It would be easy if there was only one stout in the stash that I have yet to try. But I have Avery's Out Of Bounds, North Coast's Old 38 as well as Hop Back's Entire Stout. And I know them not. Other have their posts up already. Not Lew. If I can just make up my mind, I might get my post up before Lew do. Now to make up my mind...

While I am doing that, it is good to point out that, unlike a lot of US based beer bloggers in tonight's session, I did have access to stout when I was young. In Nova Scotia, the gap between the end of local stout (made by the since closed Moosehead brewery across the harbour in Dartmouth) in 1981 or so) and the opening of Ginger's, our first craft brewery, on lower Barrington Street (that became the Granite Brewery of both up the street and down the road in Toronto) in around 1986 was only five years. Not much of a stretch and during that stretch there was a real boom in imports what with beers like Dortmunder Union in the university's bar and Maxwell's Plum, the first multi-tap I had experienced, opening about then, no doubt providing me with some stouts. I do recall that when the Thirsty Duck opened up on Spring Garden, it was the first place to move enough kegged Guinness so that it did not spoil and a pal of mine behind the bar who let us know when a new one was put on. So I can't recall much about Moosehead London Stout and its demise other than it was the sort of beer no one really mourned when it passed into history. Other beers were more than filling whatever gap it left.

Now...which one to have...OK, I am going with the Avery. Why? No reason. The beer pours a deep mocha head over beer the colour of motor oil. Lace leaving. Blackened toast char with some cream at the outset, then drying with roast malt, then lightening with some water, finishing with mint hops. I had to walk away from this beer for a bit there and would quite a hard water dryness, too. Going back to it, I have the idea that this has a bit of that old Burtonizing trick involved with it - using hard minerals to mimic hop. Maybe it is natural as I have noticed with with other Colorado beers before - except those of Oskar's Blues - including another Avery. My main complaint is that "day at sea" taste the salts leave behind - not to mention my habit of getting a headache from them.

So not a stout I would have again but if you are a harder water fan, this might be the one for you. And I beat Lew by an hour and twelve minutes.