Over The Mountain
Off The Rail Brewery

 

 

On-tap at Plew's Brews in PDX

appearance - dark, no transparency, not much head

smell - sweet chocolate aroma

taste - silky rich chocolate with roasted chocolate malts, the profile is mostly chocolate with some subtle hop notes to round out the finish

mouthfeel - medium body, just about right

overall - a nice, flavorful, chocolate stout, well brewed and enjoyable, although there is a lot of chocolate in the description it's really an excellent beer and not as overwhelming as it might sound, the chocolate is balanced flavor-wise if that makes sense

I had two pints of this bad boy at Hotlips pizza across from Jeld Wen Field today on Burnside in Portland, OR after a 40 mile bike ride (Bridge Pedal)....what can I say? Portland is all about beer, bikes, and bridges!

This was the stout on tap and was described to me as a "rich chocolatey stout". That about sums it up. The other reviews do this beer justice in terms of flavor profile; to me it was a subtle dark chocolate flavor and the perfect amount of grain flavor with other hints of flavor (vanilla? woody?) that were hard to pin down. Kind of like the Dr. Pepper of stouts. It went well the pesto feta pizza anyways! Other than that, a little lacking on the head, decent lacing, smooth going down, and a gorgeous black color with brick red edges.

Beautiful.

I took a big first gulp and let out an "OH!” ... and the bartender and guy at the bar that I heard order it right before me both laughed and asked, “Chocolatey?”

Other than that I have nothing to add except that I'm sad I can't take some home with me.

I had this on tap at Tugboat Brewing in Portland , OR.

After doing a bit of research, I guess this is what I had at Claudia's yesterday. They had it listed as a chocolate oatmeal stout, which I guess is what this pretty much is.

The beer pours a blackish brown color with pretty good head retention and a goodly amount of lacing. The nose is attractive, albeit a bit on the sweet side, showcasing considerable dark chocolate and licorise. There is also some noticeable vanilla and coffee, but the dark chocolate and licorise really dominate in this one. The flavor profile replicated the nose pretty closely in this moderately sweet stout, with once again the chocolate and licorise taking center stage. Fortunately, there was just enough hoppy bitterness to dry this beer out a bit on the finish, which enhanced the beer's drinkability I thought. Mouthfeel was medium bodied with a fairly long finish. Drinkability was good, as one would expect from a 5.5% beer. However, the licorise and sweetness still slowed me down a bit in the end.

Couple of thoughts. I'm guessing that trying to get a sense of a beer at a sports bar is not the best way to go about something like that. IMHO, the beer was served too cold at Claudia's, which I think muted some of the aroma as well as the flavors in this beer. Frankly, I thought this a pretty impressive beer, and I'd like to review it again under better circumstances. Unfortunately, if it keeps on showing up solely at venues like Tugboat, Pizza Schmizza and Claudia's (which seems to be the case at this point), that may not be all that easy to do. Regardless, I thought this an interesting and impressive effort from the folks at Off the Rail.

Had a few pints of this beauty last evening around a rousing batch of mancala games. The beer pour a rich black, hints of brown on the edges, Head is minimal. Smell is rich in vanilla and roast, the taste has bits of oak and a strong roasted vanilla flavor. This is a well made stout.

Thanks to the beautiful lady who taught us mancala, your company made this beer sine more.

(Guest reviewer: my gal.) Just go to Pizza Schmizza on NW 21st St in Portland OR. and ask for a pint, which will set you back $2. It tastes much better at room temp so I ask the pizza maker to run hot water in the glass before serving it--or hit the pool table. You will be amazed.

The other review of this beer nails it on the head. The one thing I'd like to add is that I found it to be infinitely drinkable. I enjoyed the first sip of the first pint just as much as the last sip of the last pint. It's definitely very sweet on the tongue, but interestingly it doesn't add up to a sweet sickness in the stomach. I tried this beer for kicks a couple of nights ago and was so pleased with what I found. Great stuff.

Very still and black hole like. Although not quite black but as close as it gets. No head and a ruby breaking at the edges.

Thick rich chocolate fudge with both milk and dark chocolate accents. Very sweet with caramel aromatics. A bit of cherry as well as a hint of vanilla.

Chocolate to the max. Thick gooey and delectable. A perfect companion to vanilla ice cream. Very light carbonation and very hight in residual sweetness. Thick, creamy, gooey and dessert driven. Too sweet to drink except for an after dinner treat.