The Drunken Polack

Planet Bean is an American Stout from a small brewery out of Conestoga,  PA named Spring House Brewing.   By the looks of it they make around 9 beers but I don’t think they bottle very many of them.  Planet Bean has some pretty big scores on BA, so I was very excited when someone Beer Mailed me offering of a growler of this stuff.  Hard to find and tasty?  I’m all over it!  But I honestly was pretty disappointed after the first glass.

Planet Bean pours pitch black with very little head.  Right off the bat you can tell this stout is full of coffee.  It’s full of roasted coffee and a little bit of chocolate malt.  But the coffee dominates.  It’s raw and fresh.  It really had me excited for the taste. 

But just as I was excited for the taste, my hopes were kind of let down.  The roasted coffee is there but it quickly disappears on the palette.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s good up front, it’s fresh, burnt, and slightly bitter but it quickly disappears.  I also did pick up some chocolate and what seemed to be cream.  But it really wasn’t enough to call it a great “Coffee Stout”.  The mouthfeel might of been the most disappointing factor though.  It was way to watery and light.  I would of  loved to see more of a body on this one.

This brew doesn’t come close to some of the reviews I’ve seen on BA and it doesn’t quite come close to the “A” rating it has.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not horrible.  It’s good and I’ll finish the growler no problem but I think the hype factor of availability might have this one to high.  Want to try some great stouts with coffee?  Founder’s Breakfast Stout, Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel Péché Mortel, and Terrapin Depth Charge come to mind.

Found: Beer Trade
Price: No idea
Website: http://www.springhousebeer.com/
What the company says: Planet Bean Coffee Stout is smooth, dark, full-bodied, and satisfyingly rich. Coffee beans expertly roasted at Cumberland County Coffee Company give this stout its powerful aroma and pronounced fresh-brewed coffee flavor. Your only problem with this tempting brew will be resisting the urge to pour it in your coffee mug before work!
ABV%: 7.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: First one I’ve tried.
Other beers to try within the same style:Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout, Rogue Shakespeare Stout
Rating: B+

Found: Grape and Gourmet
Price: Around 6 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.stonebrew.com/
What the company says:Our Anniversary Ale this year stems from 2 pilot beers that were brewed by members of Team Stone. The first was Jeremy Moynier’s incredibly delicious Oatmeal Stout, and the second was Jake Ratzke’s amazing homebrewed Imperial Stout that had authentic Oaxacan chocolate added to the boil. We loved both beers so much that we decided to combine the recipes to make this year’s Anniversary offering: Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. This beer pours deep black with a rich brown head of foam. The aroma is dominated by roast malt and cocoa. Upon tasting, the cocoa (we used unsweetened, unprocessed cacao sourced through our friends at Chuao Chocolatier) really comes through with a deep chocolate flavor and a long lasting bitter finish. The roasted grains used add coffee and licorice accents. It is a thick beer, but not sweet, with the addition of oatmeal in the mash providing a rich, silky mouthfeel that adds to the creamy texture.

What I say: Yeah I’m totally late on this review.  As we all know this one has been out for a while, but for some reason I didn’t think I could review this beer with only drinking one bottle of it.  See the first time I tried it I drank it to cold.  To me it was a stout filled with just bitterness.  I didn’t taste anything else.  But as I drank that first bottle I let it sit for a bit and the flavors did eventually pop out.  But I didn’t think I had enough left to really give it a true review.  So this time around I let it sit for a bit and believe me it’s a way better beer.  Oh and don’t you just love my Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout glass!

The Look: This one pours very black, like oil.  Good medium sized tan head. Not much lacing occurs.

What the nose thought: Ok so like I said, when this stout is cold it’s just a bitter mess.  But when you let it cool down, the bitterness is still king but you get the aroma of dark chocolate and oats along with the bitterness and a earthy smell.

