Posts Tagged ‘DC Brau The Stone of Arbroath’

12 Beers of X-Mas: DC Brau Stone of Arbroath

Wednesday, January 7th, 2015

From DC Brau here in Washington, DC, I’m tasting The Stone of Arbroath. This Scotch wee heavy, the winter seasonal from DC Brau, is named after the Drosten Stone, a mysterious Pictish stone with an usual inscription in Roman script.

The Stone pours a deep sienna brown bordering on black. The buff-colored head is creamy and thick, falling quickly but leaving a good lacing. DC Brau The Stone of ArbroathThe nose is light but complex, led by a sweet malt character of toast, chocolate and caramel. Dark stone fruit like plums follow, joined by a hint of banana ester. As it warms the sweet dark malt character grows more predominant.

The taste is surely rich and sweet, but somehow remains relatively balanced. Dark malt flavors blend with kettle caramelization to produce a robust toasty, roasty and sweet character. The full, creamy body is balanced by a strong alcohol warming and barely noticeable grassy hop bitterness. The roast character borders on a stout but the full sweetness keeps the burnt flavor at bay.

At first it seems this beer will be cloying, but the sweetness fades away quickly, yielding a balanced flavor. Yet the body never completely dies, ensuring that the spicy alcohol and roast malt character remain balanced to the end.

This is a beer my father, a lover of stouts, would quite like.

+DC Brau The Stone of Arbroath

4.0 (3-7-8-5-17)