Black Strap stout

by Don "Darius" Riney
(Arlington, Texas)

Black Strap stout from Bridgeport Brewing

Today I am trying Bridgeport Brewing's Black Strap stout from Portland, Oregon.

Stouts are in the same family of beer as porters. In fact a "stout porter" is what we now call stout. There are a great many adjuncts used in this beer, such as chocolate or coffee, or in this case black strap molasses.

No matter what the adjunct, however, all agree that a stout should produce a luxuriant creamy head with good retention and have a full body and a rich toasty hop back flavor.

Bridgeport delivers on the type on all points but retention of the head. I found it to dissipate far quicker than Guinness or McKesson. In fact it was maybe two or three minutes of foam total.

It does deliver on rich flavor. The Molasses adjunct gives a rich dark flavor that fits in well with a stout porter's character.

It's true to type, apart from the head retention. A beer to be slowly savored and enjoyed, not everyone would appreciate its subtlety. But at $9.30 for a six pack, it is a wonderful dark beer for a special occasion. Definitely not an everyday beer though. I'll keep Shiner as my baseline in my fridge and go get this for the right meal.