Beer – #78 – Three Boys – Oyster Stout

So a change to a Stout from a Porter with this a Three Boys Oyster Stout, Brewed by Three Boys Brewery Christchurch, New Zealand, in the style of a Stout. Presented in the the brilliant same livery that the three boys beer do it, in a 500ml (pint) of a 6.2% ABV sized beer. that leads with…

“Doctors once prescribed stout as a revitalising tonic, while brewers enhanced their potency with additional ingredients, like oysters, which had desirable properties of their own. The Three Boys Oyster Stout contains select malt and hops to produce a beer that is rich and complex. And, who knows, our addition of genuine Bluff oysters to this very special brew might be just what the doctor ordered.”

I read that and I was reminded of Mackesons beer “looks good, tastes good, and by golly it does you good”…. well it was the 80’s, and which anyway was a milk stout. An Oyster Stout however…. well they chuck a handful of oysters in, apparently… <insert cynical laugh here>.

and the Aroma is something I might not have a word for.. Pours rich dark thick and has a head like an ice cream, I WIN on my battle for a beer with a head. I’d stop now as a winner but I have to push on and drink this. There’s a burnt toasted roastiness in the aroma to tempt me…..

A whole taste change of pace from a Porter, I have no idea what I was thinking, that this was a logical step. Advice gratefully accepted…

The palate is one of a bitter rush and there is longness that is somewhat a welcome old friend after the last few front of palate visitors. There’s not much of one thing, there is a chocolate, a roasted malt perhaps but what does “oyster” taste like or add, I have no idea, it could be there waving like a mad thing and I’d never know.

Three boys know how to put a beer together, so I’ve found, and I’m for no reason that I can remember, not a fan boy. There might be a reason, I’m picking it might be the Wheat beer that’s upset me, I’ll have to give it another crack.

This though, the Stout, is not offensive, not a world beater, or not a benchmark setter. It’s competent and inoffensive, and might even be good for me.

You’d be confused then if you were reading the last 400 words and wanted to know what the heck!. I’ve had a couple of porters recently , and this is nothing like what that is, but then this isn’t like anything like I expected this to be. Are you still with me?

As not a porter – wow!, as a stout – meh.

The pdubyah-o-meter mooches to a 6. Honestly I feel bereft of an experience. Buy this, please, but not because you’re edgy or cutting edge, but you’re either a total fanboy or lacking in adventure. I might go and have a weep.