Today I am drinking the Taylor Shellfish Farms Oyster Stout,a collaboration between New Belgium Brewing and Elysian Brewing. A member of their Trip series of small batch beers.
The oyster stout is a fairly rare style but I have managed to try a few and really enjoy the beer. As soon as I saw this beer at Belmont station I picked one up. For me in an oyster stout the brine is the key. I would say number one flaw I have found in some of the beer I have tried is, while labeled an oyster stout, it was in distinguishable from any other stout. I am looking for a nice ‘sea’ brine, a bit different than a Gose, that mixes effortlessly with the dark malt and a softened the mouthfeel and finish. Even before tasting, I a a bit concerned, at 7.7% ABV this beer is much bigger than any other oyster stout I have tried. I hope the extra malt doesn’t lend a bit of sweetness that interferes with the flavors I am looking for.
This beer looks wonderful poured into a glass. The beer is very dark but not total black and topped with a head of soft, tiny bubbles. It is almost as if it was poured from a nitro tap, very nice for a bottled beer.
I will admit I am getting over a fairly nasty cold. Trying to give anyone a reasonable description of the aroma would be an exercise in futility, so I am just going to jump in as taste this beer.
This is a good oyster stout. It has a nice brine, although I could ask for a bit more, and rich dark malts start to its nice smooth finish. What keeps this from being a great beer is the size, confirming my original hesitation. I believe an oyster stout is much better served by a smaller, say <5% ABV, drier beer.
If you have never had an oyster stout this is not be beer to start your adventure with the rarer beer styles, but for the few enthusiasts out there pick up a bottle and give it a try. I would love to here your opinions. Hell, while your at it, let me know your favor oyster stout
It’s been so long since my last Reader’s Choice post that everyone has probably long forgot about this series. The thing is, our readers were not in consensus on which pumpkin ale I should review. First there was a clear winner, but not that many votes; so I did another call for votes, and then there was a tie. A tie that as soon as it was broken would mend itself back into a tie again before I could make it to the bottle shop. As all this was happening, a close second came from behind to give me a three-way tie. A tie that I hoped would break while we were in Denver, but alas, all those readers that vote, have voted. So, apparently the consensus from the group is that you don’t quite see eye-to-eye in your choice of beers, and that as fall embraces us and Halloween fast approaches, you are interested in many of the pumpkin beer offerings from the craft beer industry. Fair enough. 
taphandle 