North Coast Old No. 38 Stout

Brewed by North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Dry Stout
Fort Bragg, California USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

12 fl oz bottle aged approximately three years. Pours a near opaque dark brown with a huge but short-lived mocha head. Aromas are roasty malt, licorice, caramel, and some chalk. Taste is chocolate, coffee, with a very subtle bitterness. Medium body, very well balanced flavours, medium carbonation. Very smooth and easy drinking stout! May have really benefitted from mellowing out for a few years. Would love to compare against a freshly brewed bottle.

Pours a near black with foamy tan head. Modest grainy aroma with some sweetness. Lighter feel with a rich carbonation that gets smoother in time, modest roasted flavors of singed malt and a light charcoal smoke with some small fruit flavours from the yeast. Not to shabby, straightforward smooth robust and well roasted. Would be great on nitro.

From a bottle. Pours very dark opaque brown with a thin tan head. Tastes bitter, like coffee and licorice. Smells like espresso. Medium body and low carbonation.

Bottle. Pours black with a huge fluffy off-white head and leaves lots of lacing. Something is just off about this. Yeast is too prominent and sweetness is more fruity than chocolatey or anything else more appropriate to the style. Palate is a bit too thin and delicate. Not terrible in and of itself but doesn't strike me as a stout. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Poured this beer from a standard bottle into a trumpet glass to drink. The beer had a dark rusty brown color with a good-sized creamy dark tan head with average retention, and good lacing and cling. Its aroma featured chocolate and coffee malt, with lighter caramel, bits of earthy and grainy hops, and some floral hops. The taste featured a mostly-sweet malty chocolate and coffee blend, with some toffee, and a mixing of sour grainy tones too. The beer had a medium-thick body and was a touch watery with a dry finish, and average carbonation and life.

Light and smooth stout, very pleasant. Roasted coffee dominates, medium bitterness lingers. Not quite as smoky as the steam engine...

12oz bottle in an English pint. Pours very dark brown with a lacy, tan head. Aroma of roasted malts, some coffee, a little bit of dough, and floral hops. Flavor the same. Average texture. Not bad for the style, but not the best stout.

Pour out of 12 oz bottle, dark brownish black pour with thin tan head, that dissipates quick, aroma brings notes of sour fruit, tart coffee, roast, biscuit, bread, some yeast notes, hints of Belgian fruit. Taste is sour and red fruits, hints of roast, tart and stale coffee, some slight chocolate, stale cracker, finishing bitter, dry. Seems a bit old and infected. Will revisit.

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, no bottle dating. Pours very dark brown, almost black color; with a 1 finger dense tan head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass. Aromas of cocoa, chocolate, roasted malt, light char, toast, molasses, raisin, toffee, light coffee, and roasted earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity; decent strength. Taste of cocoa, chocolate, roasted malt, toast, light char, molasses, toffee, light raisin, light coffee, and roasted earthiness. Lingering notes of cocoa, chocolate, roasted malt, toast, molasses, toffee, light raisin, and earthiness on the finish for a short bit. Very nice balance and complexity of roasted flavors with some light fruitiness; with good robustness, and zero cloying flavors present after the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a lightly creamy, chalky, and fairly crisp mouthfeel that is good. Alcohol is very well hidden with almost zero warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is a very good dry stout style. Good balance and complexity of nicely robust flavors; and very smooth to drink. A nicely enjoyable offering; but I probably got an old bottle judging by the fruitiness and molasses notes.

Dark brown/black color; Medium body; Aroma of toasted malt, coffee, & chocolate; Flavor of roasted malt, hops, coffee, and dark chocolate; Dry finish; Good.