February 1st marked the beginning of Stout Month at the Fort George Brewery. 8 stouts will be featured this year, including Badda Bing, a flanders-style sour cherry stout; The Murky Pearl, brewed with Willapa Bay oysters; Bourbon Barrel-aged Cavatica Stout; and the ever-popular Coffee Girl Stout, made with espresso. Several guest stouts will also be on tap, including The Abyss from Deschutes Brewery. A flight of all the stouts are available for a blind tasting, and commemorative Stout Month t-shirts are on sale. For only $25 you can get a stout taster tray and a shirt! Below you will find a little more information about each beer we will have on tap this month.
The Murky Pearl
7.8% ABV
Right before we transferred this beer to the fermentor, we ran the wort through 3 buckets of Willapa Bay Oysters. We let the oysters sit in the wort until they started to pop open infusing the beer with the briny oyster juice. Although you cannot taste an immense amount of oyster in this stout, you can taste a hint of salty goodness that lingers in this beer. Drinking this beer is truly like kissing the ocean.
Coffee Girl
9.5% ABV
Dry hopped with 8 lbs. of coffee beans from Ethiopia called Halle Sclassie Sodamo.The beans give a bit of a fruity taste along with hints of cardamom, cream, ginger and caramel. This is a perfect blend for our coffee girl beer that has a strong malty and chocolate taste. The beans have been sitting and aging with the beer for two and a half weeks and in time, the beans and brew have evolved into something spectacular.
Bourbon BBL Cavatica Stout
8.6% ABV
Our Cavatica Stout was left to sit and age in Wild Turkey barrels for two and a half months. The day before we transferred the stout into a serving tank we had one of the Wild Turkey barrels explode on us sending delicious stout all down Duane St. It never smelled so good on this block. What was once a very delicious bourbon stout has become a limited edition bourbon stout.
Badda Bing Cherry Stout
8.2% ABV
Although one of our most time consuming beers to make, the Badda Bing stout was worth the time. Dry hopped with 40 lbs. of cherries this stout radiates a cherry tartness that refuses to be ignored. Before we put all of the cherries into the fermentor, we had to pit all of the cherries and sanitize them. This in itself took 6 people two hours to do all of this immense work ( all the while Spencer Brewed another beer). It was named by Pam Armstrong and is refreshing at any point in the day.
Guest Stouts that we will have rotating through out the month:
Exxxcaliber Imperial Stout
Roots Brewing Company – Portland, OR
8.6% ABV
48 IBU
Brewed in the imperial style using a variety of specialty malts and Noble Hops. This stout has wonderful chocolate and coffee notes and a smooth, hearty and complex body.
Ten FIDY Imperial Stout
Oskar Blues – Lyons, CO
10.5% ABV 98 IBU
This titanic, immensely viscous stout is loaded with inimitable flavors of chocolate covered caramel and coffee and hide a hefty 98 IBUs underneath the smooth blanket of malt. Ten FIDY is made with enormous amounts of two-row malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, flaked oats and hops. Ten FIDY is the ultimate celebration of dark malts and boundary-stretching beer.
Oatis Oatmeal Stout
Ninkasi – Eugene, OR
7.5% ABV 45 IBU
Dark complex and delicious, strong, flavorful Oatmeal Stout. Enough hops to balance the large amounts of dark and roasted malts, with the addition of oatmeal creating a creamy smooth drinkability.
Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout
North Coast Brewing – Fort Bragg, CA
9% ABV 75 IBU
Produced in the tradition of 18th century English brewers who supplied the court of Russia’s Catherine the Great, Old Rasputin seems to develop a cult following where ever it goes. It is a rich intense brew with big complex flavors and a warming finish.
The Abyss Imperial Stout
Deschutes Brewery – Bend, OR
11% ABV 65 IBU
4th Release
This imperial stout was aged in wood, and poured out roasty, woody and sweet. Very well balanced with the roastiness up front but not overpowering. This stout is smooth with hints of licorice, chocolate, molasses, graham cracker and bownies.
Stone Imperial Russian Stout
Stone Brewing Company – Escondido, CA
10.5% ABV 90+ IBU
Brewed in the authentic style of an imperial Russian stout, this beer is massive. Intensely aromatic (notes of anise, black currants, coffee roastiness, alcohol) and heavy on the palate, this brew goes where few can – and fewer dare to even try. The style originated from Czarist Russia’s demand for even thicker English stouts. Expect our version of this mysterious brew to pour like Siberian crude and taste even heavier.