And the tastebuds?: Same thing goes with the taste, don’t wait for it cool down, bitterness and that’s it.  Do wait for it and it’s a pleasure to drink.  It’s just a different kind of stout. The deep dark chocolate really comes through and coffee type flavors mix in well.  But the chocolate is just so nice, it’s like you’ve just eaten a Godiva chocolate.  The oat is there too but it mixes in with the bitterness.  Now when I say bitterness, it doesn’t pucker your mouth or anything, but for a stout it’s bitter.

The feel: Full bodied, Smooth like velvet and creamy.  Yum

Ending notes: I love Stone.  They really don’t make a bad beer, it’s like impossible for them.  One last note about this beer.  One bottle of this will leave you buzzed.  Buzzed pretty badly actually.  One bottle is probably enough.

Rating: B+

Found: Grape and Gourmet
Price: 5 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.lagunitas.com/
What the Company Says: Site lists the beer but doesn’t have anything written about it.

The Intro: I’m not going to lie, this one has been sitting in the fridge for a while not but I don’t think it’s lost any of its fantastic taste.  Another good beer from Lagunitas out of California.

The Look: Very dark brown with a huge tan head that laces the glass as you drink.

What the Nose Thought: Very sweet and rich coffee, chocolate, cream and vanilla.  Just a very sweet smell.  What surprised me the most though was a small but bitter smell of hops. 

And the Tastebuds?: Of course this brew is going to have a good amount of coffee or cappuccino, which it does, but it’s not a deep coffee smell.  It’s just very sweet and rich.  Cream and chocolate with a tad bit of vanilla round out the taste with a bitter and tangy taste from the hops.

The Feel: Full bodied, thick, and smooth

Ending Notes: I would have no problem drinking another bomber of this stuff but it’s so rich and sweet that might be all I could take.  Another winner from Lagunitas

Rating: B

Found: State Line Liquors
Price: Around 5 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.rogue.com
What the company says: Stout was first introduced by Guinness in Ireland as “Extra Stout” (a stronger version of their Porter). Later, the stronger Imperial and Double Stouts emerged. Sweet, Milk, and Oatmeal Stouts are English adaptations with less alcohol and less bitter then the dry Irish Stouts. Victorian England recognized Oatmeal Stouts nutritional value and it is traditionally the drink of choice for nursing mothers and athletes. It is a beer equally at home with oysters as it is with a homemade pizza and freshly tossed green salad (or as a float over ice cream).

Rogues Shakespeare Stout received a 99, the highest score of the 309 beers in 44 categories at the 1994 World Beer Championships. The June/July 1998 issue of Mens Journal included Rogue Ales Shakespeare Stout as one of “The 100 Best Things to Eat in America.”Based on Stuart Kallens book, “The 50 Best Beers in the World”, Shakespeare Stout was ranked the third best beer in the world and best American Beer–which makes it the Worlds Best Stout!

Rogues Shakespeare Stout is ebony in color, a rich creamy head and a mellow chocolate aftertaste. It is made from Northwest Harrington, Crystal, and Chocolate malts, roasted barley and rolled oats, along with Cascade hop. Shakespeare Stout is available in the classic 22-ounce bottle, a commemorative 3-litre bottle with ceramic swing-top, and on draft.

What I say: Yup another Rogue beer.  Gosh they make a lot of beer.  This time around their Shakespeare Stout is up.  I’m not going to lie, this one has been sitting in the fridge for a while.  Hopefully the flavor didn’t die to much.  It got stuck in the back of my beer fridge. 

The Look: Black color with huge caramel colored head that didn’t want to go away. 

What the nose thought: Roasted malt, coffee, chocolate, and what was the biggest surprise was a nice big hop presence.  The long time in the fridge really didn’t hurt the smell, now how about the taste?

And the tastebuds?: Nope seems to be good here too =)  Like the smell, roasted malt, coffee, and chocolate play a big part in this beer and like the smell the hops impressed me.  Good mixture.  Some fruits also seemed to be stuck in there but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly which were there.

