Felstar Back Stabber

Formerly brewed at Felstar
Style: Imperial Stout
Dunmow, England

Serve in Snifter

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Black with a small off-white head. Chocolate and fruit aroma with a little alcohol. Sweet chocolate flavour with strong and hot alcohol.

Bottle at Leighton’s Aug 11 tasting. It pours darkest brown, with a thin light tan head. The nose is varnish, meat, toasted sesame seed and HP sauce. The taste is caramel, varnish, toffee, toasted sesame seed, sour tang, soy sauce, roasted malt and malt vinegar, with a long, roasty finish. Full body and average carbonation. Unusual, but not unenjoyable.

Bottle at a tasting. Pours dar, red-brown with a small, beige head. Some dark chocolate in the aroma, bit of varnish. Sweet, slightly tangy, some tires, nice roast and burnt malts. Full bodied with fine carbonation. Mild warm finish, some dark sugar, toffee, some dark fruits. Surprisingly good.

Bottle from Pig’s Ear festival in London, 2008
Black color; small head. Aroma of cardboard, glue, paint, vanilla oak, liquorish; it may sound weird, but it’s interesting. Breadish beer, with strong liquorish flavor, chocolate malt, oxidised. A bit strange but interesting.

Bottled. A brown beer with an off-white head. The aroma has notes of roasted and sweet malt. The flavor is sweet with notes of roasted malt, chocolate, and bread, leading to a dry finish. Thanks fiiulijn for sharing.

26th April 2009
Opaque black stout. Fresh semi dry palate. Lively tangy malt with a lactose sweetness and a distinct apples and pears fruity finish. Very drinkable with an unusual finish. Nice one Felstar!

27.5 cL bottle, courtesy of fiulijn. Pours dark brown to black with a small off-white to tan head. Roasted dark malt, mild ashtrayish. tarish, roasted malt and dark breadish. Ends mild acidic and lingering dark chocolate malty. Thick and roasted finish.

A thin, fizzy brown head quickly disappears from this near black stout, receding to form a ring round the glass. It’s certainly got a striking nose. After the initial waft of booze there is molasses and roasted malt. A tawny port aroma takes over from the alcohol heat and leads on to a musty odour, much like you’d find right at the bottom of a damp trunk. There is also an ashy vanilla presence reminiscent of a barrel aged beer. It’s strangely thin in the mouth with a low carbonation; then there’s an odd chalky texture. The taste is very bitter at first with an unpleasant oxidation which develops into a port or medeira but this doesn’t hold with the other flavours. It drinks as if they poured a shot into the bottle. The malt is heavily roasted, heading towards burnt, and there’s more bitterness to be found with the tang of three day old coffee. Unfortunately there’s no chocolate and no dark fruits for balance so it all ends up tasting like a bad fortified wine. Overall it’s rough and rather unpleasant towards the bottom of the glass. Now I’m all for brewer’s taking on strange or indulgent fancies but perhaps this should’ve remained a little experiment and never have seen a bottle run.

Bottle 275ml. @ Chriso’s pre GBBF Shindig ’09.
Clear dark red brown color with a large, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white to beige head. Aroma is light heavy malty, roasted, caramel, licorice, light chocolate. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and moderate bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20090801]

Bottled 275ml
Bottle from Chris O, thanks.
Opaque black color, small steady brown head. Burnt malts, licorice, paper, Mikkeller Black kind of liquid rubber in the nose. Lots of licorice, roasted malts, some sweeter notes. Very good althoug simple flavor, but background is a bit empty.