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Belhaven Scottish Stout

Contribute your own beer reviews and ratings of beers that are made or available in Ontario.

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mintjellie
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1118
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2009 1:22 am
Location: Barrie, Ontario

Belhaven Scottish Stout

Post by mintjellie »

A / 4.5
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | drink: 5
rDev: +9.6%

Inky black in colour, topped by an inch of fairly well-retained mocha head that sticks to the walls of my tulip in small splotches. It smells of dried fruit, like raisins or cherries, and brown sugar; hints of chocolate and coffee also linger in the background. It has a wonderful bittersweet and tangy flavour reminiscent of sweetened black coffee. That dried fruit character is there as well, along with notes of chocolate, caramel, and a hint of smoke. That tangy taste starts to take on a life of its own as it approaches room temperature, becoming vinuous and vaguely reminiscent of madeira. The potency of this strong stout is very well hidden, the alcohol is barely noticeable to the palate.

Medium bodied with velvety carbonation, it feels smooth yet also relatively light for something so richly flavoured. A little bit more heft wouldn't hurt it, but it's pretty hard to nitpick when something tastes so damned good. This is fine just the way it is. I like it a lot just the way it is. Full flavoured yet mellow. Great beer!

Serving type: bottle

Reviewed on: 12-10-2010 01:23:36

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duncan
Posts: 50
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:52 am
Location: trrana

Post by duncan »

I'll second this review. Was a bit nervous it being in a clear glass bottle. But those worries were unfounded. Really quite good.

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BooBoo
Posts: 210
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:33 pm
Location: Belleville, Ontario

Post by BooBoo »

I enjoyed it, although it was a bit thinner and a little sweeter than I typically enjoy. I've been drinking a lot of Peche Mortel and other good RIS's lately, so perhaps the Belhaven is suffering by comparison.
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut. "

-Ernest Hemingway

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