Blue Cat - Marley's Blackstrap Stout

Yesterday found me in the Quad Cities all day with little to do.  What better to fill my time than to review some local craft beer?  I visited a pair of establishments, but today's review is for one of my old haunts, Blue Cat Brew Pub and their Marley's Blackstrap Stout.  Never seen this brew around before and new, unsampled brews are just my style.  Let's pour!

Aroma 10/12

The aroma is not terribly complex, but what is present is extremely promising for the beer to come.  It almost smells like bananas in chocolate fondue.  I’m sure it’s actually a combination of some chocolate malts, a splendid dark roast, and loads of molasses, but there is more than a suggestion of chocolate covered bananas here.  As the beer warms, the dark roast and molasses aromas combine and make for a darkly sweet, almost smokey tandem.  There are a lot of things working in harmony!

Appearance 3/3

Finally a beer from the tap that shows more than a disk of head that barely covers the top!  This beer came with a thick, dark tan head that was about 1-2 fingers tall and creamy in appearance.  It looks like I could rest the salt shaker on it!  The longevity was surprising; it didn’t leave entirely until I drank it.  The beer is black and completely opaque, not even allowing a bit of transparency along the edges when held up to a light.

Flavor 18/20

The beer starts off with a hearty serving of the chocolate malts, their roast, and that wonderful blackstrap molasses.  The flavor still suggests a dessert, but less so than the aroma.  There seem to be other malts present as well, but they don’t seem to be adding a lot to the flavor profile.  For example, the neutrality of crystal malt is shown sans the customary accompanying sweet flavors.   The backbone really lets this beer shine by showing off gobs of molasses flavor, but without molasses’s sugary sweetness.  The roast is now coming off as almost bitter, but is aided by some unhidden alcohol warmth, the bittersweet nature of blackstrap molasses, and likely some hops.  The brewpub claims that the ABV is 5.6%, but I would’ve guessed higher especially when it comes to the finish.  The alcohol warmth crescendos and plateaus when held in the mouth and upon swallowing becomes quite present along with a coffee’s bitter note and a lighter caramel flavor.  The finish continues the coffee-like bitter, but rounds it off with roast flavors.  Together the two hint at a smokiness.

Mouthfeel 4/5

The beer’s body is not the largest thing I’ve seen, especially for a stout, but it remains fair for the style and it helped along by a carbonation that, while just high for the style, foams ever so slightly in the mouth and makes this beer all the silkier and smoother – something I always like to see in a stout.

Overall Impression 7/10

This turned out to be a beer that is very difficult to describe accurately.  The flavor doesn’t constantly change, but insists on continually shifting the flavor's emphasis to each and every ingredient.  The aroma says “chocolate banana.”  The flavor says “molasses…. Or is it  warmth…. I mean, look at this roast and bitter combination… nah, just focus on the molasses.”  There is lot going on in this beer!  Its only weak link lies in the mouthfeel where the carbonation is simply too active for a stout.

Total 42/50

This is a very tasty stout that I could sip on all night.  Blackstrap molasses is a very unique ingredient to put in a stout and I’m very glad someone did.  I was completely unfamiliar with blackstrap molasses until this beer and had to do a bit of research.  Turns out it lends the exact flavors I found in this beer:  a duller sweetness than a typical molasses and a bit of a bitter note as well.  This showcasing of a single ingredient doesn’t make this the most complex beer in the world, but it does make it darn tasty and a neat way to experience and learn an ingredient.  Much in the same way that Samuel Adams  taught me about different varieties of hops with their Latitude 48 Deconstructed or any of the Mikkeller Single Hop series, this beer has shown me what a single ingredient can do.  

I was most intrigued by this beer's ability to assume the flavors of a dessert (chocolate, molasses), but without the sweetness that we so often associate with those flavors.  I'm not sure how they were separated.  Balancing ingredients such as hops and a dark roast?  It's extremely interesting and keeps this beer from becoming to sweet by maintaining more of its stout-style roots.  Overall, I’d say it’s well worth buying, a smidge light-bodied for the style, and a unique, tasty presentation of a stout.  Cheers to Blue Cat for this brew!  It goes to show that you don’t have to be a super-experimental or national craftbrewer to successfully utilize a new and unusual ingredient.  And that makes me excited.

