Walking Stick Stout
Walking Man Brewing Co.

draught
IBU: 35
Fairly lasting, beige head. This looks black, with no hints of any brown, to be had here. Moderate level of quite toasted and roasted grain, with a nearly carbonized note, for the nose. Medium bodied with the nearly burnt malt, providing some bite. Medium light amount of dark roasted grain, with a mellow finish.

 

 

 

Poured in an imperial pint glass at Horse Brass Pub in SE Portland.

A- Finger width milk-chocolate head. Ok retention and great lacing. Black as a spelunker's ass.

S- Dark chocolate malts, espresso, delicious dark flavors.

T- Dark chocolate and peaty flavors. Bitter dark chocolate and roast taste.

M- Not as smooth as I would have liked. Some carbonation and a dry finish.

O- Delicious and wonderful smell, loses points on aroma. Beautiful example of my favorite style.

 

 

 

 

First had: on tap at their brewpub

*Edit: oops...mixed this up with my review for Jaywalker. But it's fixed now.

Poured a dark black with a huge, creamy, mocha head. Typical roasty stout profile in the nose, with touches of dark chocolate. Taste was big with roasted dark malts, a bit smokey for sure, with a nice mix of sweet chocolate and bitter coffee. Very smooth, just about full-bodied, quite drinkable.

$10 growler fill via NW Liquid Gold here in Vancouver, WA.

- Growler sat tightly capped in the fridge for a few days.. opened w/ a nice hiss.. heavy pour yielded very little mocha colored head.. quickly settled to almost nothing. But that is normal for a stout. Nice dark ruby brown brew.. can't see through the mass.

- Wonderful smell, and yet very light. Smells balanced as all hell. Light coffee, cocoa, somewhat sweet, herbal, and earthy bitter. Has a wonderful fresh aroma about it. Little grainy, and just good.

- I wasn't much in the mood for drinking, but my Steelers are on, and I had this growler.. so.. and it changed my mind quickly. Nice light balanced cocoa, bitter hops to where that is almost the only hop character present which is great for a stout. Little bread, coffee, and a light creamy fresh sweetness.

- Light to medium bodied, and so so easy to drink. Hard to believe a beer this balanced and light is 7.2% ABV. Nice stout carbonation, and a little drying.

- Overall a killer stout. I don't know why I have never tried this before. It is near perfect for a stout for me. Go get it if you can, because it is a fine local rarity.

On tap @ the Walking Man Brewing Co. (Stevenson, WA) on 8/25/11. Served in a pint glass.

Pours black in the glass, with a finger of dark mocha head. This maintains some rich edges, leaving back a good bit of spotty froth and brown oils down the sides of the glass. The aroma smells of chocolate, coffee, and oatmeal, which are all wrapped up in a blanket of earthy and citric hops. The oatmeal really sticks out to me here in the nose.

That chocolate and oatmeal combine to really give this a wonderful smooth sweetness on the palate here in the taste, which then gives way to more aggressive notes of roast and green citric character. The finish is dry and bitter, with a touch of lingering roast. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, perhaps a touch fuller feeling, with a smooth crispness to the carbonation that glides along very easily in the mouth. This is showing some of its 7% ABV at times and while it isn’t too bad, I would say the thickness does hold the drinkability of this back a tad.

This was quite full flavored and well balanced for an Oatmeal Stout, with that delicious and rich tasting mix of sweetness, fruit, and coffee really being the stand out to me. I would end every visit here with a pint of this if I was local to here. This was really tasty stuff!

On tap at Parkway Tavern, Tacoma, WA

A: Poured a jet black with good carbonation and a nice brown head. Looked very appetizing

S: Roasted notes with hints of chocolate

T: Has a nice roasted flavor with a tad bit of coffee but middle way through the chcolate and roasted malts really some out leaving this beer oh so tasty

M: Full mouthfeel and medium-full bodied beer. Finish is nice and smooth, creamy with roasted elements and chocolate

D: A must try for a stout guru

On tap at the Walking Man Brewing Co. in Stevenson, WA. The colour was jet black with a thin tan veil. The aroma was redolent of roasted malt with some dark Swiss chocolate and a touch of coffee. The palate was quite roasty with malt, dark Arabica coffee, cocoa mass, a smidgen of hop bite around the soft palate and very long finish.

