Brouwerij The Musketeers - Troubadour Obscura Mild Stout

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a mug

Obscura, dubbed a mild stout, pours a lightly hazy, but seemingly opaque mahogany body with a lightly milky appearance. Streaks and flakes of yeast dance throughout the glass and speckle the large, creamy, tan head. The retention is excellent and layered swathes of lace adorn the glass. A mild cellary funk greets the nose, but subsides to sweet aromatics. Mild candy, plums, and a surprising fruitiness define the nose. Almost no real smoke or coffee aromas are to be found.

Sweet winter fruits meet the palate up front and sail in on a smooth, almost creamy mouthfeel, but a crisp carbonation breaks it up. Chocolaty toasted malts come through in the middle. The cocoa seems semi-sweet, not bitter, and there's almost no smokiness at all. The finish is almost winey with a mild Port character, a touch of earthiness, and the faintest hint of smoke in the aftertaste.

I'm not exactly sure what a 'mild stout' is, and I'm not sure how this beer really fits into the description of a stout, but it is a great beer and well worth trying!

Final Verdict: A-

Stone Brewing Company - Bottleworks 13th Anniversary Ale

Purchased From: Bierkraft

Serving Type: 750mL bottle, poured into a stemmed water glass

Bottleworks, a well-known Seattle-based beer seller, turned to Stone Brewing Company this year to create a beer to commemorate their 13th year in business. The beer was release today, June 20, 2012. Apparently Bottleworks has been creating anniversary ales with a number of collaborators over the years, but, this year they decided to work with craft-brewing titan Stone. Everything about this ale is 13-centric, but, despite their intentions, the ABV only came out to about 11% (the word is that too much specialty malt held back the fermentable sugar).

This epic collaboration features 13 grains: Pale 2-Row, White Wheat, Aromatic, Weyerman Chocolate Rye, Light Munich, Brown Crisp, Crisp Light Crystal, Crisp Amber, Caramunich, Baird's Chocolate Malt, Lightly Peated, Simpsons Dark Crystal, and Oats as well as 13 hops: Bravo, Target, Columbus, Cascade, Delta, Warrior, Magnum, Apollo, Calypso, Perle, Galena, Chinook, and Mt. Hood. 

This beer, billed as an American Strong Ale, plays out much like an Imperial Porter or and Imperial Stout. The body is deep, almost completely opaque in a wide glass, with a mahogany brown body with auburn and ruby inner glow. Only the base of the glass reveals the beer's true hue when held to light. Gently rising streams of minuscule carbonation bubbles fuel a large, fluffy, and creamy head of dense light brown foam. The head retention is fantastic and it leaves a thick ring of lace around the top of the glass and dissipates with elegant patterns as the beer disappears. 

The nose is big and sweet with an impressive malt showing. Caramelized specialty grains bring a variety of profiles, most noticeably a molasses sweetness with deep coffee notes. A hoppy edge tightens this beer and its impressive grain bill. Hops pinch at the nose slightly with a mildly resinous pine and sweet sappy cones of fresh hop essence.

The beer is crisp up front and quickly yields to a huge roasty character. Blackened, coffee-like grains produce a smokey essence that is perhaps the most prominent characteristic of this strongly dark ale, which sports most of the trappings of an export stout. The most darkly roasted malts easily overpower the lighter nuances of the White Wheat grain and Pale Two-Row malts. However, the scattering of rye malt here lends a spicy edge the coffee-like tones and the oats in this beer lend their distinctive smooth slickness, despite the opening and finishing crispness.

Smooth smokiness on the finish beckons another sip along with the dry hoppy finish. Light mineral water characteristics play in at the end and lead effortlessly to the long-lasting dank hoppiness of the aftertaste. 

This beer is excellent, highly drinkable, and very, very good, but the 13 by 13 grain and hop bill seems stuntish when taken in context of the impressive and overbearing stout profile of this beer. To miss the spicy nuances of the beer, the resinous, floral, and earthy hop profiles would be remiss, but, the overpowering roasted coffee profile is the true identity of the beer.

If it's still around, find it, but if you miss it, don't feel slighted if you can pick up the absolutely-world-class Imperial Russian Stout by Stone.

