Arcadia Starboard Stout - Arcadia Brewing Company

BeerTruth

Connecticut

1.2/5  rDev -64.8%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1

12 oz. bottle poured into a nonic, about an ounce consumed.

The letter "C" and the number "0" notched in the side. Are we supposed to know what that means?

Pours a cola black with a one finger brown head that quickly dies down to a thin layer of weak bubbles. No stickiness what so ever to speak of. Smell, umm...this is an oatmeal stout right? For some reason there is a big sour aroma which should not be there. I'm not sure if this is a bad bottle or what, but it just isn't right. I can't detect any other smell to this other than the outright annoying funky scent. I'm predicting drain pour. First sip is more sourness, I'm not going any further. Mouthfeel is light bodied with a strong carbonation. This one is headed straight for the sink. I don't know what beer this is, but it definitely isn't an oatmeal stout...ugh.

Serving type: bottle

06-03-2008 23:46:49 | More by BeerTruth

Bighuge

Minnesota

1.55/5  rDev -54.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1

Appearance: Black. Bigass Huge brown head. It takes forever to dissipate. Looks to be a sign of bad things to come (i.e., overcarbonation).

Aroma: Wet cardboard. Chocolate. Dry cardboard.

Taste: Wet cardboard. Astringent husk tones. Dry cardboard. Plastic. Chemicals. Etc...

Mouthfeel: Jacked up carbonation. Gaseous in the mouth. Hardly swallowable.

Drinkability: Yeah, right!! BYE BYE STARBOARD!!!

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2005 03:39:37 | More by Bighuge

heyitsbyron

Wisconsin

2.05/5  rDev -39.9%
look: 1 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5

Poured a single from Woodman's in Madison ($1.25) into a pint glass. I guarantee that this bottle came from the same six pack as the one dirtylou reviewed below.

I poured no more than 2 ounces of this into a glass before the head ballooned up and filled the whole glass. It honestly took about six minutes to pour. Huh? Head was a nice color, but it was almost comical trying to get this into the glass.

Smelled boozy, roasty and malty. There is some sort of strange chemical I smell too.

Taste was sweet and toasted, but again there was a recurring chemical candy taste that was just disgusting.

Acceptable in the mouth. Not necessarily overcarbonated, just not fulfilling either.

I wouldn't buy it, I wouldn't recommend it, I wouldn't drink it again. Horrible beer. I wonder if dirtylou and I got a bad batch?

Serving type: bottle

02-01-2006 05:20:48 | More by heyitsbyron

Dalem

Michigan

2.2/5  rDev -35.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

What I thought was a soft pour was apparently not soft enough. This foamed up like crazy. Could only get about half the bottle in the glass and the head was rising up over the top of the rim and took awhile to calm down. What I could see of the beer it was the dark brown you'd expect from a stout with a (huge) chocolate malt top. Someone went a little too crazy in the carbonation department perhaps. Though this is a oatmeal stout the thing you smell the most is alcohol, which is weird because it's not that high of an alcohol content (5.5%), along with a bit of bitter coffee and vanilla. Not really any oat aroma at all which I find kinda odd.
The first noticed in the taste was a bitterness. Not a pleasant bitterness that a stout should have though. More like a cup of gas station coffee from a pot that has been sitting on the warming tray for a couple of hours too long. A bit of the oat taste shows taste show up too and they are roasty but it's almost like they were caught right before they were burnt to a crisp and tossed in the vat. The bitterness lingers too much in the aftertaste too.
It's a bummer because I would really like to get behind what Arcadia is doing but so far everything I've tried by 'em has left me a dissapointed.

Serving type: bottle

11-27-2007 23:50:27 | More by Dalem

stonequarrywest

Ohio

2.35/5  rDev -31.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Hmmm In usually like some of the Arcadia brews.

Pours a dark brown/black..with decent dirty colored head

Smells somewhat sour with no real distinct goodness at all.maybe a little smokey

Taste is a a sort of burnt goodyear tire crossed with a hershey chocolate bar and no marshmellow..

im sorry i must stop now...

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2009 02:53:48 | More by stonequarrywest

beveritt

Ohio

2.38/5  rDev -30.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Presentation: Poured from a 12 oz brown bottle into a pint glass. Label depicts a sailboat going full sail. There are notches on the side of the bottle, but not sure how to interpret them.

