Just in time for winter, a box full of delicious stouts.
Stouts are special. Like most people, I can only really enjoy them around winter. In the summer their heaviness can be overbearing. But as soon as below freezing temps set in, stouts are my best friend. They are hearty, delicious, and the perfect companion beer when sitting next to a fire.
Saugatuck Brewing does something that you don’t see too often either. A 12 pack of all stouts. While most breweries are throwing out variety packs of IPAs, they chose a bold and delicious alternative.
Whether you love sweet stouts or bitter classics, this pack has a little something for everyone. Let’s get drunk and slur our words to stouts!
Beam Me Up Stouty – 4.7%
“You’ll be taken right out of your seat when you try our sessionable coconut stout. A classic dry stout body was only perfected by adding in generous coconut additions for a sweet finish. Get it before it disappears.”
Shit. Like I said, I gotta be in the right mood for a stout and I’m not a big stout drinker. But I like this. It has a nice dark roasted malt tone, but with very little of that char, burned wood taste. It’s surprisingly mellowed out by the coconut, which itself is pretty subtle at the end, but gives the stout a perfect sweet and smooth, almost creamlike finish. There’s also a few hints of chocolate sweetness as it moves toward the end.
‘Beam
me
up.
Take me away from here.
to over there.
But wait, what about the familiar?
ah there ain’t nothing you won’t
miss
on this big old spaced out ship
except the taste of beer.’
Blueberry Maple Stout – 6.0%
“A rich, sweet stout with classic malt characteristics with a bold, unique twist. This beer tastes like you crammed a fat stack of blueberry pancakes into a pint glass and smothered it with maple syrup. Channel your inner lumberjack, because it’s in for a real treat.”
Well, I’ll be damned. This is excellent too. It reminds me of willy wonka where violet eats the three-course dinner gum. But instead of a three-course meal, it’s a whole breakfast in one sip. I get the blueberry fruit sweetness along with maple syrup, but also a toasted, biscuit malt flavor that pairs well with the above. Man if this and a coffee stout don’t sell the idea of beer for breakfast than nothing will.
Fun fact. In this next poem, I was inspired by Whitman. And instead of listing all the jobs of workers as he does, each reference to a job is actually one I’ve held. Now we’re learning about poems and beer!
I hear America Drinking (at breakfast) — A poem by Jacob Terranova, in the style of Walt Whitman’s I Hear America Singing
‘I hear America drinking, the varied bottles of beer;
Those at breakfast—each one drinking his or hers, as it should be, bitter and strong;
The writer drinking his, as he stares at blank screen,
The janitor drinking his, as he gets ready to clean;
The Home Depot man drinking before a day at the depot —the gardener drinking his in the garden hall;
The newspaper man drinking as he sits in his cell—the Glenwood kid drinking his at the return of fall;
Each drinking what belongs to him or her, a time has come for all!
The breakfast beer to begin the day — hurray!
At night, the party, the rest of the 12, bitter, hoppy, strong
drinking, with open cans, their strong slurred word songs.’
Darker Than Your Soul Stout – 6.5%
“A full bodied dark stout with smooth malt characteristics topped off with a slightly roasted finish. Mellow, earthy hop flavors pair perfectly with the dark malt profile to leave you begging for more.”
Now here’s a nice simple stout. No flash or flavor gimmicks. It has the rich dark malts, of chocolate and coffee, with hints of burnt toast and then enough hop bitterness to balance it out.
‘Oh I
was beamed up.
sure is dark out here in the unknown
a black veil velvet like
somehow heavy
in nothingness
Somehow familiar
lingering like
faded subconsciousness
are you sure there are no stouts in space?’
Neapolitan Milk Stout – 6.0%
“A creamy Milk Stout with all the brilliant flavors of Neapolitan Ice Cream in one glass. Taste the rich flavors of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry in this unique beer.”
I don’t know how they do it. But the name tells you all you need to know. It’s Neapolitan ice cream in a bottle man. It has strong fruit notes of strawberry, then wastes no time rolling into a sweet cocoa and roasted malt, then a smooth vanilla finish. One of my favorite stouts.
‘I started the day singing (drinking) a stout
maple or coffee it doesn’t matter know
the day is done
and night’s begun
as the bed beckons
it can’t hurt I reckon
to have
one more
beer before
bedtime.’