor and mouth feel expected from oats. The creaminess really enhances the chocolate notes. ABV is well covered. A well executed, creamy, full bodied stout that has a unique, but satisfying flavor profile. I like this a lot.

 

 

 

Really dark with just a wisp of foam in the Troubadour tulip. It was the last gasp of the keg and didn't quite fill my 32 oz jug, so I won't judge the carbonation. But it is still sparkly on the tongue. Also thick but lively.

Licorice is the first taste I get. Long dark roasted malt flavor with just touch of the burnt ends. Winey and a wee bit chalky, but altogether pleasant. You can feel the burn of the unaccountably high alcohol. Rich and malty with that dark zing. One of my favorites from Farmstrong.