Sheaf Stout - Carlton & United Breweries, Ltd.

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

4.47/5  rDev +23.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Twist-off cap, 26 oz. bottle. An old favorite that I love to revisit again and again...
Color, fully black. Head, big, beefy, brown. Aroma: rich and delicious,roasty and bitter beauty, with a lot going on! Anise, pepper, dark rum, a bit of chocolate, a touch of coffee, and a touch of cream. Wow! Wonderful!
A brisk battalion of hops jumps on board the palate and remains for the duration. Big, fat, delicious, luscious roasted malt. Flavor and texture is perfect, drinkability divine. A touch of sweetness emerges, and mingles with the darker flavors, making for a more complex flavor profile.
They made an excellent choice to bottle these only in these gargantuan containers. Less would not be enough.

Serving type: bottle

04-27-2003 23:15:07 | More by feloniousmonk

BeerBuilder

Minnesota

4.03/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours black with a light brown, creamy head that leaves excellent lacing. The aroma is sweet, roasty, and chocolatey. It has an alcohol aroma as well. The flavor starts out roasty then moves to a sweet coffee-like finish. The bitterness is subtle on this stout. It is medium-full in body, and has a bit of alcohol warmth to it. It was a surprisingly good beer.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2003 05:58:23 | More by BeerBuilder

Mitchster

Michigan

3.13/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

Haven't had this beer in over 10 years, but I heard on the forums that it is getting increasingly hard to find, so I jumped quick when I saw this in my local liquor store. Clear, jet-black with hints of brown at the edges...beer is nearly flat and I thought I had a bad bottle when there was no "whish" on opening it, but it managed to form an oily, thin, dark-tan head atop small to medium-sized bubbles. Carbonation is next to non-existent, retention is decent, and lacing is surprisingly good. Aroma is delicious...dark molasses, french-roast coffee, dark chocolate, tar, deeply roasted grains, vanilla extract, and subtle hints of sourness...in that order. Mouthfeel is soft with a dense body. Taste begins with alot of roasted malts up front...an oily, treacle mouthfeel...then right in the middle there is a strong wave of unpleasant "homebrew" isopropyl alcohols, followed by a strong metal and mineral tinge, and to top it off... a rubbery, musty cardboard oxidized hop note. Ugh. The moderately astringent finish has lingering notes of coffee, wood, roots, and vegetables. If this beer tasted the way it smells, it could-have-been-would-have-been great, but alas, it ultimately fails as the off-flavors are completely unsettling. The alcohol rating here of 5.7%ABV seems very modest, as the alcohol bite and dulling senses gives me the impression of something in the 7-8.5% range.

Serving type: bottle

03-18-2003 17:17:38 | More by Mitchster

Reidrover

Oregon

4.25/5  rDev +17.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I bought this in plain brown 1 pt 9.6 oz bottle with an old fashioned style plain label.
The beer poured very well and left a thick tan head atop a dark brown almost black beer..the head went down somewhat but still clung on to the edges.
This has a great stout smell the roasted almost burnt malts..i love this, this one smelled better than Guiness.
Wonderful taste IMO, its a good mix of burnt malt and good hoppiness..i tasted loads of caramel, treacle and a hint of black espresso coffee..delicious.
feels really smooth on the mouth but leaving sensation all along the tongue.
Very drinkable..good stout at a not too bad price will drink again!

Serving type: bottle

02-26-2003 21:25:29 | More by Reidrover

jtw5877

Ohio

4.1/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a deep dark brown with a really nice white/tan head which lasted a long time. A real solid stout, a nice malt profile, and the right amount of hop bitterness. My first Australian Stout, and I have to say I really like it.

Serving type: bottle

12-13-2002 15:23:46 | More by jtw5877

Pegasus

Texas

3.5/5  rDev -3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

All but black in color with a dark brown cloudtop head, lots of broken lace. Strong aroma of coffee, also bitter chocolate, molasses, and dark fruit with a slight metallic quality. Dark roasted malts dominate the taste, beginning with slightly sweet toasty notes which yield to a bitter chocolate and coffee notes. Finish is quite dry and a touch bitter. Sheaf is a decent, although not exceptional stout.

Serving type: bottle

11-21-2002 19:18:41 | More by Pegasus

Anonmatel

Australia

3.73/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Hmmm. weird drink this, very sweet, hints of chocolate, burnt flavourings abound, not too bad, and i suppose it's not too weird, but stick to what you usually drink before touching this stuff.

Second review.
After drinking this stuff more. I am now a fan of this beer.
I had to come and change it, because i felt bad for giving it a bad review before.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2002 10:58:58 | More by Anonmatel

ADR

Pennsylvania

3.15/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Dark coffee color, nice brown head at about an inch. A little spicy aroma, along with malt smells. Flavor is mild, a little smoky with touches of chocolate tones. Candy flavors, gravelly with an estery bubblegum impression. Sweetness is lacking but roastiness is lacking too. There's something missing mid-mouth, most of the action is at the finish. Almost like a spicy Porter with a dark color. Mouthfeel is somewhat lacking as well. Not really a fovorite of mine.

Serving type: bottle

07-01-2002 08:09:27 | More by ADR

rastaman

United Kingdom (England)

2.9/5  rDev -19.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Not elegant or anything, messy mix of roasty chocolate, motor oil, and sweat from CUB workers, yukky, yukky...but somehow its drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

04-04-2002 16:57:54 | More by rastaman

nklatt

Minnesota

3.8/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 2 | overall: 4

Black with a latte head. Smell's nice - like a stout should! Has some smoke in it. Taste is light - a bit sweet with some burnt flavor and a touch tangy/metallic. Not as thick as I like.

Serving type: bottle

11-20-2001 11:56:07 | More by nklatt