Ballyblack Stout from Ards Brewing Company
Posted: 13 August '12 by Niall and Kelly
Ards Brewing Company
It really wasn’t so long ago that the discerning beer-drinker in Northern Ireland had no choice but to import expensive brews over the internet or hunt down one of the few specialist off-licences that stock weird and wonderful beers. Although we’re not exactly flush with micro-breweries these days, there are more local breweries popping up and they’re producing some excellent beers.
Ballyblack Stout from The Ards Brewing Company is one of this new breed. I tried this robust stout at The Belfast Beer and Cider Festival 2011 way back in October and loved it – but finding it after the festival proved to be pretty difficult.
By chance I went into Bittles Bar on Church Lane in Belfast for a quick pint after work, but it was a real stroke of luck – there’s a treasure-trove of the harder-to-find local beers in there, and Ballyblack Stout was among them!
Ballyblack Stout from Ards Brewing Company
About the beer
- Beer: Ballyblack Stout
- Format: Bottle Conditioned
- Alcohol: 5.0%
- Brewery: Ards Brewing Company
- Style: Stout
- Where to buy it: Bittles Bar on Church Lane in Belfast
The stout has a dark-brown body with a lively, white head. As soon as I poured my glass of beer, strong roast coffee and dark chocolate aromas were immediately noticeable, and this was reflected in the taste, initially at least.
There’s a bit of a surprise ingredients list – seaweed finings. They’re usually added to to clear the beer of cloudiness – but that’s not so much of an issue with dark beer or stout. While finings shouldn’t add any flavour to the beer, I think there’s a discernible salty flavour somewhere in the background of the Ballyblack Stout. In that post about the Belfast Beer Festival I’d mentioned that I thought I could taste blue cheese in the long finish, and tasting the stout for a second time confirmed it. Whether this is down to the combination of the chocolate notes in the beer and the vegetal flavours of seaweed, I don’t know – but I like it.
Final thoughts
Tasting the Ballyblack Stout again confirmed what I thought the first time – I love this beer!
It has the big in-your-face flavours that I love in this style of beer, but it’s own unique character too. The black coffee and dark chocolate flavours are pretty common elements in these stouts – it’s a combination that works well together – but it’s the savoury, “blue cheese” notes in the finish which distinguish this offering from Ards Brewing Company.. Delicious!
Bittles Bar, Church Lane in Belfast
Other information
You can find Bittles at:
Bittles Bar
70 Upper Church Lane,
Belfast,
County Antrim
BT1 4QL
You can also find Bittles Bar on Google Maps.
Tags: ards brewing company, bittles bar, local brewery, northern ireland, real ale, stout
Categories: The Pint & Pitcher
