Category Archives: Beers A-Z

ROGUE HAZELUTELY CHOCTABULOUS

On tap at Poor Henry’s, delightfully decadent ‘candy bar in a bottle’ blends Rogue’s Hazelnut Brown Nectar with its Chocolate Stout. Up-front chocolate brownie fudging allows toffee, crème brulee, Tootsie Roll, cacao nibs and vanilla illusions to sweeten its lingering dark-roast hazelnut core while light hop charred peanut shelling adds contrasting bitterness. Pleasant caramel-burnt chocolate truffle finish will please any bittersweet-toothed dessert freak.

STONE / HARDYWOOD / ARDENT GIVE ME STOUT OR GIVE ME DEATH

On tap at Growler & Gill, well-designed dark ale collaboration between three respected Virginia breweries brings black-malted dark chocolate richness, walnut-smoked cocoa powdering and vanilla bean creaming to recessive raspberry-blackberry adjuncts. But its mighty mocha magnitude and dry hop-charred hop bittering almost completely hide the dark-fruited nature.

Stone Give Me Stout or Give Me Death, A Collaboration Celebrating Virginia  Craft Beer • thefullpint.com

FEGLEY’S ARCTIC ALCHEMY

Highly approachable Brit-styled barleywine lifts majestic caramel-malted chocolate molasses malts above candied dried fruiting and sugared spices in soft-toned manner. Subtle sherry, cognac and brandy illusions as well as light medicinal cherry tones further enliven chocolate-fruited delight. Latent red grape, hazelnut, pecan, fig, plum and raisin wisps remain in the distance.

BALLAST POINT RED VELVET NITRO

On tap at Taphouse 15, unconventional nitro-injected oatmeal stout breaks traditional mocha mode, instead retaining mellow beet-sugared, vanilla cream-fluffed mouthfeel, billowy pinkish white head and silken ruby body. Cotton-candied watermelon, raspberry, cherry and strawberry illusions straddle soft honeyed wheat spine of delicate dessert treat. In the bottle, initial vanilla-creamed red velvet cake theme and Black Forest cake uprising get pushed aside by heavily charred hop astringency.