A Quartet of Stouts

G.M. Gillman · Post by **G.M. Gillman** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 8:54 pm

By the way the comment in that old text about licorice was very interesting I thought. To this day it is one of the things sometimes added to porter when an extra flavour is wanted, but I'd never have figured it started by emulating how a porter made with black malt - i.e., naturally made - tasted.

I always got a slight anise taste in Champlain Porter in the 1970's and always liked it.

I like licorice, coriander, certain spices, molasses, all when not added in excess. Not coffee or chocolate though, they don't work for me although I recognize many people enjoy the taste, and fair enough.

Gary

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 9:46 pm

G.M. Gillman wrote:By the way the comment in that old text about licorice was very interesting I thought. To this day it is one of the things sometimes added to porter when an extra flavour is wanted, but I'd never have figured it started by emulating how a porter made with black malt - i.e., naturally made - tasted.

I always got a slight anise taste in Champlain Porter in the 1970's and always liked it.

I like licorice, coriander, certain spices, molasses, all when not added in excess. Not coffee or chocolate though, they don't work for me although I recognize many people enjoy the taste, and fair enough.

Gary

Right now I'm drinking one of the batch #2 of Tempest and last week I had a bottle from batch#1. The licorice is really showing and both beers, and while some don't like it, I find it quite pleasant. Would the rye malts be contributing to these flavours?

G.M. Gillman · Post by **G.M. Gillman** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 10:31 pm

Jeff, I got a similar note and I suspect it is from roasted barley and/or chocolate malt, both of which are used in this beer I understand. The flavour has become a characteristic of some porter over the last 150 years or so. However, the commentary discussed above suggests by implication it was not in 1700's porter, porter made from all-brown malt kilned over straw or wood. I would think that porter was more deep-toasted in taste with smoky edges perhaps.

Of course, we don't really know for sure.

This does show though, if proof were needed, that porter has continued to evolve since its origins.

Gary

mintjellie · Post by **mintjellie** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:11 pm

Does anyone know the specifics of Extra Stout manufactured for the US market? Some sources online say that at some point Labatt's lost US distribution of the brand and that it's actually now brewed in New Brunswick, by Moosehead.

The Extra Stout I had was down in the US, so it may not have been Labatt's version at all. And maybe that's why I didn't find it as foul as many of you remember it.

Can anyone confirm or debunk this?

midlife crisis · Post by **midlife crisis** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:15 pm

I thought Gary, or someone, said US FES is brewed at St James Gate?

mintjellie · Post by **mintjellie** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:17 pm

midlife crisis wrote:I thought Gary, or someone, said US FES is brewed at St James Gate?

I was talking about ES, not FES.

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:30 pm

The ES available in the US is indeed brewed by Moosehead. Considering the great selection in the US, I have never ever bothered to try it, and probably never will.

mintjellie · Post by **mintjellie** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:33 pm

markaberrant wrote:The ES available in the US is indeed brewed by Moosehead. Considering the great selection in the US, I have never ever bothered to try it, and probably never will.

I'll agree with you there, there is a plethora of better options out there. I was dating a girl in Syracuse at the time though, and she liked Guinness, and a leftover bottle ended up getting thrown in with my haul.

And I definitely remember liking it better than draft. Not spectacular by any means, but certainly not bad either.

For what it's worth, I've read that the addition of Guinness essence to a locally brewed base is also the process used for a lot of the country-specific FES variants.

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Fri Mar 22, 2013 12:26 am

mintjellie wrote:For what it's worth, I've read that the addition of Guinness essence to a locally brewed base is also the process used for a lot of the country-specific FES variants.

The Desnoes and Geddes brewed FES from Jamaica tastes like a corn based lager with essence added.

mintjellie · Post by **mintjellie** » Fri Mar 22, 2013 12:46 am

markaberrant wrote:
mintjellie wrote:For what it's worth, I've read that the addition of Guinness essence to a locally brewed base is also the process used for a lot of the country-specific FES variants.
The Desnoes and Geddes brewed FES from Jamaica tastes like a corn based lager with essence added.

And the Nigerian version supposedly is at least partially sorghum based.

G.M. Gillman · Post by **G.M. Gillman** » Fri Mar 22, 2013 8:08 am

Indeed Foreign Extra Stout is brewed in various locations around the world. I didn't like the Jamaican one either, it seemed (I don't know for sure) like a lager-based beer with the essence added or blended with stout or something.

However, the Irish-brewed FES is very good - and that is the one nationally available (in small amounts) as a bottled import in the U.S.

There is a glass-bottled Guinness sold in U.S. grocery stores, not widget but regular carbonation, that is brewed in New Brunswick by Moosehead, or was the last time I checked the bottles, about a year ago now. To me it tasted similar to the Labatt-brewed version The Beer Store has carried for many years in Ontario.

Gary