23 February 2008

Otter Creek Otter Mon (VT)

First, Russ over at Beer, Maine & Me has been conducting Q&As with beer bloggers and posted one with me that is sort of lame (my fault, not his). It's an interesting idea, though, and he's talked to lots of people, including "big" names like Lew Bryson and Stonch. The site also includes beer reviews and other commentary. Check it out.

Otter Mon Jamacian-style Stout is one of the Vermont brewery's World Tour special edition beers. (BTW, Otter Creek is either owned by or owns Wolaver's, which is a reminder that the next Session topic is organic beer.) The label of Otter Mon tells us:

"Otter Mon" is a Jamaican Stout, brewed with black malt, chocolate malt, flaked barley and caramel malt, and fermented with British ale yeast. Raw sugar cane provides a sweet tooth of rum-like flavor and aroma, while East Kent and Liberty hops add balance to the sweetness.

The British ale yeast is, I think, Ringwood, though I can't detect it. If Jamaican style stouts contain raw sugar, would American style stouts contain corn syrup? I don't want to give Bud or Miller any ideas...

Otter Mon pours very dark brown with a thin beige head. The body turns out to be less than full, though I suppose you wouldn't want anything too heavy in the tropics. There's the expected roasted coffee flavor, some earthiness, and, yes, some sugar. This is a sweet stout, although hops at the end prevent it from being too much. I don't know what the ABV of Otter Mon is, but it doesn't feel very high. All told, I like this; it's tasty and very drinkable, but you shouldn't expect a rich, full, dry stout. At only $3.99 for a bomber, it's decent value as well.

3 comments:

Matt said...

Jmaican Stout? I'm in!

Nice blog by the way

Buttle said...

Thanks. I've been meaning to try Dragon Stout, which is actually from Jamaica, but I don't know about its availability.

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