Appearance: Pours with an absolutely enormous head, probably 1/4 of the glass is beer and 3/4 is head. This settles slowly into a nice, creamy, tan head, leavinf behind a medium amount of lacing. The beer itself is nearly opaque, with hints of mahogany around the edges.

Smell: Slightly sweet yet spicy malts upfront with hints of chocolate and coffee.

Taste: Fruity/alcoholy right at first, this flavor pervades the whole drink. In fact, there is not much else here to discuss. No hops, very little roastiness, slight hint of creaminess from oats.

Mouthfeel: Thin and watery. Carbonation is average, but the head produces id well beyond what it should be.

Drinkability: A disappointment, I have had much better from Arcadia.

Serving type: bottle

02-26-2008 02:24:41 | More by beveritt

benmiliron

Ohio

2.4/5  rDev -29.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Paid $1.29 for a 12 oz. single.

A dark stout. No head, weak carbonation. Funny medicinal smell, and a hint of that taste in the background. Mostly bitterness overall though. Lingering bitterness with no real other character to back it up. Maybe it's just old, but this brewery continues to confound me with good brews and bad brews. This stout is a bad one. Yuck.

Serving type: bottle

08-17-2004 02:35:06 | More by benmiliron

dirtylou

Washington

2.55/5  rDev -25.2%
look: 1 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

12oz single, Woodmans

appearance: not sure what is up with this thing, but the head just exploded upon pour...pours a dark brown color, with an exploded foamy chocolate brown head

smell: slightly roasty, very astringent, hard to make out much more...theres some cocoa powder sweetness and some dark fruit but thats about it

taste: a little bitter, roastiness - almost burnt oats tasting, some malt sweetness...taste is very distracted

mouthfeel: thin, over carbonated, not good

drinkability: poor, my first dump, this shit is horrible

Serving type: bottle

01-16-2006 03:35:31 | More by dirtylou

Realale

Missouri

2.58/5  rDev -24.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Black. Thin whispy dark brown head.

Lots of coffee on the nose, but good coffee, not overly bitter. Bit of leafy hop. Touch leathery. Some dried cherry and alcohol as well.

Rather monolithic in the mouth, but there's not a lot of malt. Some chalky components and obvious alcohol. Neither long nor pleasant.

Mouthfeel is OK, but really nothing could save this one. Lots of promise in the nose, but it goes unfulfilled.

Tasted blind at the 12/14/03 St. Louis BA Tasting.

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2003 15:47:37 | More by Realale

CortexBomb

Michigan

2.6/5  rDev -23.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours jet black and the scent is properly stouty with coffee being dominant.

Flavour however is purely pedestrian, a little bitter, a little malt, a little chocolate, and a noticeable alcohol tinge (surprising given it's low content), but nothing stood out as remarkable, similarly was the case with it's mouthfeel and drinkability.

The main issue I have with this beer is it's inability to impress me in any way, it strikes me as "Generic Stout", I don't plan to have another.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2004 00:34:04 | More by CortexBomb

mcallister

Ohio

2.6/5  rDev -23.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Pearl black with a thick succulent creamy tan head. Terrific head retention.

Laid back aromas of dark fruits, and a sour type smell I think from the cask.

Tobacco, bitter unsweetened chocolate, almond, malt, and that same cask sourness as in the smell. No hops I can point out.

The sour flavor which I think is a result of the cask is really a turn off for me on this beer. Will re-review if I happen to try it from bottle or draught.

Serving type: cask

05-19-2006 20:30:34 | More by mcallister

tempest

Pennsylvania

2.68/5  rDev -21.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Wondering what the weird bottling code means? There's a list on the web site, unfortunately, I couldn't seem to find any record of my beer. Great.

Pours pitch black with a furious tan head. At first the aroma and flavor are just of smooth cocoa and roasted grains with the nice, mild oatmeal element and a slight sour tinge. After a while, however, that sour comes out smelling and tasting like a big, bad Belgian-style infection. Alas. I have to put this one down as I'm not in the mood for a oatmeal stout lambic. Major flaw here, too bad, seemed like the makings of a decent oatmeal stout.

