Dominion Stout

Date: 10/01/1995
Mode: Draft
Source: Capitol City, DC

black, whispy head, rich sweet chocolate aroma, rich chocolate flavor with lots of sweetness and a slight amount of roasted flavor, ever so slight bitter aftertaste strong coffee aroma/flavor

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 5/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Score: **4
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The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

Once bottled, draught only product now found on tap at the brewpub. The recipe has been tweaked over the years, and this is the base beer for Oak Barrel Stout. Five malts are used in the brewing of this beer, including two row pale, carapils, chocolate, caramel, malted wheat, and an addition of roasted barley which is not malted. This beer is hopped with two varieties, Perle and Willamette. That is an awful lot of flavor packed into a 4.7% abv brew, and makes for a truly fantastic stout to drink on any number of occasions. Dominion Stout pours to an opaque ink black color with a thick and creamy tan head, and a soft carbonation. The nose is very inviting on this beer. Very robust aromas of dark chocolate, coffee, sweet malt, and slight grassy hop aroma floods the nose. The palate is very soft and full with lots of big malt flavors. Sweet malt, chocolate, caramel, and coffee flavors marry with a slight bit of roast. Dominion Stout finishes with a delicious creamy, silky chocolate/coffee flavor up front, and ends with just a touch of roasty flavor, and enough hop bitterness as to make this beer not too cloying.

Thanks to Argo. 2003 bottled. Nasty nasty stuff. Completely skunked. I hope this isn’t what it’s supposed to taste like.

A pleasant if only mild stout. Very creamy with some pleasant vanilla overtones.

Appearance: deep and dark, practically black, under a short filmy brownish head. Aroma: espresso bitterness marks the olfactory aura, joined by pitch and tar and a bit of anise, but mildly. Taste: full-bodied, rich, malty, a bit sweet, but also with sufficient bitterness, a tiny touch of hops. Dark, complex and tasty, yes, but never quitting with the bitter, roasty feel. Could’ve done with some more in the mouthfeel, though, some power on the palate, a fling with creamy texture, or a dalliance with lush malt. This stout unfortunately falls short, in terms of what I’m yearning for with this style, more fruity, too, would be nice, but a greater cocoa feel is greatly missing. I’ve got to say I’m a bit disappointed in this stout, and I’m glad I’ve got some preferable versions handy in the fridge.

Pours black with a light brown head. Taste is of coffee and chocolate malt. Mouthfeel is a bit watery. Considering how good Dominion’s other brews are, this one is very boring and non-distinctive. Not bad, but not recommended either.

On tap at brewery. Opaque black brown under a medium size lasting pale tan head. Rich roasted malt and brewed coffee aroma. Medium large mouth filling body. Medium bitter lightly sweet roasted malt flavours. Softish smooth dry finish. Interestingly, other raters appear to have found this one thinner and more porter like than I did. Batch differences?

Dark brown body with a barely existent tan head. Mild aroma of coffee, a little chocolate, nice maltiness. Flavor is mainly a muted dry roasted malt, very lightly sweet. Aftertaste is roasted malt meeting a bit of pale ale tanginess. Seems a bit thin for a stout.