I think it might be time for me to admit that I have a small obsession with stouts these days. I can’t stop, people. I need them, and they need me. Stouts…you complete me. Actually, they’re making me fat, but I don’t care – I can buy bigger clothes.

So, here’s the concept. My buddy Jim and I decided that since there is so much stout goodness out there, a ‘Stout Night’ was in order. Sounds delicious, right? So over the next few days I hopped around from store to store, cobbling together the beers which would make it into the session. Quick side note, I hate calling a night of beer drinking a ’session.’ I don’t know why I capitulate to that description cause it sounds kinda nerdy. Ironically, using the word capitulate when I could have just said give-in is also nerdy. I’m screwed on this one, I think. At any rate, I finally made the final selections and the night was set – this was going to be fun. Here’s the lineup: Harviestoun – Old Engine Oil, Bridgeport – Stout, Highland Brewing – Black Mocha Stout, Oscar’s – Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, Left Hand – Milk Stout, Fort Collins – Chocolate Stout, Mackeson – Triple Stout, Lion Stout, Rouge – Chocolate Stout, Young’s – Double Chocolate Stout, and finally, the Brooklyn Brewing Co – Black Chocolate Stout. You’ll notice that there aren’t many of the Imperial variety and most of these don’t exceed 6.2% (although a couple do) and that’s intentional. It’s not really a fair fight to compare some of the ’smaller’ stouts to the Imperial monsters, so we focused on beers you’d find in a typical grocery store to see who reigns supreme. Let’s do it.

We decided to basically guess as to the order in which we would try the beers; starting from what we thought would be the smallest, and ending with the biggest. We had our plan so we opened the first bottle – the Harviestoun Old Engine Oil. We’d never tried this beer so we really had no idea what to expect, but we weren’t all that scared to be honest.

Part One:

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The pour was almost totally black with an virtually non-existent head, even after an aggressive pour. On the nose is mostly roasted malt, without too much else going on. The flavor of the stout was pretty basic, featuring lots of roastiness and coffee-like bitterness. The body was medium-thin and the carbonation level seemed to be a little prickly for the lightness of the beer. Overall, a pretty good start to the night but nothing to write home about. Old Engine Oil *does* get points for having a name that makes me want to try it, strictly based on curiosity. Low points go to it being pretty average all around.

Next on the list was the Bridgeport Stout. Again, a nice dark pour with very little head to speak of. This beer had a little more chocolate on the nose and at least smelled like it would have a degree of complexity that the first brew lacked. Well, the nose was good. The flavor was, again, thinner than I would have liked with a bitterness that seemed to collect in a sourish kind of way about halfway through. If you had told me that this was a homebrew I would have believed you. It would have been a pretty decent home brew, but not on par with what a major brewery should be capable of. This beer just came off as kind of flat, not in carbonation, but in character.

Next up was the Highland Black Mocha Stout. I’ve been impressed with this smaller brewery for it’s consistency, highlighted by the Kashmir Imperial IPA, so I had high hopes for the stout. The pour yielded a little better head than the first 2 beers, with more head and better coloring. And finally, some character on the nose. Chocolate and coffee were present and there was a hint of sweetness in there somewhere as well. The flavor was a bit of a surprise in that the body was a little thinner than you’d expect from the nose. There are some good qualities to the beer, although the overall palette seems a little disjointed. The malty bitterness separates from the sweeter elements on the tongue, and the aftertaste seems to rest in a different place altogether. It’s like the beer is fighting with itself a tad. Overall, pretty decent, though, and we’re moving in the right direction in our quest. Not a real quest, of course, unless you count walking to the fridge for another beer as quest-like. I’d call it more of a jaunt, but that’s just me.

Oscar’s Oatmeal Chocolate Stout from Sand Creek Brewing Co. was next and I had never even heard of this beer before. The name sure sounds good, though, so here we go. The pour was rich and dark and the nose was really pleasing and chocolaty. The first thing that I noticed about this beer was that it was really well balanced. The carbonation level was right on the money and the oatmeal provided a nice thickness to the mouthfeel, which is something that has been lacking so far in our tasting. The recipe was obviously well-crafted and I would like to try more from the brewery if I can find some.

The journey continues with the Mackeson Triple Stout. This beer is actually a Milk Stout and the lactose-induced sweetness is immediately apparent on the nose. Theres also a hint of dried fruit – a spicy kind of sweetness reminiscent of fruitcake. For the record, I don’t like fruitcake and wouldn’t really suggest eating one, or putting one in your beer, but this was surprisingly a nice part of the nose. Caramel, chocolate and coffee are all there in abundance and the head is a nice caramel color. The flavor is rich and sweet – a nice departure from the more basic beers so far. The carbonation was mellowed on this beer relative to the others and overall felt a little more finished and balanced. It’s is very drinkable and not overly heavy and I’d characterize the body as medium, while still nice and flavorful. The best one so far, but there are some heavy hitters to come.

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By now you’re probably thinking that this is a really long blog post and 1) I don’t have time to read all of this at one time and 2) I need a beer. Maybe a stout? Stay tuned for part two where we dive in to some of the big boys – yum.

Cheers, ~G