DUE TO A COVID OUTBREAK AT MOBHQ WE HAVE HAD TO CHANGE THE BEER REVIEWED THIS WEEK. HOPEFULLY WE’LL BE BACK ON TRACK NEXT WEEK AS LONG AS ONE OF US MAN’S UP. NO NAME MENTIONED (Sammy).
BEER REVIEW: 328
BREWER: BrewDog, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
STYLE: Stout
ABV: 4.1%
VESSEL: 440ml tin
DATE OF POST: 21st January 2024
SAMMY SAY’S…
I can’t ignore the elephant in the room when writing this review. This is not a stout that originates from its own beginning. The team at Brew Dog set out to make a stout to take on Guinness. Put that in perspective- they are trying to recreate the world’s best selling stout so that they can compete with it. This is a huge issue for me. If you’re going to brew a stout, do it because you’re passionate about it. Do it for the love of the beer. Make folk want to buy your beer, not a recreation of another company’s success. Do not try and hang in someone else’s coat tales, all in the name of creative marketing.
The thing is, I gave Black Heart to a friend of mine without telling them it was not Guinness. They made no comment, leading to the conclusion that they were indeed duped into thinking that they were having Guinness, not a Brew Dog rip off.
But I have also had Black Heart followed by a Guinness. And I can tell you which beer was superior and which was inferior. I don’t need to spell it out – you can guess.
Black Heart is an imitation beer – it’s a leech that’s trying to suck the life out of a hugely successful product. And while it has some success in that it’s an ok stout, its biggest downfall lies in the very fact that it’s not original. It does not exist on its own. It is a parasite.
The thing with parasites, take away the host and they don’t survive. Black Heart lives in the shadows of Guinness and it will be cast off, meaning it won’t survive on its own.
Have a Guinness instead.
Sammy’s Rating: 58%
JYMI SAY’S…
On 3rd April 2022 Sammy and I tested Tony’s Hopolonely by BrewDog.
On 3rd April 2022 I decided to boycott beers by BrewDog due to them being shite and the ethics of the company being even more… shite.
However, as a multi award winning beer reviewer you still have to crack, sip and review what comes your way regardless of personal belief.
And here we are at Black Heart, a draught Stout and BrewDog’s attempt to take on Guinness.
You have to take your hat off to these morons sometimes. Black Heart was never going to take on nor take over from Guinness. And BrewDog knew that when they stated this was the beer to topple the Irish power brewery. All they wanted was for folk to try it to see if it could or would rival the stout from St. James’ Gate. They knew intrigue would take over, as it did for the MOB boys and at the end of the day, each beer sold is another beer sold.
So how did it stack up?
To be fair, it’s pretty good. Very smooth with all the flavours you would expect from a draught stout.
Is it like a Guinness? Kinda is yeah.
Is it as good as Guinness? To be honest, no. But it is not a million miles away.
For me it’s lacking something in the back end. It’s lacking umph and clout in the aftertaste. There is more of a sweetness at the end where really there should be a dry and faint bitter aftertaste. I know BD are not trying to totally replicate Guinness but to take it on I’m not sure a sweetness at the end is the way to go.
Either way, all bad BrewDog vibes aside this is a pretty tasty beer and dare I say it… worth a try.
Jymi’s Rating: 69%
MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 63.5%
MOB review next weekend: RIGA PORTER by VALMIERMUIZA
(hopefully!!!)
Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017
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M O B 2024
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