During my first visit to The Great American Beer Festival in 2010 I came across the Souththeast section where I discovered The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery. The very first beer I sampled was Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout and it was so delicious that I had another 1 oz. sample and another. From that moment I knew that I had discovered one of my favorite stouts ever.
I find it refreshing when I find a full flavor stout with a wonderful aroma that is not strong or imperial. Firestone-Walker Brewing has done a wonderful job in doing this with creating this superb oatmeal stout with a familiar, yet complex, aroma and flavor profile.
Another day to celebrate beer is upon us and this time we will be celebrating stout. International Stout Day is on Thursday, November 3 and San Francisco will join in a with an event by Public House and Beer 47. Public House has arranged for 4 very special and hard to find stouts to be available on tap along with a selection of two rare bottles of stout.
Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout is the union of an imperial stout with coffee which produces a very interesting and tasty beer. It is produced by one of Japan’s first craft breweries, Kiuchi Brewery, who has been brewing beer in Naka-shi, Japan since 1996.
The Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant is located in San Francisco “where the Park meets the Pacific,” on the edge of Golden Gate Park across the street from the beach. It is a great location to have a locally brewed beer. I’m not sure what stores carry Beach Chalet beers but the brewery/restaurant has a long list of styles to choose from on their website and on their leaflets. They brew everything from stout to hefeweizen and they even have an altbier.
The Beach Chalet describes Fleishhacker Stout as follows:
Medium-boded stout with chocolate notes & a rich, smooth finish.
This description, however, does not explain what Fleishhacker means. It turns out that Fleishhacker refers to the Fleishhacker Pool, which was the largest swimming pool in the United States located in San Francisco, CA near the zoo. With this knowledge, the beer label, which depicts a woman diving into a pool, makes more sense.
Where I Found It. I had this beer at the Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant in San Francisco, CA.
Serving Type. When I sampled this brew, it it was served from the tap into a pint glass.
Appearance. The head has a cappuccino color. Although the head was nice and foamy coming out of the tap, it did not last long. This might have been because the bartender seemed a little impatient with the head settling and overfilled the glass several times. Flieshhacker Stout has a black opaque color that you would expect from a stout.
Smell. The aroma of this stout is of very dark roasted malts and chocolate. The hop bouquet is very slight and has a hint of citrus and a more faint hint of concord grape juice.
Taste. Fleishhacker Stout has a nice flavor of toasty, dark roast coffee. There is also a noticeable bitterness, which was more than I expected. The bitterness, however, is balanced well against a pleasant malty sweetness. The flavor also has a hint of chocolate.
Mouthfeel. As described by the brewery, this is a medium bodied beer and I personally prefer a stout that has a fuller and creamier body. In fact, I think the mouthfeel is a bit watery. The aftertaste has a hop bitterness that lingers on back sides of the tongue. Finally, there is a slight chalky texture to this beer, which I also do not like.
Drinkability. Fleishhacker Stout is a smooth beer that can be consumed all year round. It does not, however, give a warming feeling that a winter warmer style beer does and that’s okay.
Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score. The overall rating is calculated exactly the same way as Beer Advocate.
Beer 47 in a Tumblr
