Easygoing dry Irish stout rides dark chocolate bitterness into acidic black coffee tones, picking up oily nuttiness and anise spicing atop barley-roasted hop char.
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In the bottle, this Foreign Extra Stout competes favorably with Guinness Extra Stout and the nuttier dark-roasted Draught version. As of 2024, 50% of Guinness brews sold worldwide were FES. Creamier and sweeter than porter-inspired GES or nitrogenated Draught, its dark chocolate syruping, maple molasses sugaring and burnt toast remnant reach a less nutty mocha finish than the aforementioned variants (though the dark-roast hop char remains elevated in comparison).
On tap at Hop & Vine Taproom, silken dark chocolate creaminess leaves nutty coffee residue as tertiary smoked molasses, chalky cocoa, dark-roast hop char and seared rauchbier-like beechwood merge comfortably.
York Peppermint Patty knockoff under the guise of a lactic dry Irish stout lets its bittersweet Tahitian vanilla bean luster settle alongside green-minted dark chocolate candied sugaring – picking up latent cola, hazelnut and anise illusions, distant maple oats flaking and nifty Brownies confection against mild charred hop bittering. A wonderful chocolate mint dessert pastry liquified.
On tap at Growler & Gill, dry Irish stout maintains bitterer stylistic rampage as dark chocolatey black coffee nuttiness and treacly Blackstrap molasses acridity receive wood-burnt hop char above barley-flaked unsweetened Bakers chocolate base.
Dry Irish stout retains dark-roast coffee bittering and musky black chocolate continuance as charcoal-singed hop nuttiness and black grape must advance sharp mocha bitterness.
Supposed “world’s creamiest stout” copies fellow Irish brewer, Guinness, with its nifty cascading nitro head over deep mahogany body, smoothly dry nutty dark chocolate resolution and spunky Blackstrap molasses coffee bittering while impressively forgoing the plastic floating widget. Its fluffily foamed eclair creaminess softens the tarry mocha-blackened dark-roast hop char, sturdily reinforcing its rich cafe latte finish.
Soft-tongued nutty dark chocolate creaming settles upon dark-roast hop char. In the backdrop, Blackstrap molasses bittering engulfs espresso, cola, walnut and burnt wood illusions.
On tap at Cloverleaf, sweetish whipped coffee creaming contrasts debittered black malt dryness as oats-honeyed Maris Otter and Vienna malting surfaces alongside molasses-caked vanilla respite.
On tap at Seven Lakes Station, dry Irish stout given smooth nitrogenated creaming and nutty buckwheat influence in flattish mineral grain setting. Gentle coffee-roasted dark chocolate bittering buttresses tidy walnut, cola nut, cashew and hazelnut whims. A tad underwhelmingly unassuming.