Great Waters McHughs Irish Stout

Formerly brewed at Great Waters Brewing
Style: Dry Stout
St. Paul, Minnesota USA

Serve in English pint

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Black Coloring with Tan Bubbly Head. Coffee Aroma.. Light Rich Malt, Light Coffee Roasts.. Hints of Chocolate. Think Mouthfeel and Overall Subtle Flavor. Session Stout to be Sure.

Aroma is better than the GW Pothole porter I had before it. Dignified, subtle roasted malt aroma. Tiny bubble, tan head. Black opaque body. Decent lace. Missing sweetness. Some flaws. Lactose. After a lackluster Pothole Porter, and then this beer, I have pretty much lost faith in this brewer.

Black color with a thin, almost cask-head head. Smells and tastes like coffee. Pretty thin body. Borderline average.

Push beer sampled on 2/13/2004 at Great Waters. The aroma was roasty. Appearance was dark and rich with a tan head and good lace. The flavor was nice as a Dry Stout, roasty and dry with a decent body. It was served way too cold. However, this was the best of the three beers that night.

On cask: Color is awesome with the huge cascade of dull yellow making its way up the sides of the glass, finally settling to a very, very dark brown, nearly black with ruby red highlights around the edges, head is creamy and frothy tight about a finger high, creamy/tan in color and leaves large sheets of lace. Aroma is mild roastyness and milk chocolate with a slight tang of bitterness from hops in the back. Taste is more of the same with a solid dose of mild but bittering milk-like chocolate with a sweet roasty nut-like note darting in late in the finish with a touch of burnt coffee as well. Feel could be smoother, its a bit textured in a uneven sense, but the serving on cask makes for a nice milding effect. The dryness is nice and mild as well, very calming and easy with a nice light cottony feel fading into the mouth making you want another sip; if this was cold it would probably be disturbingly astringent and unpleasant alot like some of the other brews offered here. The cask does help it out alot I think. Even with that said, it has pretty good drinkability. Reminded me alot of the Pot Hole Porter with a bit of a different finish.

Not much aroma. Rough, extremely dry finish. Didn’t seem malted enough. But to their credit, the owner was talking to me and he told me that the particular batch wasn’t quite up to par. (He said that before I drank it :)