Pours ruby brown with little in the way of head but what does appear is beige in colour. It displays an enticing nose of rich cocoa and bready malt. Quite juicy and complex up front with sappy, prickly hedgerow fruits meshing with black coffee; the added blackcurrant juice is deftly blended and works extremely well with this style of beer. Aside from its low level of carbonation (usual for a stout), the beer is thin bodied and slick. It tastes dry, tannic and bitter in the finish with some cookie dough and marzipan notes developing in the after-taste. The only thing this beer fails on is its lack of body; it drinks just too lightly for a stout in my opinion. However, its precisely this characteristic that makes it one of the most refreshing stouts I've tried. It would definitely be a spring/summer stout if there was such a category.
I hadn't tried Bramble Stout for a good 5 years or so prior to this, so I was very much looking forward to it.
BBB's beers tend not to disappoint (me, anyway; see my other reviews of their offerings
#59 and
HtH#1). Despite Bramble Stout's light mouthfeel, its got bags of mouth-watering flavour so for that reason I'd recommend it. In fact, this would be one of those excellent Sunday afternoon session beers. If you want a commercial comparison I'd say its like a lighter, thus more refreshing and fruitier, thus more flavoursome version of Guinness Original with more bite in the finish to boot.
- MALTS: PALE, CHOCOLATE
- HOPS: CHALLENGER
- IBU: ?
- ABV: 5%`
- BOTTLE-CONDITIONED.
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