This is a good time of year for beer. I know, you're like, "but Leaky, every time is a good time for beer!" You might be right about that but this is a particularly good time because a lot of Breweries start creating dark beers and stouts and spicy seasonal brews that make their way to the store to be purchased by people like me. I always see a lot of new beers in store in those styles along with a few past favorites of mine.
Something else that I want to mention is a trend that I'm noticing in beers and its that breweries seem to be adding extra sugar to some of their beers. I was out a a restaurant called Beertown the other night and I ordered a Stout beer and it was sooo sweet. It was right on the cusp of being sickly and nasty. Yesterday while touring the LCBO (the beer, wine and liquor store in Ontario Canada) I saw a lot of Stout beers also with added sugar listed in their ingredients. I also saw a lot of extracts being used which is not new more increasingly more common. Extracts have been used in beer production for some time now but way back I remember being able to buy a few different "chocolate stout" beers that only used chocolate malts to make their chocolate flavored brews. In some case the brewery would even use actual chocolate to give it an added punch of chocolatey goodness. Nowadays though it seems that breweries are taking the easy route and producing a wide array of wacky and gross beers simply by using extracts and sugar (often lactose). Today I saw a Chocolate milk, peanut butter Stout among other concoctions. I don't even bother to buy such novelty beers anymore. They are never good unless fake aftertaste is what you're looking for.
But among the weirdness yesterday I was able to find a good amount of regular Stout beers without extracts and a few seasonal brews that sounded interesting and appealing to me. So lets see what I drank this time for #Beersaturday
Dara Dry Stout
Brewery: Muddy York Brewing Co
Origin: Stouffville ON Canada
Style: American Stout
Abv: 4.2%
IBU: Unknown
SRM: Unknown
Marketing: Pastel yellow and blue color scheme with complementary red lettering. A Celtic knot and, I think it's a daisy, flower imagery. A fun and bold can design that has what I would describe as an Indy-hipster vibe about it. I don't think that the design fits the style of beer. I would picture this design being used for a saisson style beer or a floral-hoppy pale ale. Nonetheless I actually quite like this can. Two thumbs up from me.
Color: The beer poured black as ink with a hint of chestnut brown tone around the edges when it was held in the light.
There wasn't a lot of head on this one but some mocha colored bubbles showed up initially before they dissolved away quickly. After the bubbles faded the beer had an almost syrupy look to it.
Nose: Strong aroma of cocoa, semi-sweet and milk chocolate, general roasted notes and mild smoke. Very nice scent overall.
Taste: Dry upfront as the name suggests with a tanginess that hits you in the cheeks. It had a long lasting bitterness in the finish as well. Stong cocoa flavors with chocolate and mild coffee notes.
Texture: Nice carbonation with sharp prickly bubbles on the tongue. Velvety smooth mouthfeel underneath. Medium bodied. Pleasant.
Impression: This is my first experience with Muddy York Nrewing Co but I'm pretty impressed by them so far. I have never heard their name prior butI quite liked this beer and would give their other brews a go if given the chance (I assume that they have other brews on offer).
Overall, this beer had a lot of flavor and great choclaty cocoa fragrance. It was bold and complex enough to be interesting and satisfying as a one off beer for the night. I would buy it again for sure.
