And the Valley Drinks: NOLA Brewing's Irish Channel Stout

As I've mentioned before, I'm definitely a dark beer devotee. All the stouts and porters, especially during these cold months. And recently one of my local favorites, NOLA Brewing, added their Irish Channel Stout to their canning roster. Finding some recently, I jumped at the chance.

The Irish Channel was originally a winter seasonal, but at its popularity necessitated adding it to the year-round rotation. It's available in four-packs of 16-ounce pint cans (very cool looking cans at that):

Irish Channel Stout is an American style stout that has sweet malt flavors of caramel and chocolate, complimented by a crisp bitterness produced by roasted barley and American Hops. It was named after the neighborhood that the brewery is located in, the Irish Channel. The complex malt bill of pale and roasted malts result in this well balanced stout that is smooth, rich, dark and delicious! And watch out - ABV 6.8%!

The alcohol content makes it a little strong for a session beer, but it makes up for that by not being the heaviest of stouts. So it's much less filling.

Review

The bouquet is incredibly malty, and on the first taste the coffee flavor of the roasted barley really comes through, before sliding into that malty, caramel-like sweetness. The back end has a slight bitterness, again, like a good piece of dark chocolate. Love this beer. 4.5 out of 5 stars.