Throughout the lifetime of The Crafty Pint, Little Creatures have released many a stout. Some have been on the larger size, such as the Dreadnought series, others smaller (The Hotchkiss Six), while a few have aimed smack bang for the centre of the style category. They've all – at least the ones to have reached us in bottles or cans – greeted the winter months with a a hearty dose of the traditional; no wild adjuncts and not much in the way of newer hop varieties either – The Fuggle Is Real even paid direct homage to one of the UK's increasingly out-of-fashion hops.
Which brings us to 2023's addition to the lineage, Stout King. And if you were wondering if this would be the year in which they decided to explore the world of pastry beers, the subtitle will disabuse you of such notions quick enough: "Straight Up Stout". Half a dozen malts, ranging from pale through chocolate and rye to roast barley open their loving arms to, again, Fuggles, which is joined by Creatures' favoured EKG (English variety East Kent Golding), Southern Cross (a child of Fuggles), and Chinook (one of the earthier of the popular US varieties). So you can see where this is heading...
Stout King looks the part and doesn't deviate far from the norm: it's full without being too creamy or sweet, has a dry finish but little overt roastiness or bitterness, possesses plenty of dark chocolate and figgy fruits, and balances a touch of ash on the one hand with a hint of nougat on the other. Add in a lengthy finish and all you need is a log fire by your side.
James Smith
Published June 6, 2023 2023-06-06 00:00:00