Final Verdict: A

North Coast Brewing Company - Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a mug


It's no hyperbole to say that Old Rasputin, named for Grigori Rasputin, is a dark beer. An extremely dark Russian Imperial Stout, indeed. Only a feint ruby glow emerges around the edges of the glass. The large, frothy tan head of foam is creamy and pocked by large bubbles of carbonation. The beer's retention is excellent and leaves layers of lacing all the way down the glass. A mild smokiness emanates on the nose with a slight alcoholic sweetness. Massive dark roasted malts seem to mimic chocolate-coated candied fruits.

The body and mouthfeel of the beer are substantial, but very slick with very minor effervescent carbonation that manages to lighten this very hefty beer. Alcohol is strong and prevalent, but the beer isn't boozy in the least. A tinge of heat mixes with and seems to melt the caramel sweetness underlying the roasted grains. Earthy chocolate notes are reminiscent of raw cacao and accent a minor smokiness making for an inviting, but challenging Imperial Stout.


Final Verdict: A

The Stone Brewing Company

Also on my way down to San Deigo, I stopped in for a tour at Stone Brewing Company. I stopped here first, only to find out that the next tour was booked and that I had two hours to kill. I spent that time enjoying life at The Lost Abbey. Walking down the path from the parking lot reveals a vibrant path lined by plenty of foliage and benches.

The facility was quite large, but unfortunately, I didn't take notes. I believe that Stone moved to this current location in the mid-00's, but I can't be sure. With a number of brew tanks and mash tuns, the output ability of Stone is impressive, for a craft brew operation.

The tour guide hit all of the brewing basics, explaining the process and the ingredients. In each of the bottles are a selection of the malts used to produce the individual beer. The guide also passed around glasses containing the brewery's base malts, a toasted caramel malt, another specialty malt and a selection of whole hop flowers. He revealed, though, that Stone uses, almost exclusively, hop pellets, rather than whole cones.

The dented pipes here still do their job, but we found out that there was a forklift incident some time ago.

A look at the bottling line. Unfortunately, some of my other photos of it came out a bit too blurry for posting. We couldn't get too close because eye and ear protection are required.

A tower of cases ready for packaging.

After the tour we spent some time in the tap room/gift shop where we sampled four Stone brews. I can't remember which exactly they were, but there was at least one optional beer to rotate in. Most of the beers were standard fare. Stone's IPA, Levitation Pale Ale, Arrogant Bastard, and one more.

Also for sale were growlers and individual bottles. I bought a handful of bottles for the road. They hung in there for quite a long time (in a cooler, refreshed with ice at least daily). I enjoyed one in Arizona, and three in Texas. I didn't take many notes on them, and missed a photo of the ordinary Russian Imperial Stout.

Stone Brewing Company - Belgo Anise Imperial Russian Stout
Purchased From: Stone Brewing Company
Enjoyed At: The Cochise Stronghold
Serving Type: 22 oz. bottle, poured into Lost Abbey stemware

This is the Stone Imperial Russian Stout, tricked out. The addition of Belgian yeast gives the beer an extra cellary component and a distinctive spiciness on the nose. The addition of anise is impressively strong. The licorice flavor elements of anise play nicely with the silky roasted malts of the Imperial Stout. The licorice nearly overwhelms the beer, but gives an interesting new perspective on a classic style.

Stone Brewing Company - Cali-Belgique IPA
Purchased From: Stone Brewing Company
Enjoyed At: Lake Nasworthy, San Angelo, TX
Serving Type: 22 oz. bottle, poured into Lost Abbey stemware

Cali-Belgique is a Belgian-style IPA brewed in the West Coast tradition. The beer pours with a massive fluffy white head with excellent retention and layered elegant lacing. The golden glowing straw body has a mix of orange and red hues throughout. The nose is a classic Belgian yeastiness. It is spicy with big coriander and citrus notes. While there's a big orange component, the hops do not dominate the nose. The yeast is center stage.

The body of the flavor comes from coarsely cracked grainy malts with a honey-like (but not waxy) sweetness. The West Coast-style hopping is big and very dry, but not in the least overbearing. The mouthfeel is velvety and succumbs to a definitive spiciness on the finish that give the beer a slightly musty Belgian edge that plays well with the dry hoppiness.

