Unrefinery
Sapwood Cellars Brewery

UnrefineryUnrefinery
Beer Geek Stats
From:
Sapwood Cellars Brewery
 
Maryland, United States
Style:
Foreign / Export Stout
ABV:
6.5%
Score:
+7 ratings needed
Avg:
4.19 | pDev: 0.95%
Ratings:
3 | reviews: 3
Status:
Active
Rated:
Sep 02, 2023
Added:
Feb 27, 2023
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
There is a stout for every season and a stout for every region! This one is inspired by the versions you find in the Caribbean. We added unrefined cane sugar to the kettle. The molasses notes from the muscovado add savory sophistication to the raisin-plum of Belgian Special B malt, and mocha roast of German Chocolate malt. The result is a stronger-sweeter stout that is a notch below “Imperial,” but bigger and creamier than the run-of-the-(sugar)-mill!
Recent ratings and reviews.
Photo of Bouleboubier
Reviewed by Bouleboubier from New Jersey

4.16/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
(16 oz can, canned on 01/25/23; purchased cold single at the brewery last week... poured into my Belhaven pub pint)

L: dark brown liquid, ruby highlights; tall, near tight, solid sponge of khaki-colored foam... keeps a thin collar; virtually no lace

S: brown bread, old wood (hickory?, driftwood?), molasses cookie, blackstrap rum... dark chocolate eventually emerges, and it all ends up smelling like a molasses-infused chocolate cake... roast-forward, but lacking depth

T: dark rum, burnt sugars up front, slightly raisiny flash in the middle, but before the finish a robustly roasted grain swells up and lingers long in the aftertaste, nearly tasting like chewing on roasted barley, maybe a little too much; any rum(my-sweet) flavors have all but disappeared by this point, however, some deeply-burnt caramel (L 180-250?) can be sensed... dark fruity rum flavors do appear again midway through, also a vague vanilla note at the back... really not that sweet; it's just enough to be moreish in a way, due to its relative dryness, but some complexity in sugar is desired; malty in spades though; like eating the grains

F: not terribly viscous; a slight oily slide into the finish, but its contours are fairly tapered... it's just the roast smoke toasting the taste buds, fumigating the palate roof... tough topic here: the mouthfeel of an export stout; depending on if its from the Caribbean, or south Asia, or a recreation from historic Guinness recipes, the feel is closest to the latter, moderately dense body, but cut dry in the finish

O: this can't be mistaken for any other kind of stout (or can it?!?), though I have tasted some similar malt/sugar flavors in some De Molen bottles... certainly a unique, arguably limit-pushing burnt sugar extravaganza... this reminds me more of a beefier Guinness Extra Stout (or one of their other one-off 'historic' variations), just with a few degrees more concentrated sugar intensity (2224)
Sep 02, 2023
Photo of VABA
Reviewed by VABA from Virginia

4.25/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours a dark color with a slight tan head and lacing
Aroma has generous molasses and roasted chocolate hints
The taste follows the nose with a well balanced molasses and roasted chocolate flavor
A medium bodied well carbonated beer
A good Foreign Stout
Jun 11, 2023
Photo of BJB13
Reviewed by BJB13 from Maryland

4.17/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
16 ounce can poured into a nonic pint glass.
Canned 1/25/23

L: Clear, very dark brown, 3 finger beige head, foam is medium density and persistent.
S: Light roasted malt, coffee, hints of chocolate.
T: Aggressive bitterness , roasted malt, short medium sweetness to open before bitterness dominates, sweet cream seems to develop taming the bitterness and bringing balance.
F: Medium body, smooth and soft, becomes creamy as it warms.
O: Very nice, gets better as it goes.
Jun 10, 2023