Pisgah Valdez

Brewed by Pisgah Brewing Company
Style: Stout
Black Mountain, North Carolina USA

Sampled at Brewgrass 2008. Pours a chocolate hazy color with no head. Plenty of coffee in the aroma with a bit of coco making itself known. A delicious drink to be sure. Very flavorful for a regular strength stout. Coffee, chocolate covered espresso beans all in a great balance with a touch of residual sweetness. Creamy medium mouth feel and body.

(draft) Brown-black body atop brown head. Aroma is moderately sweet, coffee, light caramel. taste is medium sweet, coffee, roast, some caramel. Low carbonation, medium body.

Oh sweet Jesus, this is good stuff. Deep dark brown pour with dark tan bubbly head. Perhaps the freshest coffee flavor and aroma that I’ve come across in a beer. Not too sweet nor too alcoholic; this is actually a very drinkable coffee stout. Some nice roastiness, good bitter flavor and a hint of hops, and some chocolate notes as well. Great beer.

750mL corked and caged bottle poured into a tulip. Pours dark, dark brown out of the bottle and settles pitch black in the glass with a massive three-finger tan head that shows great retention and lacing. Aroma is coffee, coffee and more coffee. There is more than a hint of dark roasted malts underlying the coffee but the aroma of freshly ground coffee steals the shows in the this one. The taste is also big on the coffee, but with a very slight bitterness in the finish. The dark malts are more evident than in the aroma, but the sweet roasted coffee shine through again. If you like coffee, you’ll love this stuff. Creamy and medium bodied mouthfeel with tons of carbonation that just leaves your mouth tingling with that cup-of-joe taste throughout. If reviewing this beer as a imperial stout, it may be the most drinkable I’ve ever had in the style. I tend to think of it more of a stout and a half instead of a double, but it’s damn fine stuff either way. Highly recommended!

750ml from the good folks at Bruisin Ales. I’ve been wanting to try this one for some time. Lovely coffee nose, not simply hardcore roastage but actual bean richness. Body is big and the head is lively and lasting. Really fine and rich stout at the core, a bit sticky with abundant chocolate malts dominating. Coffee complements nicely and is well integrated, not just a lamination. Creamy mouthfeel, a real treat of a beer.

Date: April 21, 2008
Mode: Growler
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party
Appearance: solid black, fine tan head, streaks of drippy lace
Aroma: strong dark chocolate aroma with roasted and coffee characters
Body: creamy body
Flavor: rich chocolate and coffee flavor, touch of roasted brings in a bitterness, hint of dark caramel and milky sweetness for balance

Date: April 24, 2009
Mode: bottle
Source: tasting
Aroma: big coffee aroma, lota of roasted character, dark chocolate
Flavor: rich chocolate and coffee flavor, long dark chocolate bitterness

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

Pours a brown color with a brown head. Aroma is chocolate, roast, coffee, raisins, and some earthiness. Flavor is malty, chocolate, roast, cream, and a light fruity finish.

Growler: Pours an opaque dark mahogany with a thin, wispy-lacing dark tan head. Aroma of lightly sweet dark caramel and chocolate malts with a fresh roasted coffee character. Body starts lightly sweet and fairly full with a toasty caramel and light milk chocolate flavor balanced with a good coffee character. A pretty good coffe stout, with some lingering roasted notes. But could use a little more fullness and complexity.