Green olive taste in certain stouts

I've never seen green olives in any list of brewing flaw descriptors, so I think this one is the fault of your palate, OP.

 

Not whimpy. You like what you like. I can totally dig some soy sauce-like umami in stouts, but I HATE IPA with onion flavors. Doesn't make them bad or me a puss. I just don't like it.

 

I'd revisit that one. I can't think of a single Belgian Strong Dark that has brine tones. I say that being quite familiar with Brother Thelonious. Not one of my all time favorites for the style, but also not to shabby.

I'd say this is spot on.

 

Maybe it was infected... cause it had a briney/sour bitterness.. and i have had many beers in that style

 

Rolling Rock makes a stout now?

 

I like green olives in my macro brew (Old Style), learned it from my dad. He called it a poor man's martini. 2 Olives, a little salt, and a Schlitz, was his preference. Drink the beer, eat the olives, and repeat. So, I guess an olive flavor in my beer wouldn't be something I would dislike. Haven't run across it though.

 

I have an almost similar, but un-solvable taste note with COLD imp.stouts. When cold, the initial smell and taste of straight-roast imperial stouts like ILYWMS, TenFidy and Expedition will taste, to me, like raw squash or raw pumpkins. I know it's weird, but I taste the same thing in imperial pumpkin ales I've had. When allowing such stouts to warm properly, this particular taste note goes away entirely (Expedition is close to my favorite beer, but the other 2 remain uncompromisingly bitter for my liking, even when properly warmed). I hope maybe this correlation, between the really unexplainable taste from a cold impy stout, together with the admission that purely roast-driven stouts don't exactly sit well on my palate, may help to explain the oddity of the taste. Lower abv stouts of all varieties have never produced this taste, only 10% and higher beers when improperly cold. Hope that helps.
Edit - edited to add the same note occurred with GL Blackout.

 

You're not alone on this. I've gotten a briny taste from beers before. I believe orval tasted briny to me. I'm sure I've gotten it from stouts somewhere along the way.

 

I don't recall ever detecting olive in a beer. But my level of interpretation usually extends to "I like it" or "I don't like it."

 

Olive or Pickle Taste <- for what it's worth

 

I regularly get a green olive note from gueuzes, hand in hand with the lemons and leather. In that context I actually enjoy it quite a bit.