- Smooth and crisp, especially for a stout
- Lovely biscuit, light coffee and smoky flavour
- Big punchy hop aftertaste
- Slight wateriness
- Missing some flavour depth
The deep dive into Brulo continues. If you haven’t read my previous Brulo Reviews, you can check them and their respective rankings out here. In this blog, I’m going to experience Brulo’s first step into the dark side. Let’s see what their plan is to take down the senate, I mean the nefarious yet glorious stout.
I’m excited to see how Brulo tackles this beast, especially because they’ve decided to dry hop it. It’s their only stout and they brew it fairly regularly so I’m excited about this one. I admire Brulo’s willingness to experiment and even when they don’t get it 100% right their brews make for evocative and epic reviews. Let’s hop to it Señora Dry Hopped.
Dry Hopped Stout Initial Thoughts
Dry Hopped Stout is like an excellent and expensive Johnny Cash impersonator, it’s almost the ‘man in black’ but not quite there. That being said, Brulo’s first foray into the world of stouts is undoubtedly a fruitful one.
Dry Hopped is a lovely chocolate colour with a coca-cola amber when the light shines on it. It’s got a rocky and foamy head, as ever, Brulo’s ingredients are of the highest quality. The nose has several different notes. There’s a dark chocolateness, a light spiciness, a light coffee flavour, and a light smokiness. (That’s 3 lights in a row, that’s generally a bingo.) Even though the smell is dark and roasty, it’s still very smooth and not bitter at all.
The mouthfeel follows on well from the nose. It’s smooth, crisp and lightly coats the mouth with a soft carbonated bitterness. It spreads nice and slowly similar to how your face feels when it’s too close to a fire’s smoke. With time, Dry Hopped opens up the palette which is great. It tastes smoky with some light dark chocolate biscuit notes. As it settles, a roasty flavour starts to come through as well. This brew is not creamy at all, it’s crisp and smooth. Ideally, I’d like it to go a bit deeper with the full-bodiedness. I would prefer it to be less smooth/watery and more full-bodied/complex. The aftertaste nails it though , it’s pleasant, smoky and punctuated by hops.
This is a great stout and my kudos to the Brulo team on this effort. I’d recommend giving it a go if you like lagers and want to get into stouts or if you like a particularly crisp stout. Pair this with smoked meats, smoked vegetables, bonfires and kebabs. Enjoy!
Check Out These Other Brulo Beers
A full flavoured German Pilsner style dry hopped with Saaz hops. Crisp, clean with a light aroma of citrus rind and spice
Hazy and smooth, crushable and loaded with passionfruit and mango aromas. Part of a trio of collabs with our friends at The Garden - Birth. Death - Mash Gang
Birth West Coast IPA. Crisp, bitter and hoppy with intense Pineapple, Melon, Lime & Blueberry aromas.
Where to Buy Dry Hopped Stout
You can find cans of Dry Hopped Stout in North Brew venues and online at the following…
Dry Hopped Stout Price
The price of Dry Hopped Stout varies depending on where you buy it from and how many cans you buy. I bought 2 cans from Wisebartender for £2.69 per can.
Dry Hopped Stout Nutritional Information, Ingredients and Calories
Dry Hopped Stout is a vegan, low calorie nolo choice. The ingredients are:
Water, Malted Barley (Biscuit 50, Flaked Oats, Pilsner, Roasted Barley, Rye Crystal, Wheat), Yeast, Hops (Columbus, Simcoe).
| Nutritional Information | Per 100mL |
|---|---|
| ABV | 0.0 % |
| Energy (KJ / KCal) | 140 / 33 |
| Fat (g) | 0 g |
| Of Which Saturates (g) | 0 g |
| Carbohydrate (g) | 7.8 g |
| Of Which Sugars (g) | 3.8 g |
| Protein (g) | < 1 g |
| Salt (g) | < 0.1 g |
TLDR;
Dry Hopped Stout is Brulo’s first foray into the realm of Stouts and they do a bang-up job. I give Dry Hopped 4 out of 5 stars because it’s an impressive and unique effort. The brew itself is smooth and crisp, especially for a stout. It has a lovely biscuit, light coffee and smoky flavour and a big punchy hop aftertaste. The dry hopping is most evident in the aftertaste. Dry Hopped falls down slightly with its lack of serious flavour depth and slight wateriness. However, overall, it’s good, enjoyable and sessionable. This brew is available on trade at North Brew venues and off-trade at several webshops including Brulo’s own. I bought 2 cans for £2.69 each and the price varies depending on how many cans you buy and where you buy them from. Like most Brulo beers, Dry Hopped is a vegan and low-calorie option. It’s best for lager drinkers who want an introduction to stouts or lovers of crisp stouts. Enjoy!
