Welcoming sign at Pub 27 in Pompeii
Rock Bottom Short Pump Give Into the Dark Stout
Date: October 11 , 2018
The Story— Rock Bottom has always left their brewers room to play and it’s meant that we’ve found distinctive beers from La Jolla, California to Boston, Mass. Their Short Pump brewery — just outside Richmond, Va. has turned out some of their best for years.
Stouts are easy to brew well but hard to brew really well. Guinness, which every beer drinker knows well, started as porter, then a “stout porter” and now, of course. almost defines “stout.” The beer is so creamy and smooth that few people drink it carefully enough to realize the secret to Guinness is a bit of tart and edgy finish. But you don’t have to go to Guinness’s Open Gate brewery outside of Baltimore to learn there is so much more to stout than the standard Guinness at you local Irish pub.
And because we’re tying this week’s beers to our Brews and Snooze: Hyatt House is an easy walk. Dozens of others are an easy Uber.
The Beer— Creamy and very dry stout with a moreish edge. Milky and creamier than Guinness and therefore not as clean with a with 1.5% more booze. Still, it has more substance and almost the same darkness. Guinness lovers should love it more than most pub stouts.
Value — Very good. About six bucks for an English (19 ounce) pint. If you haven’t joined their mug club, do. Sporadically as if by magic they take ten bucks off your check.
All this week we return to the US to highlight some great beers we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night. Look for it in 2019.
Later, we’ll return to HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE 2018– Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.” The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.) We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.
About these posts: We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year. The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings. Values: “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.
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