Colorado Brew Talk Video Episode 7: Irish Stout Tasting

On this week’s episode, we were tasting Irish stout, which was given to us by the Hamster Ball Select-o-matic in Episode 6 American Strong Ale Tasting.

We had a little bit of a SNAFU this episode, we were supposed to be tasting some intriguing hot sauce barrel aged stouts from Pikes Peak Brewing Company, but I forgot to grab them before I left for the Colorado Brew Talk Video recording studio / underground lair. Never fear though, by Charlie’s beard, we’ll have them next episode.

The suggested commercial examples that we tried were Guiness Stout, and Murphy’s stout.

From the BCJP Guidelines for Irish Stout:

Aroma:

• Low to moderate malt aroma, either neutral-grainy or with a lightly caramelly-toasty-toffee character.
• May have a very light buttery character (although not required).
• Hop aroma is low earthy or floral to none (usually not present). Quite clean.

Appearance:

• Medium amber to medium reddish-copper color. Clear.
• Low off-white to tan colored head, average persistence.

Flavor:

• Moderate to very little caramel malt flavor and sweetness, rarely with a light buttered toast or toffee-like quality.
• The palate often is fairly neutral and grainy, or can take on a lightly toasty or biscuity note
• finishes with a light taste of roasted grain, which lends a characteristic dryness to the finish.
• A light earthy or floral hop flavor is optional.
• Medium to medium-low hop bitterness. Medium-dry to dry finish. Clean and smooth.
• Little to no esters. The balance tends to be slightly towards the malt
• Light use of roasted grains may increase the perception of bitterness slightly

For our Homebrew example, we talked to Dave about his Irish stout, and he was kind enough to bring another bottle to the homebrew club meeting the next day, and that bottle was perfectly delicious. The best we can figure out is that this one bottle wasn’t as clean and sanitized as it needed to be, and it brought something along that infected just that bottle.

We really appreciate Dave giving us some of his beer to review, he’s a great brewer, and it’s just bad luck that this happened.

The hamster ball select-o-matic gave us category 27, Pre-prohibition Porter. Just in case we can’t find it, and have to brew it, we drew an alternate, and this time we drew category 2A International Pale Lager.

So, Asahi Super Dry, Birra Moretti, Corona Extra, Devils Backbone Gold Leaf Lager, Full Sail Session Premium Lager, Heineken, Red Stripe, and Singha are the commercial examples.