Hood Canal Big Beef Stout

Brewed by Hood Canal Brewery
Style: Sweet Stout
Kingston, Washington USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Bottle:   I had high hopes after I saw how this poured, black, large frothy tannish head, stick lacing.   Looked great, I thought what a wonderful surprise.   First whif... hmmm, slight roasted malts, but it seems a little tart, more than I think it should be.   WHOA, if you stuck this in front of me and said "Hey 5000, what do you think of this?" I would have said... "Seems like a nice American Sour meets Belgian Porter."   Holy friggen soflam!   This one is tart and sour, has that musty and raisiny sort of flavor that I get when I am drinking Port Brewings Brouwers Blend 2009.   This is supposed to be a Sweet Stout?!   No.... you lie... I have never in my life had a Sweet Stout go off to the point that its unrecognizable, AND, comes across as an entirely different beer.   I friggen kid you not.   The last time I had an American like sour from Port Brewing was their Brouwers 2009 Imagination release.   This is like the poormans version of that.   Holy friggen hell!   This is one shitty ass Sweet Stout, but its one interesting Sour.   Unfortunately, I can’t give it the praise for the sour ale, and must give it an ass rating for a Sweet Stout.   Okay, the honeymoon is over.   This one is not a big beefer, maybe a big queefer.

One of a number of beers brought over from the US, but this one was undrinkable. Spewed out of the bottle and kept on going, sour and tasted like it had an infection.

Hood Canal Brewing Company--Big Beef Stout--2001 Release--22 oz. Bottle. 5.50% ABV. (3.0 / 5.0) Stout--Clear thin dark bronze color with flecks of white sediment. Sweet fruity lightly roasted front. Thin sweet fruity body is flavorful but minimally roasted. Clean end with light chocolate sweet citrus note. Sampled 5/19/2001.

pours is watery brown with a ruby tint with a thin beige head, and not much lacing, looks like a coca-cola with some water in it. smell is faint, malt, and a touch of cocoa. taste is watery, a little tart, weak, some cocoa, and malt.

Muddy chocolate brown pour with a really nice mousy head. Aromas of chocolate, roast, light sweetness, and earth come through. More chocolate and roast in the flavor, some softer sweetness, and a nice bitey aspect in the finish. Hops are earthy and relatively crisp. Finish is dry, but body seemed a bit watery for style. Decent nonetheless.

A nice stout on tap at the brewery. This and their Barleywine are their best offerings, IMHO.

Draught @ WABF 2008. Pours a hazy dark brown almost black color with a slamm off-white head. Roasted malty aroma with some chocolate hints. Roasted malty dark fruit flavor with some hints of chocolate. Has a roasted malty finish.

Bottle from By The Bottle in Vancouver, WA--Poured a dark brown body with a medium-sized whitish head. Very carbonic and full of sour infection. Is this supposed to be a Belgian? No, just infected to the gills. I tried to accept it for a beer along the lines of the Fantom Chocolat, but wound up just discovering a miserable drain pour.

Taster - Hood Canal Brewery - Kingston, WA
Aroma – Nice dark malts with some sweetness in the aroma.
Appearance – Dark brown color, small head and clear.
Flavor – There was some nice dark malt flavors to this beer. Had a light flavor felt like it was missing something? Like more tangible malts to add flavors.
Palate – Nice Mouthfeel, A watery texture with a semi dry finish.
Overall – The beer was just not happening. I was greatly disappointed wit this beer. Needed more time and malts and possibly add some lactose for the sweetener.

On tap at Fritz European Fry House. I actually liked this stout quite a bit, even though it didn’t really live up to what I expect when I order an oatmeal stout. The appearance was good. The body color was black. The head was astonishingly white for a stout. The lacing was good. The aroma was of oats, with some dark chocolate thrown in. Nothing spectacular there. The palate was somewhat creamy and felt good in the mouth. The best part, though, was the flavor. It was quirky and a little weird, but I liked it. The prominent flavor could best be described as a maple nurse log resting in a peat bog. That meant (1) some wet wood flavor, (2) the taste of moss, and (3) a hint of licorice fern. Perhaps that doesn’t appeal to you, but it did to me. Then again, I am a native of the Pacific Northwest. As the ale warmed, a touch of molasses interjected and the dark chocolate bitterness increased. Not a favorite of mine, but I would drink it again.