Third Bird
Little Beast Brewing

 

16oz can

Pours a finger of brown head into my Nonic. Retention is somewhat poor and the head mostly disappears within a minute. Lacing is basically nonexistent, minus some froth here and there. Body is completely black, no hues. It looks ok all things considered, but certainly sub-par.

Nose is roasty with some faint chocolate notes. Smells somewhat dry. The aroma is good, a touch more sugar would be nice though.

The flavor is somewhat watery for the first part of the palate, finishes with a healthy dose of roasted malt. Overall it could definitely use more character.

Carbonation is medium-high. Pretty darn light bodied which is surprising considering the oats. Definitely on the drier side, not much sweetness to speak of. Bitterness is low, but certainly a little bit of bitter roasted malt. Overall the mouthfeel is ok, it’s a little light bodied for a stout, and while it’s not too dry, I wouldn’t mind some sweetness to balance things.

Drinkability is pretty good, nothing abrasive here.

Overall this is ok, but there is certainly a little to be desired in the flavor and body.

while it is their wild stuff that first set the hook for me, i have come to like all their beer, even though they were kind of jerks when we went there last summer, which will probably always sit a little angsty with me, like why?!, but this is another great beer from them, the liquid trumps the taproom experience a hundred to one for me, which is the way anyone should rather have it, no? i taste and feel the oats, its light in texture but still creamy, and it has dark chocolate and raisin notes without being desserty at all, which is hard to do. smoothness on point, bitterness present but pretty low, and not so much going on that it really needs all that much contemplation, which is a compliment. silk and chocolate and a vanilla hint, but whats striking here is how natural and how grain derived it all is. the yeast is cool too though, seems english the right way, and its dry to finish, almost irish style in that way, i could drink ten of these. certainly not the style i love these guys for, but its cool they can do this so exquisitely too. little beast slays! also this can art is on point, would borderline get this tattooed on my neck...

Poured a dark brown, almost black with a thin tan head.

Tasted light and thin of malt, caramel, coffee. It has a very thin mouthfeel also which an oatmeal stout should be thicker.

Bought from Beer Drop. This is a good stout; but it is a bit bitter and very dry for what I think of as a sweet and silky style.

Third Bird Looks pretty average, very modest foam and swirls after a few minutes. Smells are mostly dark malts and coffee. Only in the Tastes does a bitter-sweet chocolate come through; well-balanced. Oatmeal seems to produce a smoothness that coats the mouth; don't know what happened here. I like to think of oatmeal stouts as a substitute for dessert. But Third Bird is better suited for a contemplative early winter day.

Despite that unfriendly review of Third Bird, I do want to give Little Beast some high Overall Hugs for a 5 year old venture. This shop (formed by a master-brewer and a crafter in the kitchen) are, I presume, a couple working well to unleash the kitchen's mysteries of brew and food. Their menu is creative and, I'm sure, a pleasure to eat. They make many successful saisons, my favorite style. And their Little Beasts are the little microbes that make ales funky. So my mistake today was not to order a saison; hopefully Beer Drop will have one of those on order soon. Cheers !

Poured from a 1 Pint can . Canned on 12/01/2020
A: Pours a very dark brown/black with a nice thick tan head.
S: Coffee and toffee on the nose.
T: Very light flavors of coffee and caramel/toffee but a watery taste is there for me.
F: Nice carbonation but a thin feel to it.
O: An ok stout.