Carlow O’Hara’s Celebration Stout

Formerly brewed at Carlow
Style: Dry Stout
Carlow, Ireland

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Very dark head showing that semi truck loads of malt were used in the brewing process.Flippy .75 ltr bottle.A mixture of coffee and chocolate made in heaven:) This is now my benchmark for dry,Irish stouts.Very well balanced,under-rated and under-priced.Guinness is 40 oz. quality compaired to this,a masterpiece dry stout from this brewer.

Very black with a big brown head and heavy lacing. Aroma and flavor of roasted malt, mild coffee and chocolate. Very good and drinkable.

Now this is a stout done right. Got a 750ml bottle. Roasted, coffee aroma, with dark chocolate earthy hop .. Solid brown-black color with a slight creamy head. Tons of flavor and body . Can’t wait to get my hands on this again if they produce it again .

Versa nero come la pece con schiuma alta tre dita spumosa e color caffè,persistenza eccellente.Aroma ricco di malto tostato con note di cioccolato, caffè,nocciola, caramello e luppolo. Gusto con di caffè tostato, caramella mou,nocciola, caramello e luppolo,corpo medio.Finale dolce e secco di luppolo.Ottima.

THOUGHTS: Way better than Guinness. Opened with a huge pop as the cork was pulled, but had a little too much carbonation. It would have been nearly perfect with a little less carbonation. I’d love to try this one cask conditioned. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark brown that was black in the glass with red highlights and an average-sized, foamy, light tan head that kept a nice sheet and left fair lacing. The aroma was moderate to heavy toasted, roasted, burnt and mild coffee malt. The initial flavor was lightly sweet; while the finish was moderately sweet and heavily bitter with an average duration. There was lots of roasted, burnt and coffee malt then all coffee and burnt bitterness. Nice balance though. The medium to full body was creamy and slightly oily with very fizzy carbonation and a light to moderate astringent finish.

750m bottle Pours pitch black and completely opaque with only the slight hint of dark mahogany edges when held to a light source and a massive three finger frothy tan/coffee colored head. Excellent retention, only slowly fading into a lasting cap. Sporadic splotches of lacing left behind. Depp, rich roasted malty aroma with hints of chocolate, coffee bean, toffee, oatmeal, hazelnut, caramel and subtle hops. Slightly viscous medium body with a lot of roasted malt up front followed by a smooth, creamy lactic presence along with some sweet milk chocolate notes. Hints of roasted coffee bean, toffee, oatmeal, hazelnut, caramel and subtle earthy hops. Sweet with a very dry hoppy finish. Extremely quaffable.

Bottle @ Beer Exposed, September 2008.
Pours an impressive translucent black with a small, creamy, beige head. Elegantly roasted aroma, chocolate and just the right amount of smoke. Great mouthfeel, dry and creamy. Flavour is roasted, some smoke and chocolate. Extremely well-balanced beer - with an incredible amount of flavours for only 6 % ABV. Truly recommended.

swing top bottle (750ml). -at Tolkien’s Pub, Zagreb, shared with Doggythedog.
Black coloured, medium to big tan head, chocolate malty nose. Roasted malt and dark chocolate taste with few fruity hints. Strong bitter chocolate finish and lingering bitter aftertaste. Very nice brew, like light imperial stout.

I really like this stuff, so much so I picked up another bottle and drinking it right now. It pours beautifully; black color with some brown tints. The head is very nice, large and brown and turns to a surface covering lacing. Long story short, this is the perfect quaffable Irish Stout (a bit stronger than the traditional I guess). Aroma is lightly milky and prominent dry ashy roast. There is also a leafy/airy aspect, making this light and give it s bio-natural appeal. It’s not strong but pleasantly there. The taste is very nice as well with coffee and a long burnt/roast/espresso bean aftertaste, really lingers. And all the time its just so light and easy to drink with no off flavors at all. I think I am going to down this whole awesome bottle myself, at 6% why not?.
750mL flip top, standard Scotch glass.

Marketed in the pub as a seasonal double stout. Pours black as a typical Irish Stout with a think nitrogen charged head. Aroma of chocolate and espresso. Flavor was full bodied, complex roasted malts, and very well balanced. Delicious!