The feel: Actually lighter then most stouts.  Goes down easy.

Would you drink more?: Yup.  This is a pretty good stout.  Not the best I’ve ever had but pretty darn good.

Ending notes: Oh I’m sure they’ll be another Rogue review soon.  Brewer’s 2008 maybe?  Gotta love the dog tags.

Rating: B+

Found: Trip to Delaware
Price: $5 22 oz bottle
Website: http://www.rogue.com
What the company says: The recipe for Rogue Chocolate Stout was created several years ago for export to Japan. The exported twelve ounce Chocolate Bear Beer bottle label is in Kanji and features a teddy bear with a pink heart on his belly. Chocolate Stout was released for Valentine’s Day in 2001 in a twenty-two ounce bottle for the US market. The label features a Roguester (Sebbie Buhler) on the label. The bottled of Chocolate Stout is available on a very limited basis in the US, so get it while you can!

Hedonistic! Ebony in color with a rich creamy head. The mellow flavor of oats, chocolate malts, and real chocolate are balanced perfectly with the right amount of hops for a bittersweet finish. Chocolate Stout is brewed with 10 ingredients: Northwest Harrington and Klages, Crystal 135-165 and Beeston Chocolate Malts, Cascade Hops, Rolled Oats and Roasted Barley, Natural Chocolate Flavor, Free Range Coastal Waters and PacMan Yeast. Chocolate Stout is available year-round only in the classic 22-ounce bottle and on draft.

What I say: This is one of the 8 or so Rogue brews I was able to pick up on my recent trip to PA so expect to see some more reviews from this awesome brewery out of Oregon.  I was in the mood for some chocolate last night so it came to me!  Why can’t I enjoy chocolate and one of my favorite things in the world?  Beer!  I popped this baby open and right from the start you can smell a pretty good amount of chocolate.  The color of this stout is dark, very dark.  Maybe the darkest stout I’ve seen yet.  It’s fairly thick with a tad bit of tan head.  Now for the taste.  It pretty much tastes like someone dumped a whole bottle of Quik into the bottle.  Ok maybe it’s not that bad but chocolate is the main attraction here and it does a good job of it.  Very tasty.  The beer also has a little bit of bite for the after taste.  The only issue I could see with this beer is chocolate is great but it might of been to much.  With half a glass left of my 22oz bottle I noticed that if I had anymore then this 22oz bottle I might of had chocolate overload.  But I won’t let that get in the way of my review because the bottle I had was great and I would easily buy this again.

Rating: B+

Found: Store near the Dogfish Head Brewery
Price: Around 10 dollars a six pack
Website: http://www.dogfish.com
What the company says: A dark beer made with a touch of roasted chicory, organic Mexican coffee, St. John’s Wort, and licorice root. Brewed with whole-leaf Cascade and Fuggles hops, the grains include pale, roasted & oatmeal.

5.2% abv

22 ibu

Tasting Notes: Creamy, roasty, peppery, dry & chocolatey.

Food Pairing recommendations: Grilled chicken, BBQ, shellfish, sushi, smoked fish and yes … chocolate!

What I say: Here’s another beer I found when I hit the brewery.  This is a good stout.  Not heavy but not that light either.  Right in the middle.  The main thing you will smell when you pour this stout is coffee.  In the ingredients up top they mention licorice, St. John’s Wort, etc but all I really got out of the smell was a coffee.  Not as strong as the recently reviewed Java Stout by Bell’s Brewery but a very good amount.  The color of course is a dark brown that is impossible to see through.  The beer pours a amount of dark tan head that quickly disappears.  The taste is pretty good.  Coffee once again is the highlight but you’ll also get some chocolate out of it.  It’s crisp with a bit of carbonation.  Over all I really did like this beer.  Another winner from Dogfish Head. 

Rating: B+