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500ml Bottle
$4.69
Binny's Orland

I've had this bottle in the fridge for maybe a month now. Figured I better get to drinking it. Pours mahogany with glowing ruby highlights when backlit. Although the head took some time to form it grew to two fingers of creamy beige head. The head eventually falls to a small cap and leaves some respectable mountain-esque thin lacing.

The nose seems to be a little on the weak side. There's some goodness coming out of there but also some aromas I would be happy without. Mild roastiness combines with weak coffee, slight cream, and overripe dark fruits. There's also a mineral character I'm not all that fond of.

Flavor goes hand in hand with the aroma. The mineral characteristic isn't as noticeable but neither is the roastiness. The ripe dark fruitiness seems more prominent than I would have expected from the smell. There seems to be a touch of sourness present but what it's from is beyond me and actually works to make a nicely balanced beer.

The body of this stout is medium but seems a little thin at times. Sluggish carbonation lets this beer work through at it's own pace which is leisurely. Alcohol fumes work on the swallow as this beer warms.

This pint goes down pretty easily but one bottle in a sitting is enough for me. This beer does sport a higher than expected alcohol for the style.

This is a decent beer in the Winter Series from Ridgeway. Seems that's the only time I see their beers are around Christmas and every year I see more and more. Again, this is a decent beer but there's so many others out there it's difficult to justify picking this up again.

Reviewed: 1/28/08

Price: $4.69 Served In: Pint Glass

Super dark brown with nary a highlight of dark cherrywood to its deep dark cast. Looks black in most light. Great medium sized capping of frothy, fully foamed, sandy colored firm fluff. Lots and lots of thinnly placed sheeting lace with a few holes in it is stretched across the entire glass.

A big booming dark cherry fruityness appears upon the pouring, but subsides quickly and mildly mellows out to a semi sweet chocolate, raisin mix.

Mild taster with a very mellow, soothing darkness of cocoa dusted fruit cake. Slimming dark cherry and orange tinted sweetness, tame raisin, a spritz of lemon, no bitterness, creamy tanged, and quite a rounded little tone of sweet red and black malt mixing with semi sweet milk chocolate and cream. Could have more to it, but its subtlties are kind of nice.

Body is a smoothened delight of a simple creamy stout-esk mode; a bit light, yet firm, soft and supple in its tang and carbonation. For a stout it could use more boldness and thickness. Its not completely empty, it actually carries a decent tone and character that's kind of charming and easy to take. Making for a good drinking stout. The 8% isn't evident anywhere, although after a couple or more it may catch ya by surprise. This is one Lump of Coal I would be happy with finding in my stocking.

Price: $5.70 Served In: Pint Glass