A Year of Craft Beer, Vol. 89, Bass Stout

Hello!

I had me a pretty long day today AND managed to learn how Stilton cheese was made!  It's definitely beer time, but too bad that I am too tired for karyoke at Stevenson's Place.  I don't sing, but enjoy the vibe, everyone is happy and Rob has some good beer to choose from.  So tonight I am drinking a classic English Stout which is typified by being very roasted and slightly dry with various hopping, but this one is typically mildly hopped with English hops.  It's pretty sessionable truthfully.  Mostly straighforward.

Bonus points for crimp top bottle!

The beer pours pretty black at the base of the pint where it is thinner there is a clear brown hue and the head was a one finger tan head that lasts as a nice ring with a center cap and fairly half decent lacing.

The aroma is mostly just roasted barley with a little malt sweetness and a hint of hop and with a swirl some yeast aromas come out.

The taste is pretty straightforward as well.  I find it has a mild sweetness way in the background with an up front roasted flavour.  At the end is some peppery bittering hop taste that lingers and leaves you fairly dry.

It's mouthfeel is not very sweet but balanced well with the dry roasted taste and the body is fairly on the thin side which makes this sessionable for sure.  It is a bit thin for the style and I see where they lose points for that, but it may be good for the profit margin as this might be attractive to some.  The carbonation is low to moderate and it's a fairly dry beer.

Overall, I like it.  It is definitely watery and not very complex but the style really isn't supposed to be overly complex.  I think this would be a great alternative to someone who wants to drink a stout that doesn't taste like Guinness (coming from an area where Guinness is one of the only craft beers offered at the bars).  I'm going to have to say it's about a 3.5 out of 5.  Would I seek this out, well it matters what the alternatives were at the time really.  I wouldn't shun it in the least.

Hey, try it!  You might like it and it may open your eyes to better fuller stouts other than Guinness.  I do know that you are wasting your life if you drink macro-crap water!  After posting this I learned that Bass was bought by macro-crap water makers.  Watch Beer Wars and see why I'm pissed.

-Wiss