Monkey 9 Brewing is aptly named for good luck and good fortune, and hopefully, the craft beer market blesses them with some of that. Aside from good luck, making good beer is (obviously) key to sticking around. The Silverback Stout is at the forefront of their lineup, and with more beers like this, they could stick around for quite a while.

B.C. Beer Reviews: Monkey 9 Brewing – Silverback Stout

It should be stated before diving into this one that it was on nitro. This will impart a smoother and creamier body than normal, but you can still tell the quality of the beer in the glass. Even a bad beer on a nitro tap is still not going to taste good.

With that being said, let’s take a look at the Silverback Stout.

Colour

This beer is dark as night, just as you would come to expect of a stout. The head also has a nice light tan hue to it. This beer hits the style perfectly with the style, with the SRM coming fairly high.

Nose/Aroma

The first note you get from this beer is from the roasted barley that was used in the brewing process. Roasted notes jump right out of the glass at you. They hit the style spot on with the malt/grain bill, and the roasted notes are a good lead to this nose/aroma.

The other notes and one that goes hand-in-hand with the roasted notes is the coffee aroma you get in the nose. This makes for a very appealing aroma to this beer. Once again, hits the style perfectly.

This beer is a nice representation of the style in its nose/aroma. It has the roasted notes that compliment the coffee and slight chocolate notes perfectly. Makes for a very inviting nose/aroma.

Tasting Notes

The first note you get is the same as the nose/aroma, the roasted notes. It comes out on your palate immediately, but it does not overpower the other notes at play here. This one starts off with a rather well-balanced level of roasted notes from the roasted barley used, an ingredient that can dominate a beer in even small dosages.

The next note is a smooth and sweet chocolate note. It sits in behind the roasted notes quite nicely, and it helps to restrain the roasted barley from becoming too powerful. Very nice note, and one common with the style.

The malt/grain bill is certainly the main player in this beer. There is very little hop presence in this one. There is just enough of a bitter note on the back end to somewhat notice, but it is admittedly very hard to catch.

Other Notes

This beer was poured from a nitro tap, so the head is rather significant. After it drops a bit and settles out it is still fairly significant overall. The retention of that head is equally as impressive as it initially is. You have to start drinking this beer before it starts to dissipate.

There is a very low level of carbonation in this beer. With the notes at play in this one and the way the beer presents itself, this is very nice. Makes for an extremely smooth finish to this beer.

The lacing on the glass is surprisingly significant, which is odd with the lack of hop presence in this beer. It certainly does not compete with a vast majority of the hop-forward beers out there, but there are noticeable rings of lacing throughout to show you where you finished off each drink.

Final Grade

Noticeable notes of the roasted barley complimented by coffee and chocolate. The coffee and roasted notes come through strongly in both the nose/aroma and the tasting notes, and the chocolate notes come through much more in the tasting notes. Finishes smoothly, which is likely a byproduct of being on a nitro tap. All in all, a solid beer.

Grade: 8.3/10

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Main photo by Nic Hendrickson, Lastword Inc., all rights reserved