Stone Brewing Company - Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale
Purchased From: Stone Brewing Company
Enjoyed At: Austin, TX
Serving Type: 22 oz. bottle, poured into Lost Abbey stemware

This American Black Ale pours a very dark mahogany with red and brown glows. A massive frothy creamy head in a flat tan tops the beer with great retention and lacing. The nose is grassy with a lightly sour edge and a slightly tart freshness. Big piney hops give the beer a slightly skunky 'pot-like' aroma. The beer is smokey, produced by the well-roasted malts, but is balanced nicely by an array of floral hops. The balancing act seems delicate, but is pulled off quite well.

Weyerbacher Brewing Co. - Old Heathen

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a mug

The Old Heathen Imperial Stout from Weyerbacher follows up the IPA from yesterday with a completely different palate. The beer pours an extremely deep brown. The beer is very dark with a massive creamy brown head with great retention on the foam and broad swathes of lacing on the glass. The nose is potent with coffee and a smokey essence, accented by mild hops that piece the imperious malt char character.

The body is creamy smooth with considerable sweetness from the dark roasted malts. The beer is moderately smokey, but the effusion seems to encapsulate the entire beer. Mild chocolate notes surface on the mid-palate, but they're overtaken by the power of the espresso-like coffee. The beer is heavy and satisfying and develops a chest-warming heat on the finish. A lasting smoke persists long after the sip.

Final Verdict: B+

Long Trail Brewing Co. - Brewmaster Series Coffee Stout

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits
Serving Type: 650 mL "bomber" bottle, poured into a Nonic pint glass

Long Trail's Coffee Stout is part of their Brewmaster Series and features locally roasted coffee beans. The beer pours a deep brown, edging up to black. The pour is thick and syrupy ad results in a sizable brown head, with a definitively creamy texture. The aroma carries massive coffee and chocolate notes. The cocoa definitely comes across as the stronger of the two. There's a very feint smokiness under the rich chocolaty sweetness.

The body of the beer is silky smooth with a luscious creamy consistency. The coffee comes across big on the flavor with a deep French Roast darkness and complexity in the blend. The roasted barley is flavorful and hearty. The smokiness comes in near the finish, but it's more subtle than many Imperial stouts. There's a very slight hint of alcohol, barely noticeable, after the finish.

Final Verdict: A-

Mendocino Brewing Company - Black Hawk Stout

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a mug

Black Hawk Stout, the final beer from Mendocino's Select series pours an extremely dark body with only a feint flicker of ruby glow at its base. The head is a frothy tan foam that approaches chocolate milkshake status in its froth and produces great clingy lacing. There's a light smokiness to the roasted malts that comes through on the nose. The aroma seems simple and concise with a hint of hops to lighten it up a bit.

The mouthfeel is initially smooth, but carbonation makes its way in with an abrupt entrance and almost turns out a bit watery. The flavor turns from quite mellow to what seems slightly sour. Huge smoke comes in late to turn the beer around a bit and is coupled with hints of vanilla. The finish has a gritty coarseness to it and produces a fair aftertaste.

Final Verdict: B-

Lancaster Brewing Company - Milk Stout

Purchased From: Beltway Fine Wine
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a mug

Lancaster's Milk Stout, undoubtedly fortified with lactose sugar for smoother dairy-like texture, pours a very dark, nearly black body. The head is an even brown with a thin cream consistency. The retention is moderate, but there isn't much lacing at all. The initial aroma carries a definitive, fresh whipped cream element with bits of roasted coffee and huge chocolate notes.

The adjunct milk sugars show through prominently with an effortlessly smooth mouthfeel. A light tingling carbonation is underlying, but is clearly second to the polished texture of the beer. The beer is very aromatic up front, showcasing its well-rounded chocolate and coffee components. The sweetness blends nicely with the roasted barley smokiness of the beer.

