Beer of the Weekend #197: Schell's Stout
The beer of the weekend is Schell’s Stout, brewed by the August Schell Brewing Company of New Ulm, Minnesota.
Serving type: Six 12-ounce bottles. There is a date printed on the shoulder (the curve between the neck and body): 122610. I have no clue if that is the bottling, best-by, or half-life date.
Appearance: Straight pour into a becker glass. The color is an opaque black. I messed up the pour so only a finger of tan head developed; it dissipated to leave a very thin skim and ring around the edge.
Smell: Very creamy and chocolaty sweet. It smells of milk and roasted chocolate, which give it a chocolate mousse aroma, and sweet caramel malts. Schell says it smells like espresso, but all I pick up are regular coffee notes.
Taste: The mouthfeel is thick and creamy, and the taste is more bitter and coffee-like (close to espresso) than the smell leads on. However, there is a strong backbone of chocolate, both milk and dark. The mousse element brings a nice richness, and a touch of sweet caramel balances well with the coffee bitterness.
Drinkability: This is very smooth and tame for a stout, and I like it. This is a very good brew.
Fun facts about Schell’s Stout:
-Style: Schell calls it a “London Style Sweet Stout,” but BA classifies it as an English Stout:
-Price: $7.99/sixer at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: 50-55ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: BA suggests barbecue, chocolate, beef, pork, smoked meat, and game.
-The recipe that became Schell’s Stout was the same used for Schell’s Snowstorm 2006. As I may have mentioned with the excellent 2010 edition, Schell will release popular Snowstorm recipes as year-round offerings under different names.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
Serving type: Six 12-ounce bottles. There is a date printed on the shoulder (the curve between the neck and body): 122610. I have no clue if that is the bottling, best-by, or half-life date.
Appearance: Straight pour into a becker glass. The color is an opaque black. I messed up the pour so only a finger of tan head developed; it dissipated to leave a very thin skim and ring around the edge.
Smell: Very creamy and chocolaty sweet. It smells of milk and roasted chocolate, which give it a chocolate mousse aroma, and sweet caramel malts. Schell says it smells like espresso, but all I pick up are regular coffee notes.
Taste: The mouthfeel is thick and creamy, and the taste is more bitter and coffee-like (close to espresso) than the smell leads on. However, there is a strong backbone of chocolate, both milk and dark. The mousse element brings a nice richness, and a touch of sweet caramel balances well with the coffee bitterness.
Drinkability: This is very smooth and tame for a stout, and I like it. This is a very good brew.
Fun facts about Schell’s Stout:
-Style: Schell calls it a “London Style Sweet Stout,” but BA classifies it as an English Stout:
As mysterious as they look, stouts are typically dark brown to pitch black in color. A common profile amongst Stouts, but not in all cases, is the use of roasted barley (unmalted barley that is kilned to the point of being charred) which lends a dry character to the beer as well as a huge roasted flavor that can range from burnt to coffee to chocolate. A different balance of hops is up to the brewers preference, but the roasted character must be there.
-Price: $7.99/sixer at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: 50-55ºF.
-Alcohol content: 5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: BA suggests barbecue, chocolate, beef, pork, smoked meat, and game.
-The recipe that became Schell’s Stout was the same used for Schell’s Snowstorm 2006. As I may have mentioned with the excellent 2010 edition, Schell will release popular Snowstorm recipes as year-round offerings under different names.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
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