BREWER: St Austell, Cornwall, England

STYLE: Stout

ABV: 4.5%

VESSEL: 500ml brown bottle 

TWITTER: @StAustellBrew

INSTAGRAM: st_austell_brewery

DATE OF POST: 18th December 2022

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

Mena Dhu, meaning black hill in Cornish, is a cracking name for a stout from Cornwall. Not significant in any way to reviewing this beer, but worthy of a mention, nonetheless. 

Stouts, when done well, are a delight. MD has coffee bitterness with a slightly hint of the smokiness picked up from the roasting process. Together, they make a pleasant drinking experience. Alongside this, they also make it easy to get through the brew as there is a pleasant enough mouthfeel. 

While this all sounds good, and it is good, MD is not elevated in any area. It’s solid, worthy of being called a stout, but falls short of being a delight.  

I’d happily drink this on a cold winter’s evening. It would bring the fuzzy feeling that a stout should. I’d even go as far to say it would give me that warm hug of a feeling that stouts can. And that’s praise indeed for MD. 

What it wouldn’t do, is get me to comment to me pal, who’d be sharing winter tales with me, about how amazing it is. 

Sammy’s Rating: 69%

 

JYMI SAY’S…

Great name! Great packaging! Almost a great beer actually, but ultimately fell a bit short.

See the aroma coming from MD the second you lift the lid on the bottle is fantastic! The lovely rich and almost smoky whiff continues well into the the pour and continues flowing up one’s snout during the initial fantastic sip. I really, really thought we were on to an absolute winner here!! The taste accompanying the delightful nose matches it perfectly with a touch and chocolate and the continuing smoke. DIVINE!

However, things didn’t necessarily go wrong from here on in but they did go down hill.

The taste doesn’t fall off a cliff but without doubt dissipate at a rate quicker than it should. It’s then replaced by a really lovely soft chocolate aftertaste which stoked the hope fire but THEN, the after aftertaste became a little acrid!

Defo a journey this one. Defo a lot of positives. And with some minor tweaks this has the potential to be a cracking beer. But as I said at the beginning, it ultimately falls short of that.

Jymi’s Rating: 69%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 69%

MOB review next weekend: 2019 VINTAGE ALE by FULLER’S

 

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017

Twitter: @museonbooze

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