Blue Cat - Mississippi Mocha Coffee Stout

Blue Cat Brewing Co has long been a staple in the Quad Cities area.  Heck, it even gets to claim that it is the second longest running brewpub in IL!  I have spent countless nights there during, but mostly after, college and it is definitely a favorite hangout for many.  A relaxed vibe, two stories (the upstairs being solely a bar area), and their own varieties of craft beer all go toward making this brewpub a both a general crowd pleaser and still friendly to the craft beer drinker.  From time to time they also serve ridiculous 4-5 course beer dinners with the type of gourmet dishes and ingredients usually reserved for more upscale urban establishments.  These are always paired with their beers and finished with a cigar (if you so choose).

All this in mind, a review of a Blue Cat beer has been absent too long!  On Wednesday I got my first paycheck in almost 9 months and I knew of no better way to celebrate than to head down to the bar that has helped me celebrate (or drown) so many other events.  This review is not for their stout that is part of the “regular rotation.”  Let’s pour!

Aroma 10/12

There is plenty of exactly what the name implies.  A light char, mocha powder, and an aroma of cold coffee are abundant, but not overwhelming.  Just for fun, there are some toffee notes thrown in the background for good measure.  Simple, but very nice and well-blended.

Appearance 1/3

Served from the tap with no head, but a gorgeous espresso black hue with subtle walnut edges.  No clarity.  No lacing.

Flavor 15/20

This starts out remarkably crisp for a stout with the relatively zippy carbonation and some lighter malts.  The backbone gets progressively darker, but never really delves into the realm of a big bodied, bitter, heavy stout, instead preferring to keep things light and refreshing without the sacrifice of flavor.  The main theme here is chocolate malt which is gradually joined by a very light coffee bitter and that is about it, though a “milk stout” flavor does emerge more as the beer warms.  Genuine coffee was definitely used in the brewing as it has a similar finish to my morning cup o’ joe, but with that tinge of mocha sweetness before beginning its descent.  The aftertaste is also very coffee-like though the bitter is more pronounced than in other areas of the beer.

Mouthfeel 4/5

There is a nice level of carbonation going on here.  More than a stout usually has (perhaps because I’m used to sampling from bottles and not taps), but this is not a problem in this craft beer.  The bubbles are tiny enough to not be prickly, yet more present than usual to make this stout refreshing and not heavy.  The lighter body also helps this by weighing in at “medium” at best.  Despite these “lighter” qualities, it still achieves a pleasant level of creaminess that is not contradicting to the rest of the beer.  This is especially apparent when held in the mouth.

Overall Impression 7/10

This is a lighter offering for a stout and would be considered anything but large.  However, it is over 90 degrees today and a huge stout would definitely not fit the bill; this did.  The simple coffee flavor, delicate cocoa proportions, and complimentary mouthfeel are all components to a unique idea: a summer seasonal stout.  It was not laborious to drink, nor too thick, nor syrupy.  Not necessarily my cup of tea, but still a good beer.

Total 37/50

I normally take offense at stouts that would attempt to offer me a flavor this simple or this light.  However, in most of those cases, they have promised me a big bodied, full, warming, flavor-laden stout and then fallen far short.  This brew, long name aside, does not insinuate those promises.  This is perhaps due to the distinct lack of marketing, but with its 15 IBUs (!) and 6% ABV, it makes no “robust” claims and results in an pretty good stout for the summer months.  If it were a stout I was randomly trying and assumed it to be a regular stout I would probably be not pleased, but because I know this is not their “standard stout” (the Arkham Stout), I can safely classify as almost a seasonal offering even if it does not get placed on their seasonal beer list.  While this beer still has the coffee and bitter to keep away those more accustomed to the macrobrews, it is something to seek out for the regular stout crowd  during these hot summer months when a thicker, less carbonated brew simply will not do.  If you’re looking for a light stout flavors that probably come as close to sessionable as a stout gets, seek this out.  If you’re still looking for big flavors and mouthfeel, look elsewhere.

Photo blatantly stolen from their website.