Final Verdict: B+

Samuel Adams - Cream Stout

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a mug

From the Boston Beer Company's 'Brewmaster's Collection' comes the Samuel Adams Cream Stout. The style is typically known for its extra sweetness and a creamy body. The creamy consistency of milk stouts is often achieved by adding lactose, which is unfermentable, to the brew kettle. The Cream Stout shows a very dark body, nearly impermeable by light. The creamy tan head is substantial in size and boasts excellent retention and lacing.

The aroma carries fairly light roasted malt notes, with substantial chocolate and coffee hints. The mouthfeel is creamy, but with a tingling carbonation. While I generally think of oatmeal stouts of having the most creamy texture, I was expecting less biting carbonation than is present here. The solid roasted malt character of the beer shows up nicely backed by a slight sweetness. The chocolate from the nose comes through quite bittersweet. The finish is strong with a moderate smokey aftertaste. The flavor throughout is very consistent and borders on an underwhelming flatness.

Final Verdict: B-

Guinness - Extra Stout

Purchased From: Sonoma Wines & Spirits
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a pint glass

Guinness Extra Stout is the second common variety of Guinness available in the United States. Unlike the Draught variety, the beer is carbonated, so it lacks the signature creaminess of its nitrogenated sibling. Also, unlike its other sibling, Guinness Foreign Extra, Extra Stout isn't quite so strong or full-bodied. It pours a quite-dark brown, bordering on black, with a very mild red glow. The healthy-sized head has a creamy appearance, but fades quickly and leaves a thin grainy appearing tan layer of foam. As the head departs it leaves solid lacing varying from thin to chunky.

The nose seems a bit dusty with a sour malty grain component. Hints of chocolate make it in, but the expected smokiness doesn't quite make it to the show. The mouthfeel is very crisp. The flavor is somewhat thin, characterized by watery roasted malts. There's also a feint caramel sweetness. Although seemingly missing from the nose, a very mild char flavor is present, but it does manage to provide some bite. Finally, the beer wraps up its presentation with a chalky and somewhat smokey finish.

Final Verdict: C+

Heavy Seas - Peg Leg Imperial Stout

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a mug

"For brewery fresh taste, purchase before [December 2010]. Didn't notice that the freshness date had gone by when I bought this, but at least it hasn't been very long. So, any Heavy Seas lovers, feel free to excuse my rating on this. However, I don't have much bad to say. The beer has a very dark body with a large, smooth foam head in a tan lighter than I'd expect. The foam fades within a minute or two, but leaves a healthy layer atop the beer for some time.

The nose is full of chocolatey sweetness with an understated smoke. The beer is only slightly sweet with roasted malts that suggest coffee. There's more charred bitterness than I expected based on the nose. There's a seemingly significant amount of carbonation that makes for a more airy mouthfeel than most stouts. It's still full-bodied, which keeps it from seeming too light to stand among other imperials. There's a bit of alcoholic heat near the end and a dried smoke finish. The aftertaste lingers with an interesting bitter leafiness.

Final Verdict: B-*

* Note: The freshness date had gone by when I had this, but it hadn't been long at all and there was nothing noticeably off about this beer.

New England Brewing Company - Imperial Stout Trooper

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits
Serving Type: 750 mL bottle, poured into a Nonic pint glass

If you don't get the gag at hand here, you're either not nerdy enough or, more likely, you've been living under a rock for decades! I'm just wondering how close to some sort of trademark infringement New England Brewing Company is really skating. Imperial Stout Trooper pours an exceedingly dark, nearly black, body from a slick pour. The brown foam head is quite large with a great creamy texture. The retention on the head is stellar and the lacing is understated, but commendable.

There are huge coffee and mocha notes on the nose. A bready and sweet aroma also manages to sneak in under the powerful espresso scent. Finally, a mild hoppy spiciness is detectable among the mélange. The beer starts off slightly sweet with a velvety mouthfeel. The coffee-like malts are prominent with hints of chocolate that add depth and richness. There's smoke for days and it mingles nicely with a modest hoppy aromatic bitterness. The coffee and char aftertaste is pleasant is lingers for quite some time.

A great beer that owns its gag label and turns it into both a great novelty and an excellent treat.

