I'd been looking forward to trying this brew for a while.
Even though DW suggested to my family and friends that my birthday party, in March, was a no-gift event, some people brought something anyway. From lush wine to hand-made, knitted toques, my friends and family are thoughtful.
Among the generous gifts, I received a pack of assorted beer from various breweries in the east end of Orleans—an Ottawa neighbourhood that I don't get out to often enough. The pack included brews from two of my favourite breweries, Stray Dog and Broadhead, as well as from a brewery I have yet to visit and whose beer I have only tried a couple of times.
As I moved the cans of beer from the wooden crate that held the gift pack to my beer fridge, I read the labels of each can, and I gave an "oooh!" as I looked at one can. It was an oatmeal stout with coffee.
I don't drink as often as I used to. Now that I'm retired, it could be too easy to open a beer at lunchtime or keep a pint next to me while I work on my novel. And I promised myself that I wouldn't do what it did at the start of the pandemic, when I always kept my beer fridge full and would drink a few pints a day.
My gut is big enough, these days, and I want to focus on my writing.
More than seven weeks after my party, I decided that the time had come to try this coffee stout. I had already enjoyed some of the other brews from the gift pack but I wanted to give this stout a proper review. My hopes were high as I cracked it open.
Orleans Brewing Company
Ottawa ON
Appearance: pours a near black with a foamy, deep taupe head that settles to a fine lace. Within a couple of minutes, the head was completely gone and the effervescence disappeared. I thought the stout might be flat, but it wasn't.
Nose: strong coffee with a hint of chocolate.
Palate: there was almost a sourness right away but the coffee followed up. A bitter chocolate brings the short finish. I was almost put off by that sourness but on subsequent sips, it disappeared. While the brew wasn't flat, there wasn't much fizz action going on in the mouth. It made me wonder how long the can had been sitting on the OBC shelves before it was added to my gift pack.
Overall impression: there's good coffee flavour in this stout and not much else to distract you from it. Equator Coffee Roasters make great coffee and their beans make this a much better brew. It's a fine stout but perhaps my expectations exceeded what I received. Was it a good stout? Yes. Would I drink it again? Perhaps. Would I seek it out? No.
In my opinion, Stray Dog and Broadhead make better stouts.
Beer O'Clock rating: 🍺🍺
OBC offers online ordering with free shipping on orders of $60 or more and within a 30-km radius.
Thanks to my friends, Bee and Marc, for the lovely brew pack. I still have more cans to savour.
Cheers!
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