Shucks!
Noble Beast Brewing Company

 

stout pours black as night. Small head that quickly dwindles to a small ring at the glass edge. Carbonation is modest, but mouthfeel is solid.

I didn’t read up on this beer despite it being brewed at a local brewery that I like. The nose made me double take. A Rauchbier? No, it’s a stout but the smoke dominates the aroma. Also present is a briny smell and charred barley. That reads stranger than it smells.

Taste is more along the lines of an English style stout: malty char fuels the flavor and only a wee bit of bitterness at finish. Once you’ve smelled the oysters and shells, then the taste shows. The smoke brings everything together.

 

Well, in appearance, this certainly looks like a natural oyster habitat, displaying as a muddy fudge brown with a moderately short tan head that settles to a fine film and curled creamy collar.

I saw how many actual oysters they put into this, and while it has a very earthy, dusty tobacco quality with a light twang, it's not substantially different from any other oyster stout, (except that its quality is way up there), particularly in that it's not really got any distinct salinic oystery-ness....

...oh wait, wow! There it is: on the exhale, just a hint of that brackishly refreshing protein surfaces.

Also, digging into subsequent cans, it seems a unique touch of smoke that escaped me the first time around is indeed present. It's even got a peat-like characteristic to it, especially right out of the can with a quick first sip. Still, it's only an accenting quality to the otherwise super earthy, ashy and dusty yet tangy base, making for a really uniquely quaffable stout.