Black Coal Stout I Railway City Brewing Co.
Country: Canada
ABV: 6.0%
IBU'S: 46
Style: Stout
Colour: Fuschia
Price: $3.15/473ml can
ABV: 6.0%
IBU'S: 46
Style: Stout
Colour: Fuschia
Price: $3.15/473ml can
Black Coal Stout is one of Railway City's limited release beers, available from September to May, which are aptly timed months considering this isn't going to be your go-to summertime beverage. It's an interesting brew, and though it won't go down as one of my favourite stouts, it definitely has its merits.
As is the case with most stouts, this one looks pretty bad-ass. It comes out of the can dark brown, looks jet black once it's in the glass, and has an aggressive chestnut coloured head. The head was not dense however, and it was quite porous and faded quickly. The aroma is straight up chocolate and vanilla (mostly vanilla), and I certainly didn't get any of the typical roasty stout notes out of it. Just going on smell alone I would have thought that this was a vanilla porter. The taste is much different though, as it is dominated by roasted chocolate and burnt coffee characteristics. Surprisingly, the flavour is a little sparse up front, and I find that this beer doesn't really kick in until it's sliding down your throat. The initial flavour is a thin, subtle roasted chocolate, which leads to some nice burnt coffee flavours in the middle. The back end starts to heat up though, showing vanilla, more coffee, a bit of black cherry, and a little bit of hop bitterness. Although you could say that this stout doesn't pack as much flavour punch as some, I would say it's quite nicely done, very subtle but certainly not boring. You can definitely feel all 6% of the alcohol in this beer, but the mouth-feel isn't representative of a classic stout. It seems a wee bit thin, and a wee bit over-carbonated for a stout, especially when it's cold. It gets quite a bit smoother as it warms up but there is still something missing in the overall texture of this beer.
Overall, this is a solid stout but it may not be anyone's number one choice. Definitely worth a shot though if you're looking for something new and different.
As is the case with most stouts, this one looks pretty bad-ass. It comes out of the can dark brown, looks jet black once it's in the glass, and has an aggressive chestnut coloured head. The head was not dense however, and it was quite porous and faded quickly. The aroma is straight up chocolate and vanilla (mostly vanilla), and I certainly didn't get any of the typical roasty stout notes out of it. Just going on smell alone I would have thought that this was a vanilla porter. The taste is much different though, as it is dominated by roasted chocolate and burnt coffee characteristics. Surprisingly, the flavour is a little sparse up front, and I find that this beer doesn't really kick in until it's sliding down your throat. The initial flavour is a thin, subtle roasted chocolate, which leads to some nice burnt coffee flavours in the middle. The back end starts to heat up though, showing vanilla, more coffee, a bit of black cherry, and a little bit of hop bitterness. Although you could say that this stout doesn't pack as much flavour punch as some, I would say it's quite nicely done, very subtle but certainly not boring. You can definitely feel all 6% of the alcohol in this beer, but the mouth-feel isn't representative of a classic stout. It seems a wee bit thin, and a wee bit over-carbonated for a stout, especially when it's cold. It gets quite a bit smoother as it warms up but there is still something missing in the overall texture of this beer.
Overall, this is a solid stout but it may not be anyone's number one choice. Definitely worth a shot though if you're looking for something new and different.
