Nitro Stout
Railyard Brewing

Railyard Nitro Stout is thick, viscous, and absolutely jet black. The head is dense, the color of coffee and cream, and in no rush to go anywhere.

The sweetness of milk stout is the first thing I smell. Immediately following, I pick up a combination of cocoa powder and roasted grain. Roasted grain reminds me simultaneously of morning coffee and toasted bread. Fresh earth provides a decent through note, holding all the other aromas together.

On the tongue, Railyard is smooth, lush, and accessible with its up front flavors of lactose. Flavors of cocoa powder and roasted grain give me the necessary morning coffee quality I enjoy in a good stout. Flavors of fresh earth give balance to the richer, sweeter flavors of lactose and hints of caramel. Finish has just enough of a roasted quality to balance everything else before taking that next sip.

It's smooth, tasty, and nicely balanced. It's not too intense in its roasted qualities, making it accessible for anyone who might be hesitant to dive into their first stout. And yet, Railyard doesn't sacrifice any of this stout's character in making it accessible.

 

Appearance - Pours a jet black with two fingers of creamy mocha head.

Smell - roasted malts, cocoa, coffee bean, earthy and leafy hops, hint of dark fruits, and earthy yeast.

Taste - roasted malts, cocoa, and coffee bean upfront. The earthy, leafy hops, and hint of dark fruits come through next. The earthy yeast finishes off the brew off.

Mouthfeel - Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes smooth and creamy with the malts, cocoa, and coffee lingering.

Overall - A pleasant and highly drinkable nitro stout. This one is full of flavour and worth a go.

 

473ml can poured into tulip.

Pours almost totally black with cola edges, with a skinny ring of cappuccino head that leaves limestone cliffside lace as it recedes.

Smells of roasted caramel malt, fresh coffee grounds, dusted chocolate drink mix, wood smoke, mixed dark fruit and mild leafy hops.

Tastes of iced black coffee, caramel squares, mild milk chocolate, smoky ash, more muddled fruitiness and soft green hops.

Feels kind of flat. Medium bodied with very little in the way of bubbles. Finishes dry.

Verdict: Recommended. Don't know if I got a not-particularly-good can or if I'm just not used to nitro beers, but it felt like it was almost flat. Otherwise, it was pretty good.

This is better than one what I have heard from others, and I think some regiment of the recipe has happened over the past few batches. The current version has a nice Carmella chocolate tone with a nice full sweetness without being over the top like a milk Stout. The nitro is just icing on the cake. Will definately drink again

A- I quite like the eyeball on the label of this can! Now....this is what a head should look like!......upon an aggressive pour that included being completely upside down, which is recommended by the way, I was greeted to a several finger thick, dense, creamy, mocha froth colored head, that settles quickly but only down to around two full fingers, and retains well too. The beer itself is motor oil black, thick and oily looking and the lacing is rather dull, and even a little watery if I dare say so. Above average nonetheless......

S- While sweet lactose sugar is noted, I find this Stout dry in aroma from start to finish. Big time pure cocoa powder that provides some bitterness, black coffee, vanilla bean smoothness, dark chocolate, Earthy grains and grassy qualities, and as far as the malts go, there is a generous portion of chocolate and black malt detected as well. The nitro provides a settling balancing nature where nothing really outshines anything else in this area....the finish is dry as mentioned before, but also has some leafy bitterness from the oat flakes and of course some hop cones too.

T- This department isn't as impressive as I had hoped to be honest.....I find everything kind of watery and the flavors seem 'fresh' and not rounded enough. With this said, there is some good to it......heavy dark chocolate/cocoa powder is noted, with Earthy roots, such as black licorice, some bready notes and an oat grain dry finish. The flavors do linger on the palate for thirty seconds or so but while this is all well and good, there is just something that tells me that for a milk stout, it doesn't quite meet my standard.

M/O- A little light on the body for my liking, but the carbonation is tight and mellow enough to pass the grade. Would I drink this again, yes!......it's not an offensive Stout by any means, but I don't feel that this really fits into the nitro milk stout category, but rather something closer to an Irish dry or even more a porter. It is fairly toasty, not really that sweet, and without enough body. Definitely needs a little work but it's respectable.

 

 

473ml can - creepy eyeball-type thing on the label.

This beer pours a fairly solid black, with subtle amber basal edges, and two fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and somewhat fizzy brown head, which leaves a bit of low-lying streaky lace around the glass as it quickly evaporates.

It smells of lightly roasted, bready and doughy caramel malt, anise candies, some muddled dark orchard fruitiness, medium cocoa powder, faint cafe-au-lait, and some very tame earthy, weedy, and floral green hop bitters. The taste is grainy and bready caramel malt, a touch of free-range ashiness, bittersweet chocolate fudge, still hard to parse bruised fruit, day-old coffee grounds, indistinct earthy spice, and more understated leafy, herbal, and musky floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is quite reserved, what with the presence of the palate-pleasing nitro, the body a decent middleweight, and generally smooth, but for a hint of wet char getting all uppity here. It finishes off-dry, the malt, cocoa, and coffee notes lingering with the most panache.

Overall - this is a well-made version of the style, however, the nitro seems to be at odds with the roasty character, and that causes some of the air to come out of the proverbial balloon. Yes, a tad uneven, but in the end, easy enough to put back.