Dry Dock USS Stout

damn. this is a great beer. i had this , amnd i mean a lot of it while shopping. i fucking destroyed my growler crossing the road, left my hops in the xenter of saqid road, by oh fuck hang on molly, this is good shit. pitch black with orange around the gray head, buty lets talk about thw aeoma. smekllls like perfection. seriously it has a licorice’coffee note with a strong bitter cocoa scent, it is alcohgolioc to all hell. the kind of scent to make a teetotaker take a dcdrinkj,. strong toffee and chyocolate flavor, an amazing beer. i know my pint isa at least 18 monthys old, but the flavors arte crisp and pyre. cocoa puffs flavor dominates with an alcohohol edge,. i had 3 pints, and i wajnt more. fuck my hand eye coordinatiotion is screwed.

On tap at the Dry Dock Brewery Tasting Room. I’m assuming this is the one I had as it was listed as the USS Stout (Imperial Stout). Poured a dark black with red edges and an averaged sized tan head. Aromas of chocolate, dark fruits, caramel, and some roast. Tastes of chocolate, dark fruits, toffee, roast and light coffee.

Beer is nearly opaque, dark warm brown with a small, light brown, frothy, mostly diminishing head. The aroma is malty with very warm-hued notes of heavy roasted grain, moderate chocolate and coffee, light molasses; Hoppy with a moderate note of resin/pine; Yeasty wtih a light note of basement; Moderate miscellaneous notes of vanilla and oak, light note of alcohol and a trace of blueberry. The flavor is moderately sweet, moderately-to-heavily bitter with a long, moderately bitter/dry, lightly sweet finish. Heavy roasty retros and aftertaste. The body is full the texture is velvety and the carbonation is lively.

Growler: Black with dark walnut edges. Tiny-bubbled, sticky beige foam. Potent inky and smoky aromas delight the senses, as do whispers of burnt cookies, dark chocolate truffles, and tar. Densely carbonated, but fairly pointy. Silky and oily in body. Initially charred and harshly roasty, yet with a delightful lactose and smoky lactose kiss which offsets the enormous malt girth. Alcohol is apparent, but quite clean, and oodles of ink notes soften the remaining stiff tannins. Immense complexity arises from the earthy java and black licorice depths, as does as a richly tarry astringency. Finishes extremely supple and tarry with notes of blueberry and ink, but equally laden with forceful, malt-derived roast, char, and coffee which impart endless depth. Lord knows there aren’t nearly enough well-made Foreign Stouts in the world, but this is certainly one of them. Dry Dock has a real gem on their hands with this.

From growler. Head is initially small, frothy, light brown, mostly diminishing. Body is dark brown to black. Aroma is moderately to heavily malty (roasted grain, chocolate, molasses, caramel, coffee), with notes of blueberry/blackberry, vanilla. Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Medium to full body, velvety/syrupy texture, lively carbonation. Wow. VERY impressive. I’ll be honest when I say that this was a surprise. This had no faults that I could find, was extremely sexy in the nose, and had a very rich mouth experience. Sweet, as a foreign stout should be, but very well-balanced in the finish. Damned solid. I can’t wait to see what they can do with an Imperial or Dry stout.