Stillwater Brontide

Brewed By: Stillwater Artisanal at Dog Brewing Co. in Westminster, MD  

Purchased: 12oz can from a 6-pack bought at Bottles & Cans in Chicago, IL; 2015

Style/ABV: Black Ale, 5.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

What, Stillwater is doing Black Ales now? About Stillwater Artisanal Ales: 

Stillwater Artisanal Ales are a Gypsy Brewery based out of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 2009-ish, the beer is brewed by Brian Strumke. You can find more info at the brewery's blog or their website. 

The Brontide is "a smooth black ale with mild roast and a soft Trappist yeast character." The beer pours into a dark brown, roooooby red body, kicking up a couple of fingers of lightly tan head. It looks like a Dry Stout or Porter...there's good lacing, appropriate carb, and all that good stuff.

Stillwater Brontide

This definitely has the Trappist yeast character...it's very mild...like a diluted Rochefort 10. I'm getting a lot of subtle coffee notes, hints of dark fruits and figs/grapes, some toasted sweetness ala a Brown Ale or sweet dark lager, and lots of earthy notes. This has some pretty nice earthy notes and deep roast, which is nice for the lower ABV. 

The taste basically follows through with the aroma. It's a nice, simple, dry, clean beer...the Trappist yeast is dialed down into the 5% format, but it tastes like a toned down Rochefort 10. I'm getting a lot of coffee, ash, deep roast, and some subtle dark fruit notes. It's high on the yeast character, followed by the dark roasty malts.

This is a solid beer for 5%. It has good palate depth and duration, and pulls off a medium-light mouthfeel. The finish is dry, the beer is well carbonated, and you want to keep sipping. It has okay complexity as well. Again, up front this is all about the roast and yeast, with some ashy notes and coffee; the mids roll into more coffee, toasty sweetness, more roast, fruity notes; the back end finishes dry with lingering goodness. Not bad, Stillwater, not bad.

Rating: Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Average on this. It pretty much does what it says it is going to do...gotta say, I would buy this again, if only because it comes in a 6-pack and seems to pair well with red meats and chocolaty foods. Not bad. 

Random Thought: The use of the Trappist yeast at the lower ABV is an interesting twist.