On-tap at the Big River Grill in Stevenson, Wa... a couple blocks from the brewery.

A: Black with a creamy, tan head. Great retention & lacing.

S: Light roasted aroma has hints of coffee, chocolate and nut.

T: Great smoky/roasty flavour without being burnt or having harshness. Smooth coffee with hints of chocolate & nut, pumpernickel bread & oatmeal, balanced bitterness, alcohol is remarkably well-hidden.

M: Moderately full body is velvety smooth & creamy.

D: A great drinker.

Appearance – This is a dark, dark brown in color with a modest head.

Smell – The first thing that strikes me about this bouquet is its balance. The roastiness of the malts is present but not overpowering. There’s a super-fine chocolate here, one of the best that I’ve ever smelled, and a nice, high-quality coffee aroma. There is a light offsetting brown sugar sweetness to round things out. Well done.

Taste – The malt steps back a bit at the taste, but otherwise the rest of the characters from the nose find their way to the tongue. I didn’t really get any oatmeal at the smell but here at the taste I can find a light bit of it along with maybe just a dash of milk.

Mouthfeel – This is just short of medium-bodied and very, very smooth in the mouth.

Drinkability – If there ever was a session Oatmeal Stout this is it. The oatmeal was very faint, hell maybe I imagined it, but this baby went down particularly well.

Comment – Thanks to skyhand for sending me out a bomber if this wonderful stout from one of my favorite breweries.

Waling Stick Stout, growler

Poured into a balloon snifter, just for kicks.

Pours a thick, motor oil black, solid ebon with slim cocoa rings of foam.

Aroma; rich, roasted, even charred...like charcoal mixed with molasses...a little sweet, a little slick, a little toast. A deep, wonderful aroma.

Smooth and flavor-loaded once on the tongue. ...mmm, chocolatey...with a lick of licorice...bittersweet flavor continues laying about the palate. Tasty, tasty, tasty.

Full-bodied, rich and delicious...smooth, silky, easy-drinking, and substantial...
oh, so nice...

thanks, Kim!

Pint consumed on-tap at Uber Tavern in Seattle. It was listed as Walking Man Oatmeal Stout, not Walking Stick.

This came sporting a dark brown color, with a big, rocky tan head. Lots of lace was left on the sides of the glass.

This had a roasty, dark chocolate scent, along with a rich coffee and cream aroma.There's also a slight hoppy tang.

This was a very tasty beer. There's a dark chocolatey sweet bitterness that is melded with the taste of dark, roasty coffee that has been cut with cream. The finish has a dry hoppy bite. No sign of the relatively high abv.

This is a relatively full-bodied beer, with an oily, chocolaty mouthfeel.

An excellent beer, this would make one hell of a dessert. I could see myself happily consuming this after a large meal. Since the abv is hidden, it might almost be too drinkable.

Served cold in a standard pint glass.

A - Deep black with medium brown highlights and a thin tan head. An average amount of lace collects and sticks well.

S - Sweet nuts and fruity ale scents join the pleasant light coffee aroma.

M - Medium full mouthfeel, gentle carbonation with roasted notes and a sweet lighly spiced hop finish.

T - Deep coffee flavors w/ sweet caramel notes. A light burnt/chalky flavor comes in mid-taste. This does not detract from the dark roasted character but gives an interesting accent. The finish seems dry, there is little hop flavor, but you can tell they are there intermittently. Sweet cream tinges accent the coffee taste. This is very roasty and full of flavor.

D - Not any where near in taste what it is packing in strength. By that I mean it tastes smooth, the alcohol is well hidden. A stout that does not dissapoint with deeply roasty, full flavored qualities. The depth is very full and tastes like a stout should-full of body and nicely layered. Well done Walking Man!