Noteworthy and Favorite Stouts

[magnolia]

I'm trying to track down the current brewers of Macksons and have been all over the 'net but cannot find any reference to the parent company...Thanks !

[Stigand]

Mackeson was bought by Whitbread, who sold their brewing operations to Interbrew in the nineties. This beer website suggests that Interbrew still owns the brand, but Interbrew don't mention it on their website.

I'm going to the supermarket later, so I'll have a look on the side of a bottle to see if I can find out for sure.

Edited December 11, 2003 by Stigand (log)

[beerguyjim]

Try Royal Imports, Cincinnati, OH, 513.241.4270.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Ah... Mackesons - my absolute favorite beer in the world.

Thanks for bringing a smile to me, this early morn.

[Stigand]

Sorry - no luck. Couldn't find it in either Sainsbury's or Selfridges.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I thought I'd push this up -- for those with access to Trader Joe's (at least here on the West Coast), TJ's is offering six-packs of Mackesons for $4.99!

What a steal!

Last night, warm and sweating after mowing my lawn, I popped a bottle and, not having drunk a Mackeson in at least three years, recalled just why I loved this inky, dark brew so much...

[sylunt1]

I have heard it is now being brewed by Sam Adams... It was in the paper this week out in the bay area.

I have a question... being lactose intolerant... and the way a milk/sweet stout is made that way is they put milk sugars in it (they are not fermentable) - will this cause me problems?

[Susan in FL]

Post about noteworthy stouts here!

I am loving having the beers that we have on hand right now. This was one of the best beer shoppings ever, and in the midst, I'm realizing how much I love stouts.

To add to the oatmeal stout discussion, two others from the recent shopping that I have enjoyed are Young's Double Chocolate Stout and Rogue Shakespeare Stout. The Youngs was real good, but it's hard to beat Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout.

Really noteworthy to me was last night's match of Rogue Shakespeare Stout and Pepperidge Farms Orange Milano cookies.

[jsolomon]

Alas, my old employer, Spilker Ales, no longer makes their XPO stout. I am currently rending my clothes and gnashing my teeth and procuring sack cloth to wear for a requisite amount of time.

[helenas]

Stoudts Fat Dog is our current favorite imperial.

Need to try Victory Storm King once again, totally forgot if i liked it or not .

[TongoRad]

Between this thread and the "what beer did you have yesterday" thread you folks have gotten me seriously pining for Pike's XXXXX Stout. I wish a lot of PNW beers were available on the east coast, but that one more than just about any other.

The Shakespeare is great as well, but I tend to find myself consuming good old Sierra Nevada Stout more than any other of the west coasters. Though I'm going to have to try that cookie thing. Also- I know a guy who used to make ice cream floats with the Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout all the time.

[Susan in FL]

Oh do try those particular cookies with the stout.

Also- I know a guy who used to make ice cream floats with the Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout all the time.

And talk about these posts provoking a craving.... Don't get me started about stout floats! On second thought, yeah do...

Click and take a look at this.

I just might have to go out for some ice cream. We have the BBBCS already.

[culinary bear]

Guinness Foreign Extra... originally brewed for export to Africa (specifially Nigeria, which still has the world's highest per capita consumption of stout) and the West Indies.

Shockingly hoppy, and a whopping 7.5%ABV. Treacle in a glass, yet with great finesse.

[suzilightning]

ok susan and all....

john loves stouts. he feels guiness is the "nectar of the gods". he has found stouts from microbreweries in the hudson valley he says he will bring down for me to try. the problem is ...I AM A HOP HEAD. i admit it ...give me a hoppy brew and i am happy. i find stouts too dark, cloying, and heavy for my taste. as the bil would say "that doesn't make me a bad person" (in the tone of voice that of course it does). is it the taste, the timber, the weight of the brew that appeals to you? inquiring minds want to know...

[Jason Perlow]

I'm a huge fan of Stouts. While I never pass up a pint of Guinness, my current fave is Sam Smith's Imperial. I also like Old Rasputin, Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate and Dragonslayer.

