Beer # 102 Black Creek Historic Brewery Irish Potato Stout

Irish Potato Stout

Black Creek Historic Brewery

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Flavoured Stout 5.0 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 500 ml.
$3.95 (Canadian) At LCBO 
Twitter: @blackcreekbeer

Back again to one of my newest favourite breweries. I love the thought process behind this brewery, to preserve the ways of the past and to tell the history of our province through beer. I know if there is beer involved in history... I'm listening.

So it's St. Patrick's Day, well yesterday was. In celebration I lined up a couple of Irish themed beers to taste this week and this is number one. This is a dry stout that has had potatoes added to the mix. Proving that if it has sugar or carbs... you can make beer out of just about anything. Black creek produced this brew in memory of the Irish potato famine that brought many Irish immigrants to our country in the mid 1800's. Toronto's population more than doubled in 1847, and the Irish have made Canada their home ever since; helping to shape our great nation into the cosmopolitan land it is today.

Enough flag waving... here is today's beer.

Dark brown to coffee in colour, opaque with a hint of muddiness. Head is small very dark tan comprised of small bubbles and dissipates quickly. Aroma is rich malt, smoke, and chocolate. Woody, with tinges of caramel, licorice, and vanilla.

First sip gives us a surprisingly light tasting stout with a difference. Extra starch is evident, no doubt from the potatoes. Then smoky chocolate malt takes over slowly transforming into burnt sugar taste. Through the middle is a hint of light fruit which is almost lost in the big bold flavours. Aeration gives us wood note, slight alcohol, more dark malt, and a bit more sugar. Potato flavour becomes more evident as the beer warms. Drink this beer at cellar temperature for best results.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS
Re-Order:  4/6 PASS
Experience:  4/6 PASS

Final Thoughts:

A very nice dry stout. Easy drinking, well worth the price of admission. Try some with a good Irish Stew, or use instead of Guinness in a Steak and Guinness pie. As the potato flavour develpoed I thought this beer would be best served with food (meat and potatoes) or cooked with.


Cheers

CJT


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