Black Dog Brewery ‘Dead Dog’ Stout

Rating:

14523002_576706392513510_3339092199731885314_n“This is a true stout style that will warm your cockles.  Made using a selection of Australian, British and German malts, local and New Zealand hops and pure Warby Range water, this stout is deep black in colour, with richly layered malt flavours, moderate hop characters, hints of mocha and raisins with a robust finish.”

Served in a snifter glass. The pour is as dark as night with a finger and a bit of tanned foam that takes shape on top. The head retains extremely well as it takes an age to settle to a fine overlay. Lace is streaky but abundant. The aroma of this stout takes on a slightly smoky disposition with a nicely balanced hop profile. Just as the olfactory’s pick up roasted scents in comes a herbaceous and slightly piney hop character. Again, as we detect a roasted and almost earthy note a really subtle citrus scent is picked up. Not a bad little collection of aromas for a black IPA but as she’s a stout we feel it’s just not rich and convincing enough for us. What it does have though, is session-ability. The low ABV of 5.6% plus the approachable overall texture allows a mellow passage down the gullet. Maybe a tad too thin for our liking we must admit. Quite a sharp bitterness gets things underway on the front palate. Slightly unbalanced as the hop bitterness overrides the mild roast and chocolate malt flavours. Just a hint of metal creeps in across the mid as an aggressive hop bitterness leads in to a dry and slightly roasty finish. Well endured on the back end. Our summation is it’s all a little muddled between the malt and hops. We love a good American style stout but the balance has to be spot on. In this case the hops and malts seem to cancel each other out and it results in a confusing beer. Yeah, didn’t really gel with us.