Tarnation Stout
Portsmouth Brewery

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From:
Portsmouth Brewery
 
New Hampshire, United States
Style:
Sweet / Milk Stout
ABV:
8%
Score:
93
Avg:
4.36 | pDev: 8.03%
Reviews:
4
Ratings:
13
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Oct 31, 2013
Added:
Jul 25, 2012
Wants:
  4
Gots:
  0
55 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 4 by ajcormier from New Hampshire

Oct 31, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by mltobin from Connecticut

Aug 23, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by NewBrewBB from Rhode Island

Oct 13, 2012
 
Rated: 4.75 by bobv from Vermont

Aug 15, 2012
Photo of lordofthewiens
Reviewed by lordofthewiens from New Mexico

4.2/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Nice beer. In an imperial pint glass the beer was a very dark brown, near black color. The head was on the small side, but still left a good deal of lace.

Aroma mostly sweet chocolate. Some coffee and roasted malt. A whiff of piney/floral hops.

Very sweet chocolate taste; some mocha. Roasted malt/coffee. Still the whiff of hops. Lots of chocolate flavor.

Felt good. Not quite as hoppy a Donna led me to believe, but still a nice beer.
Aug 13, 2012
 
Rated: 4.5 by jfmamj from New Hampshire

Jul 31, 2012
Photo of Bierman9
Reviewed by Bierman9 from New Hampshire

4.3/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
I enjoyed a couple of pints of this on 19JUL12, in honor of Tod Mott...

Offered in a standard shaker pint, Tarnation was a deep, dense, opaque brown color. Head was creamy and tan, and ebbed rapidly leaving some decent lacework. Aroma had some choco sweetness and a good dose of rindy hops. Was thinking black IPA at first... Body was a solid medium, and it had a low carbo level, giving it a nice smoothness.

Taste had sweetness, too, with some smooth choco notes, a little cocoa and a hint of mocha. Then the hops took over, with plenty of rindy, pithy, resiny action hitting the palate. Oh damn, that was tasty! Unlike a BIPA with the added dark, bitter malts on top of an IPA, this was a nice, semi-sweet milk stout amped up with Heady Topperish hopping. Verry nice stuff; great work, as usual, Tod!! You WILL be missed! Prosit!

4.33/5 rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

1482
Jul 28, 2012
 
Rated: 4.75 by oldp0rt from Canada (QC)

Jul 28, 2012
 
Rated: 4.75 by rkasten1 from Connecticut

Jul 26, 2012
Photo of VelvetExtract
Reviewed by VelvetExtract from Massachusetts

4.32/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A-Pours a very dark brown, if not black. Head is minute and a light tan color but it laces well.

S-You definitely do get that lactic sweetness in the nose. Roast and frothed milk chocolate milkshake. Under the dark aromas is a hefty slap of citrus, tropics and piney hops. Really pretty cool; you can tell the Alchemist was involved.

T-Milky and roasty. Chocolate milk with massive amounts of Hershey's syrup. The hops come in a pleasant bouquet following the chocolate and roast.

M-Creamy with mellow carbonation. Finishes bitter but smooth. Easier drinking.

O/D-Cool collaboration. Love anything involving the Alchemist and hops. This was a strike. Happy to have tried it at the VT Brewfest. Would love to have had more in order to further dissect this cool collab.
Jul 26, 2012
 
Rated: 4.25 by ElGallo from New Hampshire

Jul 25, 2012
 
Rated: 5 by guezarka from Massachusetts

Jul 25, 2012
Photo of rab53
Reviewed by rab53 from Washington

3.88/5  rDev -11%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Had on-tap at the Portsmouth brewpub on 7/23/12. Was told by the server that this is a hoppy milk stout brewed in collaboration with The Alchemist. Sold. ABV listed as 8% at brewpub, 7.5% on Vermont Brewers Festival website.

Color is a brackish dark brown, translucent around the edges. Thin white head. Smells quite hoppy. Based on the smell and appearance, I'd say this was an American Black Ale/Black IPA/Cascadian Dark Ale. Sweet and floral. Taste is similarly hoppy with underlying roasted malt bitterness. Citrus and pine dominate. Stout roastiness is definitely second fiddle, so much so that this may be interpreted as a porter. Easy-drinking despite the relatively high ABV. Smooth, almost flat mouthfeel.

Overall, worth a try. If my dinner companion wasn't a grumpy toddler, I'd have gotten a growler to go.
Jul 25, 2012
Tarnation Stout from Portsmouth Brewery
Beer rating: 93 out of 100 with 13 ratings