Final Verdict: A-

De Dolle - Extra Export Stout

Purchased From: Canal's of Hamilton
Serving Type: 11.2 oz. bottle, poured into a mug

You may remember that a little while back I attempted to order this beer at The Half Door in Hartford. They were out at the time and instead I drank the Arabier by De Dolle. It worked out really well, but when I spotted the Stout on the shelf at Canal's I knew I'd have to try it. The Export Stout is a very deep and murky chocolate brown in color with tons of floating yeast. The head is very light with high carbonation. The brown the audibly crackling foam reminds me a lot of the head of root beer.

The nose is huge on caramel with notes of smoke interwoven. Mellowing it out near the end are hints of cracked vanilla bean. The initial taste is rich and chocolatey. It seems to cool of a bit in the middle. A mild alcoholic tinge cuts right through the malts in the mid-palate. The beer finishes with a lingering smoke and leaves a gentle chest-warming heat in the end.

Final Verdict: B

Dundee - Stout

Dundee - Stout

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits

Serving Type: 12 oz. twist-off bottle, poured into a mug

Another entry from the folks at Genesee in New York. Their take on a stout is a deep shadowy brown with a hearty tan head with a creamy top. The lacing is abundant and slightly-wispy. Dark chocolate dominates the nose with hints of sweet toffee.

The mouthfeel is creamy and thick, but it’s not too heavy to make this one a session beer. The chocolate flavor is distinct and prevailing, but doesn’t overtake the beer like Samuel Adams’ Chocolate Bock. Caramel sweetness blends nicely with a very mild smokiness and light hints of coffee. They call it “Dark and Drinkable” and they’re right. this could very well be a good introductory stout for those who aren’t crazy about smokiness.

Final Verdict: B-

Sierra Nevada - Stout

Sierra Nevada - Stout

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits

Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a mug

Sierra Nevada’s Stout pours an extremely dark body, nearly black. A few hints of glowing red show through in the light, but there’s not much. The tan head is commanding and effervescent. The head recedes at a leisurely pace and leaves large chunky lace on the glass. 

The nose has a big dark chocolate aroma back up with a slightly medicinal vague sweetness and a modest hop profile. The medicinal scent reminds me a bit of milk. The mouthfeel is creamy and velvety smooth but comes with a tingling crispness around the edges. The beer is substantial and somewhat heavy.

Chocolate and coffee are bold up front, owing to the caramel and black malts used in the brewing process. The hops shine nicely in the mid-palate. Slowly a smoke tinge creeps into the aftertaste and lingers nicely. Unlike a lot of strong Stouts, this smokiness doesn’t overtake the entire palate, but works to compliment it nicely.

When it comes to my reviews, it seems that Sierra Nevada is on a streak. They definitely make some quality beer.

Final Verdict: A-

Berkshire Brewing Company - Imperial Stout

Berkshire Brewing Company - Imperial Stout

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits

Serving Type: 22 oz. bottle, poured into a Nonic pint glass

This beer is extremely dark, as to be expected. The nearly black liquid reveals only a faint brown glow at the base of the glass, when held to light. The craterous tan-brown head quietly crackles at the top of the beer. The staying power of the foam is impressive given the beer’s high alcohol content.

The nose carries mild alcoholic esters, but is defined primarily by chocolate and espresso. The beer starts out sweet and ends sweet, characterized by caramel and coffee. The chocolate hints on the nose are more hidden in the flavor produced by the roasted malts. The mouthfeel is somewhat slick, but remains pleasant. After the finish a lingering smoke remains. Perhaps the only time you might find a mouthful of ashes enjoyable.

Final Verdict: A-

Ipswich - Oatmeal Stout

Mercury Brewing Company - Ipswich Oatmeal Stout

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits

Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a mug

This Oatmeal Stout from the Mercury Brewing Company is a very dark deep brown. The frothy brown head has small carbonation bubbles around the edges, but the center is characterized by much larger bubbles that carry a mild oily sheen. There’s a sweetness on the nose, but it also comes with a charred character and light hops.

The mouthfeel is fairly creamy, likely a result of the oatmeal added to the brew. There’s a mild sweetness up front with the flavors of caramel and toffee. The taste thins out a bit in the middle, but is met soon by considerable smokiness. The finish manages to not be too heavy and the dry hops give a bite on the way out. Smoke lingers well past the aftertaste.

