Taza Stout
Taza Stout
Stout brewed with chicory root and ginger. Aged on cacao nibs from Taza Chocolate
Taza Stout is lavish comfort in a bottle. During the boil, we add roasted chicory root and ginger, creating coffee tones lightened by a refreshing yet subtle spiciness. After fermentation, we age the beer on organic roasted cacao nibs from Somerville-based Taza Chocolate. The result is a rich and lively chocolate finish that perfectly complements the elegance of our estery Belgian house yeast.
Tasting Notes
Batch #1:
Bottled on 3/2/12; Alc. 7.2% by Vol.
Aroma has strong notes of ginger and chicory, while the flavor seems to be a well-balanced blend of those two plus the chocolate. Belgian yeast not as noticeablly fruity as previous batches, but it definitely lightens the body. For a 7.2% stout, very drinkable and light-bodied - not syrupy or thick at all. Gets much more flavorful as it warms. Appearance is a dark brown, almost black. Overall, we're quite pleased with the result. We’d like better head retention in future batches, and maybe a more creamy mouthfeel.
Batch #2:
Bottled on 3/20/12; Alc. 8.0% by Vol.
We hit a higher gravity in this batch, resulting in the higher ABV. Still a fairly light mouthfeel, given the booziness. We didn't tweak the recipe much, and the consistent flavor seems to reflect that. Head retention is better, but we'd like it to be even stronger.
Batch #3:
Bottled on 4/9/12; Alc. 7.2% by Vol.
Back to 7.2% ABV, but we think it's improved on both batches #1 and #2 (this should generally be the case). Definitely some spicy, warming gingerbread notes to go with the strong chocolate flavors scrubbed off the Taza cacao nibs. The right flavors accentuated in the right ways - we're very happy with this one.
Batch #4:
Bottled on 4/22/12; Alc. 7.2% by Vol.
Very similar to Batch #3, with what seems to be a little more caramel taste up front. Also stronger notes of toffee.