CAN - Black Ball Metric Stout (24x440ml)

Black Ball Metric Stout aged in Irish whiskey barrels

Black Ball V3: You know that feeling when you find something you thought was gone forever? In our case, it was a small batch of barrel-aged Black Ball from five years ago with a flavour that was even more intense and smooth.

Still the same modern stout that shuns imperialistic, old school vernacular, the mash for our Black Ball was rammed full of dark, complex malts before being poured into those Irish whiskey barrels. It’s always been a big and bold, but, after five years, it has completely rounded out. This rediscovered stout is deep, dark, rich and rewarding.

Description

Style: Metric stout aged in Irish whiskey barrels.
Malt: Irish pale ale malt, chocolate malt, roast barley, wheat, CaraAroma.
Hops: Nugget.
ABV: 11.4
IBUs: 43

Tasting notes
Colour/appearance: deepest darkest black in the glass with a light coffee head.
Aroma: Chocolate. Fruity. Black cherry. Irish cream. And that’s before you’ve even taken a sip…
Flavour: a deliciously full bodied sipper, sweet and smooth on the palate at first, with spicy whiskey heat at the end. It gradually opens up in the glass, revealing lots of creamy sweet vanilla and fruity berries, particularly cherries and blackcurrants.
Aftertaste: a little char bitterness.

Food pairings
This is a beer to hold for the end of the meal. Break out that cheeseboard and go savoury with some funky Cnoc Dubh goat cheese from The Galway Goat Farm. Blues are also a wonderful match: try the well flavoured Boyne Valley Blue, another goat cheese with a distinctive flavour. With the stout’s sweet whiskey cream characteristics, it’s ideal for sweet things: have a drop alongside a Black Forest Gateau to bring out all the cherry and chocolate flavours or pour a snifter to have with a box of your favourite chocolates, especially if they’re dark.