Final Verdict: B+

St. Ambroise - Oatmeal Stout

St. Ambroise - Oatmeal Stout

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits

Serving Type: 11.5 oz. twist-off bottle, poured into a mug

C’est une bière Montréalaise. And it comes in a strange 11.5 oz. bottle with a twist off cap. In the U.S. 12 oz. is the norm and imports from Europe and other metric-system-using countries usually opt for 11.2 oz., which works out to 33cL. 11.5 oz. works out to about 340mL, who know’s what they’re doing? Besides brewing great beer, of course.

This oatmeal stout pours incredibly dark. I always hesitate to call anything actually black, but this approaches about as dark as I’ve seen a beer. The head is a solid brown and is very thick and frothy. Chocolate and oatmeal pervade on the nose with a mix of sweetness and hops. Tons of lacing on the way down.

The body carries chocolate and oatmeal characteristics with a moderate caramel sweetness, but the toasted malts define the beer. The essence of coffee is clearly present. French roast for days. The beer is both dry and bitter with a serious body of smokiness. The finish again reveals a bit of the underlying sweetness, but the incredible char prevails.

Final Verdict: A-

Guinness Foreign Extra

Guinness Foreign Extra

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits

Serving Type: 11.2 oz. bottle, poured into a goblet

Guinness Foreign Extra is seriously different from Guinness Draught, and seriously serious. Foreign Extra was original devised in 1801 with extra hops as a preservative to facilitate shipping to the Caribbean. When prohibition stuck in the United States the beer was pulled and never returned, until now. On October 1, 2010 the beer was reintroduced to the American market. I welcome it.

This beer is dark with only a slight ruby glow at the base of the glass, held to a light. There is no seeing though this beer. The carbonation bubbles in the tan head are large, in stark contrast to the creamy head produced by nitrogenation in Guinness Draught. The head sticks around for a while and produces solid lacing.

There’s an initial sweet aroma, backed up by smokey tones. The taste follows the same pattern. Initial sweetness followed up by a dry charred bitterness and dark chocolate hints. This is no Hershey’s Special Dark, either. The chocolate component here is at once rich and bitter, more like pure cacao. Hops are much clearer here than in Draught.

Finally, there’s a lingering smoke essence. This beer has character and packs a punch. Unlike its lighter cousin, I could not knock back many of these, but that’s a good thing.

Final Verdict: A-

A Bit of History: Thanks to the wonders of nature and brewers ingenuity, the yeast used in the brewing of Guinness Foreign Extra today is actually many generations descended from the original yeast used back in 1801. At the end of each brewing cycle the yeast is extracted and can be reused.

Murphy’s Irish Stout

Murphy’s Irish Stout

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits

Serving Type: 16 oz. nitro can, poured into a Mark Twain pint glass

Murphy’s, Guinness’ less-expensive competitor, pours very dark. It’s considerably darker than Guinness with only hints of its true ruby complexion coming through at the edges of the glass when held up to a light. Like Guinness, the cascading bubbles, slowed by contact with the edge of the glass, are a prominent and eye-catching feature of the pour. (See below for more information)

The large creamy tan head is thick and liable to leave a beer mustache on an eager drinker. There’s a depth of flavor here lacking from Guinness Draught. The bold malts are toasted dark and there’s a considerable bittering from the beer’s hops. Sweet coffee and mollasses are present, but nicely rounded. The finish carries a smokier character that adds to the layers of flavor, balanced by a light caramel sweetness on the aftertaste.

Murphy’s has a lot going for it, over Guinness. It’s cheaper, it’s bolder and more flavorful, and the cans are bigger!

Final Verdict: B+ 

A Note on Cascading Bubbles: Pay close attention next time you’re pouring a beer into a glass. The characteristic cascading bubbles found in Guinness and Murphy’s are actually present in all beer. It’s just that the contrast between the color of the bubbles and the body is much more pronounced in a darker beer.

The cascade is caused by drag from the wall of the glass. Bubbles naturally rise to the top of the beer, but those in contact with the glass are slowed down, and as air rushes from the center of the glass (not touching the wall) to the top, those bubbles on the sides are actually pulled downward, creating the effect.