For this year’s one-off holiday release, called “Paul’s Working Holiday,” The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery used whole Sewansecott oysters grown in Hog Island Bay, Virginia in its Oyster Stout. In fact, fresh batches of whole oysters were steeped at four different times during the kettle boil for precisely ten minutes each time. The result? This beer excels in subtlety and suggestion. There is no obvious brininess, yet on top of the layers of roasty malt flavors, a mild herbal hop aroma, and the silky smooth texture imparted by the oats in the grist, there’s a little something that you cannot quite place. Perhaps through mere cognizance of oysters in the stout, you might be convinced of a vague maritime flavor. In reality, it is no more than the slightest tinge of brine that contributes to the complexity of a deep, full-bodied, and beautifully well-balanced stout.