All Out Extra Dark
Athletic Brewing Co.

L - black with a tan head that dissipates quickly, leaving behind a thin cap
S - hops and roasted dark malt - oddly piney hops.
T - follows the nose - roasted dark malt, slight chocolate, some caramel, with piney hops on the back end.
F - light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation
O - tastes like a watered down porter, but for what it is, it's not too bad

 

 

Black in color with minimal light penetration. There’s a quarter inch of khaki brown on top. The aroma is of baker’s chocolate and a bit of coffee. I am tasting baker’s chocolate, lightly toasted nuts, and caramel. The mouth is fairly smooth and yet lightly dense.

Remember, we are judging this brew against others in its class/group. Having said that, I have tried countless NA brews over the decades. Mostly, when I’m on medication & can’t drink alcohol and/or I want to add the NA Brews as “fillers” in betwixt the REAL stuff… and this stuff here? About as good as I’ve ever tried. I prefer the DARK beers, as I believe it’s easier to “hide” or conceal their NA profile. So, I ordered 2x6 packs of the FREE WAVE IPA & ALL OUT DARK STOUT, from the Brewery; I wanted a fresh date, and you can only get the Gold Athletic beers on the shelves. Both six packs have BB dates of May 21st 2026. Im starting with the Stout. Poured a 12oz can into a pint glass, and she looks good! Dark brown.almost black w/ a robust 3-4 finger, tan head, that dissipates to a trace of foam. Smell is toast/MALTY/red stone fruit/sweet tobacco and even a little citrus but very faint. At 20 ibus? Not gonna be hoppy. But that’s not what I want here, that’s what the FREE WAVE IPA is for! Minimal lacing. The mouthfeel is really good. It’s sort of thin on the mouthfeel, but not as thin as 99% of other NA brews. It holds up considering. The Taste, is akin to a 4-5% coffee porter. Think Yuengling Porter. I’ve spent over 35 years drinking brews from all
Over the Globe… I love this Breweries ethos. No reason to make sh!tty beer…alcohol or NA. Cheers!

A: opaque; very dark brown in color; 1 finger finely pored head that receded to a wispy cap with a moderate tight collar; OK lacing;

S: black coffee;

T: black coffee and deeply roasted grain from start to finish; moderate bitterness at the end;

M light to medium bodied; moderate carbonation; moderately dry finish;

O: one of the best NA beers I've tasted;

L - A thin black beer with a minimal amount of large carbonation bubbles. Obvious low carbonation.
S - Nearly devoid of smell. Since it's a "stout" it should be subtle, but this is veeeery subtle.
T - Lacks any complexity whatsoever. If I had to say one good thing about taste, there's a very faint nuttiness to it that is reminiscent of a Samuel Smith's nut brown ale - but it's extremely light.
F - Very thin. Thinness is to be expected in NA, but since it's a stout it's particularly notable. As always, if there was more carbonation it could help cover some of this by adding a touch of bite.
O - Not good enough to keep the remaining 5 of the 6 pack. There are far, far better options out there, even within the Athletic line-up in terms of darks, just nothing else from them that's year round.

If you also found this to fall flat, check out Athletic First Ride, Deschutes Black Butte, or Freemont Brewing Dark.

I'm a stout, imperial stout, and porter drinker. I tried this for Dry January, and really hoped (and expected) that I would like it.
But why? Why is pine the first thing I smell? Why does it taste hoppy? Did they mistakenly mix a batch of IPA in with this "dark" beer?
I freaking despise IPA!
Will give away the remaining five to my recovering alcoholic friend.

 

Poured from a 12 ounce can dated 7/27/2024 into a shaker pint glass.
L - Pours a dark brown, almost black, with a slight tan head.
S - Smells of chocolate and coffee.
T - Tastes of chocolate and coffee.
F - Body and carbonation on the lighter side.
O - Not bad, just seems like a watered down porter.

 

 

 

 

From a 12 oz can packed on 10/25/2023

This beer pours pitch black from the can and nothing comes through when I hold it to the light. An aggressive pour produced a 1 finger tan head. The head looked a bit soft and fluffy with small bubbles. Overall decent head retention, but there's no lacing on the glass.
The aroma is malty, and the malts smell roasted to me. Somewhat of a nutty aroma to this beer. Hints of coffee also show up.
Taste - I do get a roasted malt flavor. Hints of chocolate, coffee and burnt toast show up in this beer. I also get a faint caramel note as well.
Light bodied, but to be expected. Slightly bubbly feeling, and crisp.
For a NA, this is a very solid attempt at producing a stout. Delicious.

 

 

 

 

This one pours a dark-ish brown color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells mainly roasty, with some chocolatey notes.

This is probably the best N/A beer that I’ve had – it’s the closest in taste to an actual beer that I’ve had so far. It’s toasty, roasty, and chocolately. It’s maybe slightly watery, but the malt character is basically there, with none of that unfermented weird wort taste that so many N/A beers have.

This is slightly creamy, crisp, and pretty drinkable.

This obviously isn’t going to replace any of my favorite dark lagers, but it was still pretty enjoyable.