This is part of “The Session”. The inaugural version, actually, of a monthly day set aside by beer bloggers to post about the same topic.

This month’s topic: “This is not your father’s Irish stout.”

I have found myself drinking a bunch of stouts lately. While I have enjoyed them in the past, they really weren’t something I’d gone out of my way to have before, but for the last few weeks at least half of the beers I’ve had have been stouts. I think a number of things have lined up to contribute to this. Stout is definitely a cold-weather kind of beer, and it finally got cold here in the Washington, DC area. Also, football season is over. I am an unabashed NFL fan, but a stout just doesn’t seem to be the kind of beer to have while watching an afternoon of football. Finally, a co-worker gave me a bottle of Young’s Double Chocolate Stout in appreciation for recommending it to her. Since then, I’ve been looking for new stouts to try.

Since Ron and I are some 400 miles apart, we thought we’d try to get the same stout to try and write about it separately. Since our charge was to not choose one of the really popular stouts (Guinness, Beamish, Murphy’s), logistics became an issue. After going ’round and ’round a bit, and each of us with an exploratory visit to our favorite retailer, we finally discovered that we could both get the Rogue Shakespeare Stout. (Check out Ron’s review.)

The question I have now is: How did I miss this for so long? As the brewer touts on their website, it has won numerous awards and is not-so-arguably the best stout in the world. My only excuse is this: It’s only available in 22 ounce bottles and on draft. I guess I’m so programmed to buy six-packs of 12 ounce bottles that I just never got around to it.

Here’s what Rogue says about it:

Rogue’s Shakespeare Stout is ebony in color, a rich creamy head and a mellow chocolate aftertaste. It is made from Northwest Harrington, Crystal, and Chocolate malts, roasted barley and rolled oats, along with Cascade hop.

Oh, it’s dark alright. One of the darkest I’ve ever seen. The head is nice and thick but doesn’t leave much lace on the glass. The aroma is like a gently roasted coffee with just the slightest hint of mocha. It has a nice mouthfeel which, like all decent stouts, is lighter than I expect. By golly, I swear that I can feel the flavor of the aftertaste moving from the back of my tongue to the front.

Oh, that’s good. That’s really good. Roasted just enough without going overboard. Gently warming without a heady rush. Smooth, refreshing, and just the right amount of hop bitterness.

I think I may have found a new favorite stout. On the Hop Talk Scale, I’ll give this one a 4½. My only complaint: It cost twice as much as the 22 ounce bottle from another brewer I bought at the same time.

Related posts

• No related posts.