All's Welly That Ends Welly: Shadowy Pact Irish Dry Stout

Wellington Brewery's Shadowy Pact Irish Dry Stout comes in incredibly eye-catching 355mL bottles with a cool yellow and black colour scheme and an awesome Illuminati theme. Low-octane like a classic Irish-style stout, SP contains just 4.4% alcohol. It’s an oil black brew with amber highlights and a durable cover of creamy head. With a rich and enticing scent, SP has notes of roasted malt, brown sugar, molasses, and chocolate. Its flavour is a bit less robust than the nose, though it contains many of the same elements: roasted malt, brown sugar, and molasses, supplemented with some toffee, too. The finish is dry and quick, while the mouthfeel is a bit on the thin side.

 

Shadowy Pact’s execution didn’t quite live up to its awesome packaging and excellent aroma, but it was still a pretty good little ale. I’d have liked a richer flavour and a bit more body though.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Luck & Charm Oatmeal Stout

A dry stout, Luck & Charm Oatmeal Stout comes from Maclean's Ales in Hanover, Ontario. Sold in really cool 500mL bottles that feature a charm bracelet, L&C is a 5.6% alcohol elixir. It's a charcoal-coloured ale that pours under a lively tan head.

L&C has a mild scent--sweet and slightly grainy, with some malt notes. The flavour is a bit more robust, though still quite light and delicate for a stout. The progression moves from sweet and malty out front to a slightly coffee-accented bitterness in the finish. While the flavour is quite light, the mouthfeel has a bit more depth, with a creamy, smooth nature.

Maclean's Luck & Charm is a nice, gentle ale with a solid strength and a refined flavour. While I'd have liked something a bit more robust, this beer doesn't taste at all anemic--it's just mellow.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Brooklyn Dry Irish Stout

All the way from the hipster mecca of Brooklyn, New York comes Brooklyn Dry Irish Stout. This NYC brew has Irish leanings, featuring both orange and green elements on the label of the 355mL bottle. It's built by the Brooklyn Brewery and contains a low-level 4.7% alcohol. It's a nice looking ale, coloured like black coffee and topped with a quaint little tan head--though I was a tad disappointed by the head's staying power. Its aroma is sweet, malty, and well roasted, with a twist of mocha, too. The sweetness in the nose had me expecting sweetness on my tongue. However, what I found was a faint gust of molasses early on, and other than that, sweetness was minimal. The flavour was very mild for a stout--grainy and then a bit bitter toward the back end. Roasted malts were the predominant taste trend.

Not a bad little stout, it was very easy drinking, mellow, and more. It was nice, but not exciting.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Cobblestone Stout

Ontario, the province that I have chosen to make my home, has a number of excellent breweries and is home to dozens of quality beers.  One style that doesn't seem to exist in rich abundance, however, is stout. There just don't seem to be that many quality stouts coming out of Ontario. Sure, I've tried a few good ones (such as Black Creek Stout, Trafalgar's Smoked Oatmeal Stout, Hockley Stout, and Amsterdam's Two Fisted Stout), and I'm sure there are others that I haven't found, but compared to lagers, I.P.A.s, and even pumpkin beers, stouts are in short supply. Out of this veritable stout desert comes Mill St. Brewery's Cobblestone Stout. Cobblestone is a smooth and amply palatable dry stout.

Cobblestone hails from Toronto, Ontario. It's sold in 440mL cans, which to my mind is an unusual size. It contains a light 4.2% alcohol. It is a black ale with copper highlights and topped with a firm, dense tan head. The aroma has a chocolate milk vibe. The flavour is smokey, almost peaty, with some cocoa notes. The can describes a "deep roasted smokey palate", which I found apt.

This beer is delightfully smooth and easy-drinking, but with sufficient body and flavour. I genereally prefer my stouts to be a bit more full and robust, but Cobblestone really gets the job done in a mellow, low gravity sort of way.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.