Beer of the Weekend #899: Belhaven Black Nitro
A sad thing happened while I was at John’s perusing the beer selection: I realized I’ve tried just about every beer I’m interested in—at least at John’s.
There are a number of beers I have not tried and plan to make a list for my next visit, but despite having the best beer selection in the area (I’m not sure if that is true anymore), I was uninterested in everything at John’s. Everything I know I have not tried is high ABV or overpriced—stuff I’m not keen to buy. I may have to bite the bullet if I want to keeping patronizing John’s. (I think the beer selection has taken a hit the last couple of years. It is not as deep or varied as it used to be.)
Anyway, I went to John’s to buy some brown ale. It’s been a while since I drank brown ale, and the advent of colder temperatures has sifted my craving away from pale ales and IPAs. One beer I know I have not reviewed on BotW is Newcastle Brown Ale. It’s a shame, but I think I’ll leave it for #900—if I can get over the fact it comes in clear bottles—so I bought a pack of Belhaven Black Nitro, brewed by the Belhaven Brewery Company Ltd. of Dunbar, Scotland.
The color is non-opaque black with ruby and brown tones. After the show of cascading bubbles (what’s the appeal of that anyway?), a finger and a half of dense, light tan, nitro-style head sits atop the liquid goodness.
The aroma is chocolaty with coffee roast. Molasses (or treacle as the Scots would probably say) is also present, as are caramel, burnt sugar, and black licorice. It is complex and very enticing.
The mouthfeel is smooth, as one expects from a nitro stout, but it is thin and watery; it does not feel like beer. The flavor features most of the characters from the aroma—chocolate, coffee roast, burnt sugar, molasses, and black licorice—and is tasty, but it is not as pleasing or enticing. The flavor is essentially a watered-down version of the aroma. It has a roasted bite that lingers on the taste buds, and it is very easy drinking, but it is not satisfying. Despite claiming to be distinctive, it is not much different than other canned nitro stouts.
Fun facts about Belhaven Black Nitro:
• Style: Irish dry stout.
• Price: $8.99 for a four-pack of 14.9-ounce (440-ml) cans at John’s Grocery in Iowa City. That’s one reason why I don’t drink much European beer anymore: it’s overpriced and comes in smaller cans and bottles.
• Alcohol content: 4.2 percent ABV.
• IBU: 20.
• Instead of having a nitrogen widget suspended in the beer, these cans of Belhaven Black Nitro feature embedded widgets, which I think are placed at the bottom.
• It has been a long time since I had a nitro stout on draft, but I am sure the drinking experience and the beer are much better than anything a nitro can offers. Canned nitro stout is the style’s version of light beer.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B-.
There are a number of beers I have not tried and plan to make a list for my next visit, but despite having the best beer selection in the area (I’m not sure if that is true anymore), I was uninterested in everything at John’s. Everything I know I have not tried is high ABV or overpriced—stuff I’m not keen to buy. I may have to bite the bullet if I want to keeping patronizing John’s. (I think the beer selection has taken a hit the last couple of years. It is not as deep or varied as it used to be.)
Anyway, I went to John’s to buy some brown ale. It’s been a while since I drank brown ale, and the advent of colder temperatures has sifted my craving away from pale ales and IPAs. One beer I know I have not reviewed on BotW is Newcastle Brown Ale. It’s a shame, but I think I’ll leave it for #900—if I can get over the fact it comes in clear bottles—so I bought a pack of Belhaven Black Nitro, brewed by the Belhaven Brewery Company Ltd. of Dunbar, Scotland.
The color is non-opaque black with ruby and brown tones. After the show of cascading bubbles (what’s the appeal of that anyway?), a finger and a half of dense, light tan, nitro-style head sits atop the liquid goodness.
The aroma is chocolaty with coffee roast. Molasses (or treacle as the Scots would probably say) is also present, as are caramel, burnt sugar, and black licorice. It is complex and very enticing.
The mouthfeel is smooth, as one expects from a nitro stout, but it is thin and watery; it does not feel like beer. The flavor features most of the characters from the aroma—chocolate, coffee roast, burnt sugar, molasses, and black licorice—and is tasty, but it is not as pleasing or enticing. The flavor is essentially a watered-down version of the aroma. It has a roasted bite that lingers on the taste buds, and it is very easy drinking, but it is not satisfying. Despite claiming to be distinctive, it is not much different than other canned nitro stouts.
Fun facts about Belhaven Black Nitro:
• Style: Irish dry stout.
• Price: $8.99 for a four-pack of 14.9-ounce (440-ml) cans at John’s Grocery in Iowa City. That’s one reason why I don’t drink much European beer anymore: it’s overpriced and comes in smaller cans and bottles.
• Alcohol content: 4.2 percent ABV.
• IBU: 20.
• Instead of having a nitrogen widget suspended in the beer, these cans of Belhaven Black Nitro feature embedded widgets, which I think are placed at the bottom.
• It has been a long time since I had a nitro stout on draft, but I am sure the drinking experience and the beer are much better than anything a nitro can offers. Canned nitro stout is the style’s version of light beer.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B-.