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2008 16:08:00 | More by tempest

jneiswender

Massachusetts

2.68/5  rDev -21.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2

Poured out of a 12oz bottle into a pint glass.

A--Ink black body and a nice thick mocha froth head

S--Very earthy smelling. Grassy.

T--Sweet malt front, smoky and mildly bitter middle

M--medium to full. Not very thick or slick.

D--Nice taste overall but not the chewy, full mouthfeel I would like in this style. A bit too thin. Actually, alot too thin.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2008 00:29:32 | More by jneiswender

frazbri

Ohio

2.73/5  rDev -19.9%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Poured deep black topped by a tan head of fine bubbles.

Very mild aroma. No noticable hops on the nose.

Tastes of unsweetened chocolate with a faint trace of iron in the aftertaste. There is a pronounced bitterness, but I think its more from the oat malt than the hops.

The feel is almost chewy and very dry.

This stout improves as it warms. The bitterness just hangs with you through the whole glass and beyond, but I don't really taste hops. I wish I could score this a little higher, but the taste just doesn't do it for me.

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2004 01:30:13 | More by frazbri

GIVEMEBACKMYSON

Alaska

2.8/5  rDev -17.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Smells like a strong and syrupy cup of coffee. Kind of looks like one too. There was almost no head to begin with and it is now gone without a trace. This is very black and inklike.
Right off the bat this thing tastes like rust. This gives way to a burnt toast flavor, and coffee that's been on the warmer for 10 hours. In the midst of all this there is a vanilla flavor that is our of sorft, but the best thing in this beer. This lacks the carbonation and direction that it sorely needs. And in the back of the throat there is an acidic and drying. Well, there will be no parade of sixers of this marching their way into my fridge.

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2005 02:39:02 | More by GIVEMEBACKMYSON

markgugs

New Jersey

2.8/5  rDev -17.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

poured from a 12oz bottle into a snifter glass

A: Pours a fairly standard looking stout style, inky black. Virtually no head whatsoever, but leaves a bit of swirling, creamy foam as the beer dwindles.

S: Nice aroma of roasted oats and bitter but sweet coffee flavors.

T: Decent sweet roasted oats to begin, but the flavoring simply disappears too quickly. It leaves me wanting more, or least more fuller flavoring, the beer simply doesn't offer enough. This is a rather bland beer.

M: Very thin-bodied beer, I was really hoping it'd be a solid bready mouthfeel, but this is entirely lacking chewiness. It's almost watery.

D: It'd be easy enough to session with this beer, but quite frankly it's not exciting enough to drink more than 1 or 2.

Serving type: bottle

02-19-2007 00:15:02 | More by markgugs

guinness33

New Jersey

2.83/5  rDev -17%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Pours a pretty good looking near black colour with a thinner than expected, creamy off-white head that leaves a small amount of residue on the glass,

The aroma is somewhat sweet, with some cocoa in the mix along with some caramel and a bit of coffee. Well blended but a touch thin.

The flavour is essentially more of the same: some general cocoa and caramel sweetness, with some coffee notes and other maltiness that make for a more rugged taste than expected from the aroma. The mouthfeel is light to medium bodied and just way too thin and watery for an oatmeal stout. There's just something way off and unattractive here.

I wasn't a fan of this one overall. Aroma and flavour are average at best and the mouthfeel really kills this one. It just seems to take any balance that might be here and throw it out the window. Not horrible, but borderline non-recommendable.

Serving type: bottle

07-30-2007 02:16:36 | More by guinness33

Vancer

Illinois

2.83/5  rDev -17%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Coal black baby here, an aggressive pour pops up a frothy tan head that lays a lace ring around the glass. Yeasties on the bottle swirl up nicely.

Classic charcoal, burnt toast with a malty push to it. Quaff is a bit of a letdown, kinda watery and just the charcoal, not much of anything else.

Arcadia is a hit or miss brewery, luv some of their stuff, but this one misses.

Serving type: bottle

02-01-2008 22:20:23 | More by Vancer

bashiba

Iowa

2.88/5  rDev -15.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Poured a deep black with ruby highlights and a thick dark tan head, decent retention with light lacing.

