A black day

It was International Stout Day a couple of weeks ago. Diageo marked the occasion with a festival of stouts at the Open Gate Brewery, with specials of their own and a handful of guest brewers from home and abroad.

The headline beer was a cappuccino stout called Stoutosphere. Though a full 5% ABV it was quite light and plain. There's a gentle chocolate flavour but not much coffee. The smooth nitrogenation and a light sour tang in the finish meant it bore a strong resemblance to plain old Guinness Draught.

I had a similar thought about 7 Million, another one at the same strength but without the nitro. Apparently the hops are the big differentiator here, with lots of different varieties used, but I didn't get any of that in the flavour. It was thinly textured and the emphasis is on the toasty roasted grain, with that tang again, this time a little more prominent. Not that different from ordinary carbonated Guinness, then.

L-R: 7 Million, Stoutosphere, 2018 Contains Nuts, Chilli

Surely the Chilli Stout would have something more distinctive to say for itself? Boy did it. The first sip offers a pleasing pinch of white pepper and this slowly builds into a dry but fiery mix of spices, catching the throat and warming the belly as good chilli stout ought to. The tongue numbness was a new one, but why not? I loved the complexity in this: not just heat for heat's sake but a multifaceted mix of chilli peppers, pepper corns and herbs, all coming across very clearly yet without interfering with the chocolate and roast of the base beer. I would love if chilli stout of this intensity were commercially viable, but fear I may be the only person who would buy it more than once.

I landed this flight with a guest: DOT Brew's 2018 Contains Nuts, an 8.2% ABV job with toasted pecans. There's a very spirituous aroma, like a chocolate or coffee liqueur. Though it's completely flat and a little thin, the flavour is very full-on: a sweet mix of chocolate and nuts, and the oily quality of pecans in particular. The warmth makes it an excellent wintertime sipper.

I didn't even notice the item called Nitro Stout on the menu board. Of course they'd have a nitro stout at Guinness: it's kinda their thing. This actually turned out to be a non-alcoholic version, or near enough at 0.5% ABV. I assume it's fermented with the same lazy yeast they use for Pure Brew lager. It's quite thin and a little oversweetened but is otherwise OK to drink. There's a pleasant smokiness to the flavour that gives it proper character. I've no idea if they're planning a wider release for this but I'd say there's a market for it.

There was supposed to have been a sweet imperial stout on the roster but a gravity target was missed and we got Sweet Export Stout instead, served three ways. The plain one at 7.5% ABV was rather bitter and astringent with a strong hit of black tea and Balkan flake tobacco, leading to overtones of east European herbal liqueur. It's intense, verging on harsh, but very good. The name is problematic as it's not even remotely sweet, with its palate-drying roast. I liked how serious and grown-up it tasted, a total reversal of the pastry stout trend.

The bourbon barrel version boosted the ABV to a more imperious 10.5%. The bitterness is still present but gets balanced with dessert-like chocolate and vanilla. The hard edges have been smoothed out and I'm not at all sure it's an improvement. There's still enough of the original character left for it to be enjoyable, and it's not drowned by bourbon flavour the way these often are. A modest thumbs up from me, though I can't help feeling the barrel has sapped much of the base beer's character.

And then there's a scotch barrel edition, at 9.2% ABV. This was harshly peaty and the phenols have completely erased the flavours of the stout leaving nothing but acrid burnt smoke behind. I'm generally in favour of peat flavours in stout but there was something just not right about this one.

It was a fun experiment and a definite indicator that barrels aren't always stout's best friend.

Some more guest beers, then, and Emelisse had sent a couple of flavoured stouts over from the Netherlands. Apple Pie Stout is 6.5% ABV and tastes exactly like an apple pie. There's the rich and sweet baked apple, a biscuity pastry effect and just a dusting of cinnamon and brown sugar. Jens, the brewer from Emelisse, was on hand and explained that the secret to the effect is the addition of calvados to the recipe. It doesn't really taste of beer but I'm not too bothered about that, it's such a joy to drink.

I wasn't as enthusiastic about their Forest Fruit Stout which tasted more artificial, like it had been simply doused with a few bottles of Ribena. Some toasted grain comes through from the base beer but otherwise it's just purple syrup all the way.

Yes, hello Steve.

And speaking of syrup, Jens also shared an Eisbock he'd brought with him, based on Emelisse's barley wine but distilled to 26.6% ABV. It's incredibly thick, almost chewy, smelling like a schnapps, with a herbal liqueur flavour which suggests noble hops to me. This intensifies quickly resulting in a bitter green vegetable taste, like the skin of a courgette. It's certainly interesting, but a thimbleful of it was plenty for me.

From the Lervig options I tried the Toasted Maple Stout, the strongest on the board, I think, at 12% ABV. It's another thick one, tasting warming, shading to hot. My throat was burned by the acrid nutty oils while the intense sugariness set my pulse racing. It tastes quite sickly, of too much toffee and not much else. A sip was enjoyable but it became hard work very quickly. I'm glad I was only dealing with a small sample.

At this point I took my leave but dropped in to UnderDog on the way home for one more imperial DOT stout. Cedar Rum Oat Imp Stout is the name and description, a full-on 11.1% ABV. I was surprised to find the main aroma and flavour isn't any of the advertised features but wine; ruby port in particular: that sweet and boozy vinousness. A dark rum quality emerges as it warms, presenting an almost diesel-like sharpness, yet it doesn't upset the balance. This isn't madly complex, and I'm a little put out by the lack of spicy cedar, but it is poised and elegant. Pure class, no gimmicks.

Cheers to the Open Gate team for their hospitality, and a wave to Martin and Steve from the Hopinions podcast who came over to see what was going on, and even seemed to be enjoying themselves.