Devon Ales Thick Black

Brewed by Devon Ales
Style: Stout
Alloa, Scotland

Serve in English pint

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

Cask at the Mansfield Arms, near Alloa, Scotland 21-03-09 in the company of Craig, Stella and kids. Pours black with a light tan head. Roasty and bitter nose. Taste is dry and bitter but getting deeper into it there is some creaminess, but this is soon overwhelmed by some bitter coffee and burnt toast, roasty malts show in the mouth, its not bad at all. A6 A3 F6 P3 OV12 3.0

6th August 2009
GBBF Cask. Very dark brown beer, clear. Very light malt with lactose sweetness. Light and semi dry finish. Minerals. A very easy going light stout - well porter really!

First tasted this at the Winter Beer Festival, Glasgow in September 1996. Cask, handpump dispense. Dull black in colour with a dark tan coloured head. Strong roast coffee and vanilla fudge in the long aroma. Very thick mouthfeel and poor lacing. Dark malts deliver a strong treacle sponge base with sweet molasses, chocolate and mocha notes. Slight prickle of dusty hops but this is lost in the thick chewy aftertaste. Malted toffee and liquorice noted in the heavy finish. Surprisingly thick for 4.1% and the solid texture reminded me of Youngers No 3. Maybe not one for a session but still highly recommended.

Cask at GBBF 2010. A pitch black beer with a thin brown head. The aroma has notes of sweet and some roasted malt. The flavor is sweet malty with light notes of roasted malt and soy sauce, leading to a dry finish.

[cask at SRAF’11] Pours very dark and very flat, no head to speak of following an initial flurry of large bubbles. Roasty bitter aroma, with a fair helping of mocha on the nose as well. I got a bit of liquorice on the taste, along with a faintly smoky rich malt and coffee. Not bad, but there are better stouts out there in Scotland [16062011]

Cask @ GBBF 2010. Pours a dark brown almost black color with a small off-white head. Has a roasted malty fruity aroma with some caramel hins. Roasted malty weak chocolate flavor with slightly bready hints. Has a roasted malty chocolate finish.

Cask at the Abbotsford, Edinburgh. A rich stout. Smoke, roasted grain, burned bread crust, pumpernickel. A bit of a sour edge, I’m not totally convinced it is intended.

Cask (GBBF2010)
7 Deep roasty aroma.
4 Black, tiny tight head.
7 Very well balanced burnt taste, no astringency, a little toasty.
4 Full palate, carbonation low. Finish roasty to toasty, but fairly mellow.
13+ Very sessionable stout.

Cask @ 3 Judges. Dark brown colour, beige head. Aroma is roasted malts, bit of vanilla and coffee. Flavour is roasted malts, bit fruity and coffee. A bit thin bodied, otherwise well done.

Cask @ Cask & Barrel, Edinburgh. Indeed is thick and black. Opaque with the slightest tint of red. Stable tan head. Aroma of pure coal and asphalt is mild, roasty, and good. The palate is soft and sparkled, and the sparkler does make the flavors too plain and kills the body. Has the dry coal and asphalt flavors but then peters out, with yeast coming out too. Still tastes pretty good but looks so promising I was hoping for more.

Cask handpump at GBBF ’10. Black. Ashy slightly sweet malt aroma. Sour taste with ashtray and a sharp bitter finish. Found this a bit laboured and unsubtle.