Smell was full with heavy black malt, coffee, and chocolate.

Flavor was suprisingly light with a predominantly burnt malt flavor with some light hints of coffee and oats. Had a musty and bitter finish.

Mouthfeel was also very thin and watery with a touch of good warmth.

A little to thin and simple of a stout for me, I would skip this one.

Serving type: bottle

07-14-2007 20:49:07 | More by bashiba

adamette

Ohio

2.95/5  rDev -13.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Review from notes. Poured from tap at the brewery 10 15 09 into a clean, clear glass.

A Jet black, creamy, long lasting head that leaves great lacing. 4.0

S Not much smell. Deep, dark roast malt is all that I could smell. 3.0

T Kind of a weak, rather thin stout. Dark roast malt, only trace hops. I am not inspired by this stout. 3.0

M This is thin for a stout. 2.0

D Fair due to its uninspiring taste. 3.0

Serving type: on-tap

10-20-2009 02:42:42 | More by adamette

winomark

Missouri

2.98/5  rDev -12.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Appearance: Jet black with a thin, slightly sticky, light tan head.

Aroma: Sweet alcohol, some resin, and coffee and cocoa present.

Taste: Coffee and chocolate, but a bit milder than anticipated. Dry finish, with no sweetness.

Mouthfeel: Quite flavorful and coating, but not too thick.

Drinkability: Not what I expected. Does not have the flavor that the nose promised. Won't try again.

Serving type: bottle

12-15-2003 15:44:14 | More by winomark

lackenhauser

Maryland

2.98/5  rDev -12.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Very, very nice looking beer-pitch black with a huge cocoa tan head on top. Nice slight head lingers on down the glass. Metallic/medicianl aroma to it. Not unpleasant but surely unexpected. Slight roasted taste-somewhat chocolatey. Still has that metallic "ring" in the flavor. Good enough mouthfeel I would like a little more body. Doesnt have the velvety creaminess of a lot of oatmeal stouts. An enjoyable enough beer though fairly average overall. I wonder if this was fresher how it would be though there is no indication of age on the bottle.

Serving type: bottle

09-02-2006 21:32:20 | More by lackenhauser

FightingEntropy

Minnesota

2.98/5  rDev -12.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

The Starboard Stout looks good in the glass, but doesn't measure up after that. An inch of brown fluffy head piled up on top of a dark black beer with no highlights that I could see. The smell was ok at first, but fled with the head. Some roast smell, solvent like, and hard to find. Roasty coffee and smooth oat taste there as well, with a almost rye like twang to it, but not as pleasant. Overall, not a bad beer to try but I won't be seeking out anymore of it, though my notes on the rest of Arcadia seems to indicate that they are a bit better than this beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2007 14:04:52 | More by FightingEntropy

Biggness

New York

2.98/5  rDev -12.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

This was my second beer @ Arcadia last night. I was hesitant in ordering a second beer after the catastrophe that was Coco Loco. This beer was much better though. It poured very dark with a light head. I asked the bartender if that was a natural head and to my amazement it was an injected head. Anyone who loves this beer I beg you to come out to Long Island and go to Blue Point and try their Oatmeal Stout. Seeing as this was an oatmeal stout it gets some points but if I were to rate this as an oatmeal stout it would be an absolute yuck.

Serving type: on-tap

06-14-2008 11:58:39 | More by Biggness

SupaCelt

Michigan

3/5  rDev -12%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

The look is blackness. Floaties suspended within the darkness. This beer of mine is sub totally decapitated. Nary a fizzle of carbon dioxide to be observed. Lackluster. Buster.

Smell is subdued. Reminds me of air conditioning blowing over some heavily creamed coffee. Moderate cacao inkling. Utterly unimpressive. Not much salivation is inspired by the aromas. Boo hoo for me.

The taste is lake water with oatish tones and chocolate and cough-ee. Where's the beef? This stout is cachetic at best. The sailboat label seems appropriate here. If there had been a destroyer on the label I would have screamed false advertisement. This one really could use an increase in every bill applicable. I hate to bash, but a stout should be far more bold than this. Much too thin and underemphasized. Dashed hopes. No further purchases considered.

Serving type: bottle

07-14-2005 16:16:12 | More by SupaCelt