Black Cherry Stout
Portsmouth Brewery

Long long lasting head the color of foam on a latte sits atop a completely opaque black stout.

Not a lot of cherry in the aroma. It's there, but there's way more roasted coffee in there than cherry. Which leads to the flavor, which, like aroma leans to the espresso flavor more than the cherry. Really big flavor and very rich: reminded me of two blended flavors of ice cream. Not to be paired with anything but dessert. The malt and alcohol characteristics catch up mid-glass.

Not so big you can't have two!

summer 2003 offering
Black Cherry Stout poured an opaque black with ruby highlights and a light tan head that quickly dissipated and left a small amount of lacing on the glass. The aroma was faint roasted malts with a slight medicinal cherry smell to it. The taste started with flavors of roasted barley and black malt. This was followed by flavors of coffee and toffee and the first taste of cherry. Finish was smooth with the cherry flavors coming to the fore and balancing with the chocolate malt flavors to create a sweet finish. Aftertaste was a lingering sweetness that quickly faded to a very dry very bitter burnt grain flavor that stays with you for quite a while. The mouthfeel is smooth with light carbonation and a medium body for a stout.
Overall a good stout that has some complexity to it. No one at the brewpub could tell me if it was made with real cherries or with cherry syrup. My bet would be syrup due to the slight medicinal flavor of the cherry. Not overpowering but still noticeable.

Roasty malt nose, rich dark color with a fine lacy head. Smooth with a rather thin (for a stout) body. Roast malt flavors with strong dark chocolate and coffee flavors. Very subtle hints of dark fruit. Slightly tinny dry hop finish.