Murphy's Irish Stout

Since this will be my first post I feel it be necessary to give a little background.

I am in no way "new" to the drinking world. I've had my encounters with plenty of swill and plenty of amazing beers, wines, and liquors of many variety. I've ventured high and I've ventured low. I've consumed Natural Light and I've consumed Dogfish Head. I must say this so that I am not immediately labeled a beer "snob." Although many will undoubtedly attempt to label me as such. I also feel it necessary to say that I do and have reviewed many beers over at Beeradvocate.com. I will continue to do so, only my reviews here will contain much more sustenance than they would over at BA...for obvious reasons.

I'm going to go ahead and do my first review on this blog, with Murphy's Irish Stout. I picked this brew up in a four pack of Draught(widget) cans from my local Giant Eagle store. These four cans ran about $7.89.

A hot, muggy summer it has been. I've been delighted recently due to the fact that we here in Western Pennsylvania have avoided most of the severe weather that has been plaguing the Midwest the last few months. We've had our days filled with rain and thunderstorms, but it has been utterly beautiful these last couple of weeks.

I decided that it was a good night to sit out on the porch, enjoy the warm weather and a bowl of Hot and Sour soup from a Chinese restaurant I dare not name, simply to keep their identity a secret and safeguard this wonderful institution.

Quickly uncapping the soup and grabbing a spoon, I gathered up my consumption materials, which included a napkin and my trusted British Pint glass. I sat down for what became a very enjoyable evening.

The beer, when cracked open(since it is a can) begins to surge. Immediately you notice the foam start to make itself known at the top of the can. I usually let them sit for a few seconds so that the nitrogen can do it's job in the can, before pouring it into my glass.

After the few second time limit I allot, I begin the pour. The beer pours a very nice, chocolaty brown color and begins to do the nitrogen-dance. This lasts for about 30 seconds at the most. For those familiar with Guinness draught and widget bottles, or the extra stout bottles, you will most certainly know what I am talking about.

The head is a very rich, creamy, and dark tan. Wonderful to say the least.

The smell carries a very sweet scent offset with a mild, chocolaty bitterness. If you let it sit and warm, rather than serve it straight up cold, you will notice that the smells become more pronounced...as will the flavor.

My first sip brought me into some sort of heaven. Very creamy and smooth. The only problem I found was that the mouth feel is a tad bit watery. The first taste that hits your palette is that of the dark malt. They come across very sweet but with enough of a chocolate bitterness to keep things together. There is an equal amount of herbal/grass coming from the hops in this brew as well. It is a very mild beer though to say the least. I'm not sure if it's just because it's in a nitrogen can , or what the deal is, but it seems to be a bit tamed down. Not as much as Guinness is however. I will probably garner plenty of heat for my last Guinness comment.

My overall thoughts on this beer are pretty decent. I like keeping things easy so I'm going to do a 0.0,0.5-5.0 scale. I give this one a 3.5/5