Godspeed Stout

A member of the "Pitch and Pray" series from Toronto's Godspeed Brewery, Godspeed Stout came to me by way of the East-End brewery's newly opened bottle shop. Sold in 355mL cans, the beer packs a slightly light 4.7% alcohol. The stout is a more brown than black ale that poured with a loose but thick tan head.

G.S. had a subtle, but not at all non-existent aroma--cocoa and coffee, on top of a malty base. Compared to the mildness of the nose, I found the flavour to be compellingly rich, driven by java and dark chocolate notes, as well as a taste of leather. The back end even had some pretty respectable bitterness that belied the low alcohol percentage.

I gotta say, this stout caught me a little off guard. At 4.7%, I was expecting dry and smooth, but what I poured into my eager maw was full and rich. If the Godspeed Stout is a lodestone, Godspeed will be a brewery worth monitoring. It takes some skill to make a dark ale that flourishes at a low percentage.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.