[Susan in FL]

Suzi, I'm a hard core hophead, too, but I love stouts also. Come on... you can do it...

[TongoRad]

ok susan and all....

the problem is ...I AM A HOP HEAD.  i admit it ...give me a hoppy brew and i am happy.  i find stouts too dark, cloying, and heavy for my taste.  as the bil would say "that doesn't make me a bad person" (in the tone of voice that of course it does).  is it the taste, the timber, the weight of the brew that appeals to you?  inquiring minds want to know...

←

You might want to start with the sub-style known as 'West Coast Stouts'- their defining characteristic is hoppiness, though it does require a platform of malt to pull it off (the bitterness does tend to offset the heaviness, and the best ones are not cloying at all). These are the ones I was refering to in my previous post. Dark(?)- well, they do tend to have that in spades, but, again- it's all about balance. The thing is- the roasted malt combined with the citrusy hops is a wonderful combination, not unlike a bit of lemon peel in an espresso.

If you can get a reasonably fresh Sierra Nevada (the date is marked on the case, not the sixer), that's where you should start. If you were in Oregon, I'd recommend something different.

[eje]

I enjoy stouts; but, find lately, unless it is a cold winter night, I don't enjoy the really high alcohol ones like Stone's Imperial or North Coast's Rasputin as much as I used to. A little too intense, I guess.

However, I will never pass up a good Guinness, and recently discovered Beamish is also quite delicious. Though, the nitrogen delivery widget of the "draft" cans of Beamish isn't quite up to the level of perfection of Guinness' and I would advise opening them over the sink.

Erik

[BCinBC]

I mentioned this in the "What beer did you drink" thread, but just noticed this thread. My favourite stout of all time was the Red Hook double black, brewed with coffee (yes it was Starbucks just before they took over the world).

Quote from the site:

Dear Beer Guru,

What the ale?! How come I can't find Doubleblack Stout brewed with Starbucks Coffee in my favorite store anymore?

Signed,

Jonesin' For Doubleblack"

Dear JFD,

Sadly, Doubleblack Stout was retired in January of 2002 because demand for the beer dropped to levels where commercial production was no longer viable. We have secured the recipe in the brewers' vault in hopes that one day Doubleblack will rise like a phoenix from the ashes of brewing history to once again slake the thirsts of stout fans from sea to shining sea.

Cheers,

The Beer Guru

Such a tragedy.

[culinary bear]

Jason, just as a matter of interest, how much do you pay for a bottle of Sam Smith's Imperial over your way?

[2roost]

While Guinness will always be my favourite stout I also enjoy Marston's Oyster Stout and , locally, Nelson Brewing BlackHeart Oatmeal Stout.

[shawarma_prince]

Is there anything better than Founders KBS or CBS? Those are two amazing beers.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

"One cannot drink stout." -- Michael Flanders

 

[Tri2Cook]

I like the Skull Rock Stout from Sleeping Giant brewery. They're semi-local to me, about 4 hours or so away, but I have no idea what their distribution range is. It's a nice English style oatmeal stout. The Shinny Pants Session Stout from Great Lakes brewery is surprisingly tasty for a stout coming in at just 4.3% abv. Makes it easy to toss down a few, which I can't normally do with stouts, they're usually a one or two and done for me... but that's probably the whole point behind calling it a "session stout."  😁

[Dr. Teeth]

Might help to know where you are located.   Those are really great stouts if you like great big imperial stouts.  Probably as good as anything available nationally.  Other nationally distributed ones I like are Founder's Breakfast Stout, Bell's Black Note Stout, Goose Island Bourbon County, Terrapin Wake n'Bake Stout and Victory at Sea by Ballast Point (technically an imperial porter, not a stout).   Terrapin and Victory at sea are the only ones made year round rather than seasonally so it might be easiest to find them. 

 

Gigantic stouts that taste like fudge are a style that local breweries can do very well.  If you are near D.C Jupiter's Cake by Elder Pine and most of Aslin's stouts are fantastic.