Saranac Stout

Brewed by Matt Brewing Company
Style: Stout
Utica, New York USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker, Snifter

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Roasty brown malt aroma, lightly coffeeish and toasted. Clear dark brown color with a lasting, creamy head and good lacing. Flavor profile is rather simple, just some roasty malt with characteristics of light coffee and cocoa. Dry, grainy and moderately bitter finish. Light-medium bodied, palate is perhaps a degree too thin for my liking. Overall this one just didn't live up to expectations, being too meek and not possessed of great depth. Somehow I think I actually prefer the Black & Tan.

Whereas this brew looks really tempting with its frothy, draught-like head and black body, the aroma is almost too mild, and the flavor is quite thin. Hints of cocoa, but very dry and ashy. Watery finish. OK for a grocery store beer.

Well, this beer, at the very least, looks impressive - it pours pretty dark brown with an inch or two of tan head - good lacing - aroma is of lactose and little else - body and flavor are very thin - a bit too bitter - it kind of tastes like cola and black coffee mixed together, but less interesting and drinkable.

I was impressed by the creamy head. A real cut above what you usually see from a bottle in terms of appearance, taste and texture. But the aftertaste of my first full swig betrayed notes of caramel. That just seems like cheating to me. Addition of small amounts of caramel is an old trick to correct the color of a beer that's not quite dark enough for the style. Altogether, this is not a very remarkable beer. They only sell it as part of a 12 pack assortment and it's not hard to see why. Saranac seems to be very good at producing an incredible variety of beer in the dullest way possible.

Slightly tan head, slowly dissipating. Dark color with ruby hue. Tad bit of lacing. Slightly malty nose with cookie aroma. Roasty flavor. Burnt aftertaste that evolves weirdly. Not sweet or dry, but in the middle--as if unsure of the goal.

Nice dark appearance with a bugundy colored edge. Initially, a dense tan head, but it faded quickly. Smooth, toasted malt taste with a slight hint of tobacco. Medium-bodied. Some chocolate flavors turn up in the finish.

This beer pours a very dark color with a thick off white head. The aroma was very weak, but I found hints of chocolate, dark malts, and possibly vanilla. The flavor was mostly comprised of a roasted malts with a coffee and chocolate taste. Very common, but somewhat weak in the overall strength of the taste.

Not a great stout but, as American stouts go, it's passable. Okee-dokee.... I'll give it a three something.

Good appearance. It's a bit more transparent than I like, but the head is a nice light tan that has good lasting power and lacing. The aroma is a bit hoppy, not really all that malty. The flavor is thin, with a slight sweetness, a bit of hop presence and a bitter finish. Not really a stand-out stout.

12 oz bottle, goblet. Small, tight, off-white head quickly diminishes to a crown over a black but not completely opaque body. Roasted grain, dark chocolate, dark coffee malt (M); perhaps some dark fruits also. Moderately sweet, lightly acidic flavor becomes a lightly sweet, lightly bitter, moderately acidic finish. Medium-full body, watery/creamy texture, lively carbonation. The bottom line is: absolutely nothing stands out here.