Less brazen than brewers’ full-bodied porter, yet still rich, creamy and lactose-heavy for stylistic dry Irish Stout. Copious dark chocolate chalking and ample coffee bean bittering ascend above moderate charred hop toasting. Sticky anise upsurge intensifies sweet hazelnut and astringent walnut illusions. On tap, obsidian-hued dry body retains all its character, though roasted coffee influence is less persistent.

Middling dry Irish stout lets slick plastic impression and everlastingly harsh charcoal tarred bittering disrupt decent blackened mocha theme. Resounding coffee-burnt dark chocolate frontage accrues resinous hop char and dirty earthen spell. Ashen plum, prune and raisin subsidy lost amidst acrid phenol doldrums. On second passing, peat-soiled marble rye, pungent black tea, bourbon and molasses undertones nip at the bitter black chocolate finish.

Smooth medium-bodied mahogany-hued Irish-style dry stout proves quite versatile. Full-blown mocha frontage surges past burgundy-bourbon boozing bracing sticky anise-seeded dalliance and black coffee coda. Black cherry souring, ester-y grape tartness, brassy walnut singe, and latent charcoal burn embitter hop-oiled oats-smoked cocoa malting to earthen peat bottom.

Fizzy dry-bodied schwarzbier-like black ale misses mark. Coarse metallic shrill depletes mocha nuttiness of supposed Irish-styled stout. Oily hop-toasted grain-roasted charcoal burn overwhelms bittersweet cocoa-seeded black chocolate harshness, gnarly fig-soured chicory coffee meander and salty soy spell.

On tap, beige-headed Irish-styled dry stout embellishes frisky carbolic hop char with rye-malted chocolate roast to compact wheat basin, simmering to surprisingly light-bodied smoked mocha-nut finish. Lively on the tongue yet lacking robust creaminess prominent Guinness Stout offers.

Complex ‘inky black’ stout boasts lingered black coffee bitterness intensifying flaked oat sweetness and unrefined maple sappiness to resinous molasses bottom. Roasted hops secure charred wood-charcoal tone and tar-like murk to harsh cinder finish. Adjacent rich milky creaminess penetrates anise-spiced grapefruit splash and black licorice hint.

Smoked wood and burnt coffee given correlative charred hop bittering for balmy well-balanced dry-bodied Irish dry stout.

Creamy stout represents well as sticky molasses-thick anise initiation settles behind lingered espresso presence. Black coffee, milky cappuccino, mocha latte, and chicory illusions immediately confront espresso bunker, pushing through dark chocolate sweetening.

Archetypal nitro-injected draught in can retains frothy whipped cream head, full-bodied coffee nuttiness, deep roasted chocolate malt insistence, clumped eclair globule, burnt caramel richness, black tea spot and charred cedar chip twinge. On tap, these pour like a thick chocolate malted and can’t be beat. In distressing bottled version, watery bottom smooths subtle up-front nuttiness, mild charred hop bitterness, and milky mocha creaminess, dreadfully leaving barren black malt astringency to carry the load of underwhelming presentation. However, in iconic black can, it’s never overtly heavy, just well rounded, superefficient, steadfast and absolutely world class. These Irish trailblazers inspired a thousand worthy imitators by inventing the Stout style in 1820.

Label’s “robust, mellow” description is undeniable. But this renowned dry stout, first brewed in 1821, also maintains an unmistakable gargantuan coffee bitterness merging maple malt creaminess and persistent coarse nuttiness to black chocolate richness. Hop-fizzed cedar-charred mocha-roasted molasses pungency coats the tongue to ample nutty coffee finish. When you die, this is what you’ll no doubt smell on God’s breath. Beware: bottled version loses both espresso-like frothiness and true essence.

Cascading dark brown bubbles reach surface in Guinness Stout manner, creating beautiful pour worthy of this first class Washingtonian. Soothingly sweet chocolate malting elevates coffee nut creaminess and deep black cherry ripeness caressing char- hopped cocoa dryness for debonair fare.