Bête Noire
Paddock Wood Brewing Co.

A: Black with a light tan head, not a lot of retention for a stout, but a nice lace.

S: Coffee, brown sugar, bread & nuts.

T: Pleasantly smooth coffee flavour, molasses, dark bread, hints of nut, good bitterness. Taste is a little better than a '4', but it's not quite the '4.5'.

M: Moderate to full body is smooth & creamy.

D: Very drinkable, thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got this lovely offering because the beer guy at Co-op wasn't kidding when he said he was going to whip the place into shape and bring in more good stuff. Thanks dude. This "black ale" (oatmeal stout) pours inky black with a moderate amount of latte head that at least in my exemplar settled quickly. Aroma was a tad subtle for such a dark beer but appropriately chocolate malt, coffee, a touch of herbs and sweet overtones. Taste was silky smooth and rather thin bodied but one does get some chalky bitter chocolate, coffee and cola but less of the former than the aroma might suggest. Ample wood char and burnt notes and a bitter dry and smooth finish. Not a sweet beer. Not laden with complexity but a decent dose of classic dark malt flavor that ends with burnt wood and a crisp bitterness. As usual Paddock Wood doesn't disappoint even though I prefer their cosmically good pilsener and pale ale selections.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bonus from kjyost. Thanks.

A - A little bit of leakage in the plastic bag it was sent in leads me to believe this sprung a leak somewhere along the way. Pours black with slight red notes around the edges. Great fluffy light brown head at three fingers.Good one finger retention and thick lace.

S - Lot's of coffee and roasted malts. Smells very nice.

T - More roasted, a little cola, no coffee. Not too bad.

M - Carbonation is good and body is medium to full. A little dry in the finish.

O/D - Not a bad stout. Not great but flavourful and easy to drink. Good.

A - Pours a nice dark black with just a hit of amber highlights around the edges. With mountain of tan head. Seriously a lot of head, but I did let it warm up a bit too much (15c)

S - Somewhat subdued chocolate and burt malt aroma. A bit of fresh grassy hop as well.

T - Here the coffee and chocolate are well up front. Must be a lot of really high roast in here.

M - Nice and smooth. A bit of that slick oatmeal character. Not a ton of body, but it's nice.

D - Good.

Cheers to joemcgrath27 for the hook up on the Paddock Wood selections.

A - Pours pitch black with a finger of mocha head, decent retention and some fine sporadic lacing.

S - Scent is dominated by espresso and coffee malts, a bit of a chalky dark chocolate comes through and a bit of burnt wood.

T - Taste is a bit musty and smokey, but the chocolate and espresso malts are present with a bit of burnt wood and charcoal that lingers.

M - Nothing overly offensive here, but it finishes a tad too dry for my liking.

D - Overall a very tasty offering with some unique attributes. I would've preferred something a little sweeter. I've had better Oatmeal Stouts, but it's definitely still worth a try.

Part of the Paddock Wood "Big Box O Beer" mixer pack
A - pitch black with one finger of tan head that dissipated to a few random islands
S - molasses and chocolate, sweet licorice burnt grains
T - cocoa and molasses burnt malt, subtle milky oatmeal, and bitter tobacco and coffee bean finish
M - chewy with a somewhat surprising amount of carbonation, finishing a little dry and bitter
D - a nice offering with a focus on burnt and bitter flavours, not a session beer IMO, but fairly easy drinking

Thanks to kjyost for this one. Paired with my supper last night, apple & raisin salad and a T-bone steak.

Poured from a 341ml. bottle.

Appearance: Overwhelming foam (color of cappuccino foam) fills a lot of the glass. Looks black in the light but actually pours a dark brown. I would have rated it lower but the retention was quite great and the head was nice with pockmarks and everything.

Smell: Charcoal, roasted notes, maybe a coffee twang and some slight bitterness.

Taste: I glean some roasted malt, some coffee bitterness, a nice oatmeal presence and i dig the subdued charcoal. Still, this could be better if not for the excessive carbonation.

Mouthfeel: Way too much carbonation which impedes the flavor. Hurts the palate a little. After about half an hour, creaminess comes out and feels better. Feel like i should score it lower but a 3 seems right.

Drinkability: Alright i guess though i struggled through the carbonation. Not something i would get on a regular basis.

Overall: It left me a bit bloated which is too bad because the flavor was good. If the carbonation could have been reined in, this would easily have been a B+.