Cwmbran Crow Valley Stout (Deryn Du)

Formerly brewed at Cwmbran
Style: Stout
Cwmbran, Wales

Serve in English pint

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As Silk Tork says, we tried this and the Dark Tribe Honey Mild at the same time and, frankly, found them virtually indistinguishable. Quite nice though. A bit low on alcohol for a stout, so loses a little in the score for this and for inaccurate nomenclature. Cask, Pigs Ear Beer Fest, East London, December 2003.

UPDATED: JAN 2, 2010 Cask at Wellington Arms, Bedford. Dark brown with a small beige head. Faint ashy malt aroma. Smoked bacon taste; odd and distinctive. Minimal bitterness. Didn’t quite work. 2.1.10 Same location, under the name ’Deryn Du’, the ABV of which was definitely 4.2%, not the 4.0% of Crow Valley. Nevertheless the Cwmbran website says they’re the same beer, so who am I to argue? This time I rather enjoyed it. Date and marmite aroma; grainy taste with sweet slightly sour milkiness. Some bitterness. Rating:7,4,6,4,13:3.4

Considering the style, Scores ranging from 1 to 5, 5 being the most intense
Appearance:
Body:   Clear(1)->Murky(5) : 4     Light Brown(1)->Pitch Black(5) : 4     Still(1)->Sparkling(5) : 2
Head:   None(1)->Large(5) : 2   Off-White(1)->Dark Brown(5) : 2   Lasting: 1   Lacing : 1   Nitro : XX
Aroma:
Intensity : 2  
Yeast : 3   Bread : XX   Apple : XX   Tropical Fruits : XX   Ink : XX   Tar : XX   Olives : XX   DMS : XX
Malt : 4   Biscuity : 3   Burnt Toast : 2   Caramel : XX   Nuts : XX   Pumpernickel : 4   Cereals : 3   Coffee : XX   Dark Chocolate : 2   Vanilla : XX   Grapes : XX   Blackberries : XX   Cherries : XX
Hops : 2   Noble(1)->American(5) : 1   Leafy : 2   Floral : 1   Lemon/Lime : XX   Grapefruit : XX Orange : XX   Herbal : XX   Pine/Spruce/Resin : XX
Notes :   Earth : 1   Wood : XX   Mint : XX   Smoke : XX   Soy : XX   Bourbon : XX   Anise : XX
Flavor:
Initial Flavor : Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 3   Finish Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 2   Sourness : XX   Lactic : XX   Bitterness : 2   Complex : XX   Length : XX
Palate:
Light(1)->Full(5) : 2   Flat(1)->Fizzy(5) : 1   Clean : XX   Sharp : XX   Watery : 1   Oily : XX   Chalk : XX   Astringent : XX   Alcohol : XX   Mineral : 1   Oxidation : XX   Metallic : XX

Comments: Dark pumpernickel bread and cerealic flavours make this a malt-oriented brew.

Cask @ GBBF 2007, London. Dark brown color with a small, fizzy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, light brown head. Aroma is moderate malty, roasted, creamy coffee, vanilla. Flavor is moderate sweet with a average duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is flat.

Cask@GBBF2007. Dark brownish ruby colour, no head. Aroma is coffee, roasted malts, some yeast and bit of hops. Flavour is mildly roasted malts along with burnt wood and some slight fruitish hoppy hints.

A Mes rate: Gravicask at GBBF. Black appearance but with little in the way of life to it. Sickly sweet malty aroma. Sweet stouty flavour with a little chocolate. Fairly dull but drinkable enough.

Cask conditioned - handpump - GBBF2007. A black coloured stout with a beige head. The aroma is dry, smoky and roasty. Some burnt lawn thrown in. The taste is roasty and fishy and a touch fruity. Quite tasty.

VEry nice, sweet, toasted grains, as I like them. Veyr interesting and not annoying. The taste was good thing.

Gravity fresh @ Pig's Ear Festival, East London. Roasty coffe aroma. Red berry. Lovely. More of a mild. Dryish. Very similar to DarkTribe's Honey Mild.