Old Plowshare

Dark amber to brown color. Aroma of mild coffee. Dry mouthfeel, with a combination of caramel and roasted malt. Quite strong bitterness; in the end there is still a lot of caramel and roasted malt.

Distinct milk chocolate aroma, with milder caramel notes. Dark garnet color, not opaque! Tan clumpy head. Chocolate flavors. Dry. Fairly light even for a dry stout.

Chocolately, malty aroma. Creamy in a way. Nearly opaque dark brown color with a significant light tan head that certainly sticks to the glass, though it seems unwilling to break into lace. Seems a bit thin bodied. Kind of chocolate malts, with a light undertone of dark roasted malt. The carbonation is very moderate, the feel is near creamy, and there is a decent amount of bitter, especially in the finish. Dry finish. Quite good.

12oz Bottle Pours out a very dark brown topped with a tan head. A nice aroma of roast malt and sweetness. Pretty good, but not as thick as I was looking for.

2006 bottle consumed on 8/22/06.
Light brown body with some caramel hues and some deeper mahogany tints through the middle. Tan head is one-finger high, receding eventually, to cover and leaving some lacing. Medium-high clarity.
I had a bottle of this about a month ago and it was much worse than this, so I’ll just stick to this bottle. Plenty of light coffee, brief and smooth, without dominating the beer and quickly moving on to dark ashiness, a hint of bitter hops and a lush roastiness with medium-dry chocolate and just a smattering of creamy sugars to soothe the finish. Medium to medium-high in strength, no dissipation of the aroma, nor does it suggest a watery beer below. Fluffy and probably as "bright" as a dry stout gets.
The flavor has a little bit of chewy licorice mixed in with sticky toffee and chocolate. Coffee hits and opens things up, providing a deft hardness that helps keeps things from getting dull, sticky, soft....I really feel that a dry stout needs to keep your palate on its toes, and this one does. Not another soggy, vacuous, creamy, watery concoction. Full of flavor, to the end and the slightly high abv for the style does add to the effect. In this case, bigger is better, I think. Still, the carbonation is a bit too edgy, the texture a touch too filtered. Though there are far, far worse examples of filtration. No alcohol noted, clean, no yeastiness.

Rated August 2006. 12oz bottle pours with a dark amber colored body, not totally opaque, that supports a thin tan head of foam. Aroma is very roasty, chocolate malt and sweet molasses. Classic stout flavor. Pretty much all the aroma notes plus I taste a bit of black patent. Pretty good stout but not more.

(Bottle 35,5 cl) Pours a pretty, clear mahogany with a warm, reddish glow and an off-white head. Coffeeish, malty nose. Medium body with lots of roasted and slightly burned malts. Distinct coffee flavours. Bitter finish from the burned malts. 060706

Dark reddish-brown color with a lot of light penetration. Medium thin beige head that lasts pretty well, and thin sheets of lacing. Aroma of roasted malt and coffee. Medium-bodied and creamy with lots of roasted coffee flavor throughout. Other flavors like chocolate and malt are not as consistent though. The finish is mildly bitter coffee and a little watery. Above average overall, and not by far.

12 oz bottle poured into a mug. Thick head. Color is black but slightly translucent. The smell is roasted coffee. Body is light for a stout, thin. The taste is off watered down coffee. Some coffee aftertaste left on the tongue. One demonsional and poorly executed.