Clarkson Integrator

Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Ben Brown-Steiner Guinness uses a unique process to give their beer a distinct taste. Two different widgets are used, as seen above. A bottle and can are consumed in very different ways, so their widgets have different shapes. The can uses a ball, while the bottle's is more of a rocket

Stouts are known for their dark colors, high alcohol content, and chocolately, coffee-like flavors. Generally this is done by roasting the malt barley until it's dark and toasty. This is similar to the way coffee beans are roasted to a dark brown or black appearance. The similarities in the process provide these flavors. No actual coffee or chocolate is added.

Leave it to American brewers to go all-or-nothing, balls-to-the-wall. Some American breweries actually add coffee to their stouts. Boasting high alcohol content and enough stout flavor to last you a month, these brews are the end all and be all of stouts. At least, this is how they are portrayed.

I have tried two Coffee Stouts, the Southern Tier Jahva Stout and Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout. I've had the Jahva on tap, twice, at McGreggor's in Rochester. I purchased the Lagunitas at Beers of the World, which is also in Rochester. These beers are not cheap. A single glass of the Souther Tier Jah-va set me back six dollars, while a 22 oz. Bottle of the Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout cost nearly five dollars.

When served, these beers look like coffee: black with a brown head. This is what you would get from good press pot coffee. They smell of sugary dark chocolate, coffee, alcohol, and roasted malts. So, it's not surprising that they taste of chocolate, coffee, alcohol, and roasted malts, but with an intense, biting ferocity.

I was unable to finish the Southern Tier, both times I tried it. It was too rich, way too high in alcohol (12% ABV), and too intense to drink more than a few ounces. The people I shared it with had similar reactions. It's got a good taste, if you like coffee and stouts, but drinking it is like a battle. As it warms, the alcohol flavor grows, overwhelming the other flavors.

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