Swale Oyster Stout

Formerly brewed at Whitstable
Style: Stout
Maidstone, England

Serve in English pint

Dark black color. Medium head. Aroma is chocolate. A medium bodied sweet stout. Malts are chocolate and coffee. Hops are slightly spicy. Nicely balanced. Coffee and chocolate with a touch of vanilla. Smooth and mellow. Very easy drinking stout. Nice dry finish. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is dry and clean. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

I can see how this would go very well with oysters: a strong aroma to balance out the oysters with a surprisingly mellow flavor so it doesn't get in the way, as they can be rather mild. The only real defining flavor I discovered here was a strong espresso character. The aroma is great - sweet grains with a touch of espresso - but like I said, the flavor is incredibly modest as may be their intention.

Pours almost black with an average light brown head. Almost non-existent lacing. Aroma and flavor are full of the typical coffee and chocolate that you normally get with a stout. Fairly average for a stout.

This is not a bad sweet stout. Slightly sweet, and light flavor. Finish is a little thin and clean.

Bottled. Nice sweet stout. Poured black as oil. Had a thin head which didn't last to long. Good rosty flavor to it.

Deep roasted color with a short lived head. Light aroma of toasted malt. Nice flavor, light almost watery. Malt leaves almost a smoked feeling to your palate when finished. Nice english stout. Don't know about eating it with oysters!

10/4/03: bottle.
stout bodied, black as night in color and opaque. almond colored lacing. smoked malt aroma with hints of some roasting. heavy smoked taste with flavors of bacon and burnt malt. bitter finish with a lingering aftertaste of bacon.

Black body. Tan head that quickly disappears. No lacing.
Weak roasted aroma.
Malty with a hint of roasted malt. Sweet and slightly bitter aftertaste. Simple and a bit watery.
Medium bodied and satisfying.