REVIEW 90: LOVE STOUT

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  USA

BREWERY:  Yards Brewing Company

STYLE:  Stout

ABV:  5.5%

PURCHASE:  Draught (pint), $6.00

SERVING:  Yards branded nonic pint glass. About a 3/4" head from the tap. Exceptional retention.

APPEARANCE:  Creamy, cappuccino-colored head atop a coffeeish body. Very little lacing. Just a handful of scattered suds.

BOUQUET:  Toasted barley and roasted coffee are the most prominent notes. They are rounded out by seeming essences of bitter chocolate and caramel and a touch of hops. I swear I picked up a whiff of butter or toffee. Slightly floral.

PALATE:  Taste is not quite as complex as the aroma. Features a deceptively medium body--that might not make initial sense; it feels light in your mouth but much heavier in your stomach. Very low carbonation. Fairly even and consistent mouthfeel up to the aftertaste, which is characterized mainly by toasted barley as with the aroma. Somewhat dry and roasty finish. A mild hop bitterness figures into the early going. Constant overtones of coffee. Balanced well, but everything seems held a bit too much in check; in other words, it could stand to be a little more adventurous. It's too timid.

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  Yards. A Philly brewery with a few truly great beers and a smorgasbord of merely good ones. This is one of the latter.




GRADE:  B