I tasted Keith's Stout, and may I say that it was quite satisfying. Surprisingly so.
I had forgotten that Keith could make decent homebrew, as a significant portion of his time is now devoted to his commercial practice of the brewing art.
Anyway..., the beer: Dark and quite opaque, with a thin tan head.
The aromas: swirled with a hand help on top of the dimpled half-pint glass, and then released to the nostrils. Initially, I smell alcohol and significant higher alcohols. That quietly segues to reveal fruity esters and some hop aroma, fading to reveal the underlying and underpinning aroma of roasty malt, espresso coffee and dark chocolate. Superb aroma combo on that finish. At the bottom of the glass, I can smell the malt aroma of Maris, if I'm not mistaken (and I probably am).
Flavour: roasty choc and dark fruit, with detectable alcohol. The roastiness masks the malt for me and there is some delay before the bitterness cuts in to remind me that this is a beer and not a grout (unhopped, like the one made by Goulburn brewery, IIRC).
Mouthfeel: medium-thin, yet silky/oily with some drying astringency in almost undetectable amounts. I got through half the beer before I noticed it.
Overall impression: A number of minor flaws does not detract from the enjoyable experience of this fine dark ale. I really admired the drinkability, and especially the roast/coffee/choc experience, and the balance of hops to the spectrum of other flavours. A sign of a good beer is the invitation to come back for another sip/swallow/guzzle, and this beer has it in spades. Great beer for a Winter night in front of the fire (no fire tonight, though). I wish I had more, but it's time to move on to another beer.
BTW, this beer was consumed after 10 minutes in my freezer, which was too cold, then allowed to warm to room temp, which was a bit too warm. Maybe 3-5 min in the freezer would be best, as room temp revealed a number of hidden flavours and aromas which did not do justice to the quaffability factor.
Les
