Emerson’s Southern Clam Stout

Brewed by Emerson’s Brewing Company (Lion Breweries - NZ (Lion Nathan Co.)
Style: Stout
Dunedin, New Zealand

Serve in English pint, Shaker, Snifter

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Hand-pulled from the cask at Albar in Dunedin. The bar was dim, and this appeared pitch black with a low, thick, brown head. Very roasty aroma, slightly vegetal. Rich, creamy, full-bodied roast flavour, coffee, vegemite, and bitter chocolate. After the palate adjusts to the assault of flavour and richness, a subtle sweetness becomes evident (maple, vanilla) as does a slightly tangy brine in the bitter finish. They received this in cask just yesterday, and the freshness and smoothness add to an already very impressive brew. Outstanding!

Chocolate milkshake coloured head dark pour medium carbonation with aromas roasted chocolate sea salt malted coffee cocoa flavours bloody little bi-valve was there all the time bitter salty morishing roasted chocolate coffee cocoa creamy note liccorice a good taste alround fruit touch dark finish typical Emersons goodness smooth tasting alround roasted sweet maltiness bitter salty aftertaste really worth drinking again and again

UPDATED: SEP 2, 2009 My beer of choice on the BrewNZ Awards night. Just about the perfect stout - the dryness and roast spot on. This has got to become a staple!

Bottle, 8C. Black with a light tan head that hangs around. Gentle aroma is roasty with barley and coffee, shellfish are there put not dominant - more like drinking a stout at the beach in winter than anything else. Medium bodied, silky texture. Not very sweet with coffee and chocolate. Vanilla, soft licorice. Slightly astringent, only a little briny. Firm bitterness at the end that’s a little woody as well as salty.

Bottle at Albar, Dunedin. Great coffee notes. Aromas of chocolate, coffee, caramel, with hints of smoke and vanilla. Taste has sweet and bitter notes, and long length. Palate is velvety, and medium bodied. Black, with a frothy head.

I can handle shellfish and I can also handle stout. I’ve had oyster stout before and I’m grown up enough to give this a try: This beer is about as black as you can get without lobbing in lumps of coal. There was a mocha head that was noisy and bubbly and then subsided into a film that clung to the sides of the glass. The aromas veer toward dark chocolate, so you have to really delve into the glass to pick out a salty note, but it is there. Powdered dutch cocoa also apparent on top of stouty charry notes. This beer is full bodied, creamy and has a tingly carbonation about it. It gets creamier and thicker as is settles on the tongue, spreading that charred character and an additional something else that if I had sampled blind I wouldn’t have known was like seafood chowder, but as I know better I can pin that on it. It isn’t overt and coarse, but soft, silky and full. The finish is on-going and gets saltier as it goes on, along with a whiff of smoke and hickory. This is a very good beer.

Dark black in colour with thin toffee coloured head.Very little aroma,salt? But do get salty bitterness in flavour.

Bottle. Pours a very very dark brown with a dense tan coloured head. Fairly typical stout aromas of dark chocolate and roasted grain with perhaps just a hint of salt. Flavours are somewhat sweet up front with lots of roasted grain on the finish. Dont get much from the clams to be honest. Medium mouthfeel. Not really a stand out but not bad all the same.

500ml bottle. Pours an opaque black, with a large beige head, which lasts well and leaves good lacing. The aroma blends cured meat and some spice with brine and soy sauce, and is very savoury. Barely noticeable herbal hops up front are dominated by briny tang. A mild soy sauce flavour leads into a roasty, warming malt body, which fades into a briny finish. The shellfish in this beer play a much more dominant role than in other similar stouts I have sampled, giving it a real salty, savoury feel. I wouldn’t necessarily drink it often, but in the right circumstances (I’m thinking strong hard cheeses or goat’s cheese) it is quite enjoyable.

Quite a big and black stout. Flavoursome but not extreme means it is more approachable that I was expecting. And I don’t even like clams but did enjoy this beer.