I’m in Springfield, Missouri for work today (actually we spent the day working in Branson, but we’re staying in Springfield), and as always, I was easily able to convince my travel buddy Steve to stop at the local brew pub for dinner and a couple beers after a long day. I always try to sample something unique and different, and was told by the server about their Blacksmith Stout – a dry-hopped stout with a roasty chocolate flavor, yet a big hop flavor as well.
It was a deep dark brown, almost black color with a quarter-inch tan, creamy head on it. There was an earthy and slightly piney hop aroma with a bit of chocolate-caramel malt aroma as well.
The body was medium, and the mouthfeel was smooth and a little creamy with a little bit of a carbonation bite. After the brief carbonation bite, the flavor was sort of nutty and chocolaty up front. That was followed by a roasty chocolate-caramelly flavor that reminded me quite a bit of Riesen candy. The finish is where the hops came in, with an earthy and slightly piney flavor. During the aftertaste, the roasty caramel came back through a little bit.
While I enjoyed this beer with my pre-meal salad, I think this would be a nice beer to pair with BBQ or a heartier meal like chili, where the roasty, chocolaty, and caramelly flavors would bring out the sweet caramel of the BBQ sauce. It might also go nicely as a brownie dessert, and since the body wasn’t terribly full, the richer the chocolate the better.
The flavors were pretty complex throughout, and there seemed to be almost no bitterness from the chocolate flavors, only from the obvious dry hopping. I felt that the body could have been a little thicker, but the medium body made it very drinkable. Overall, I thought this was a pretty good beer to enjoy on a cold Missouri evening after a long day of work.
My Rating: 
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