Monday, June 2, 2008

Beer: Bell's Harry Magill's Spiced Stout

Has anybody ever heard of Harry Magill's Spiced Stout?
I was in J. Gumbo's over the weekend and the bartender slapped down a Rate Beer printout with a description of this beer. He said some guys were checking out Mike DeWeese's basement stash recently and came across some bottles of this beer. They estimated that it was 2-4 years old, but looking at the reviews on Beer Advocate, I'd estimate more like 6 years (the label certainly looks it, though unfortunately it doesn't have a back label with a batch number). There are a couple reviews from 2001 to early 2002, but there are a flurry of reviews starting in November 2002 that probably indicates the official release (or maybe a second, larger release). My lovely wife decided that we had to try it and surprised me by ordering a bottle while I was in the bathroom.

The smell of the beer was all chocolate and raisin and those characteristics followed through in the taste. The raisin/dark fruit flavor was pretty dominant and in my limited experience, this seems to be a very common flavor in aged beers. In the aftertaste I got some caramel and then a creamy/vanilla flavor right at the very end. It was pretty tasty and easy to drink, though honestly, I didn't find any of the spice that the name (and BA reviews) indicate. Those flavors must have faded out to nothingness over time.

5 comments:

rodney said...

Very interesting, I've never see that. We might need to make a stop in there if they are stirring up the depths of the beer cellar.

CorrND said...

This one seemed like a random beer that got pulled out -- actually, I'm not sure it even did...I think the bartender had to go to the basement to get it when Claire asked for it -- but I know Mike said he was interested in pulling out more vintage beer in the future. We should go on the nights that Mike tends bar and see if we can convince him to do that.

I think the only vintage stuff he's got out is the Stone Old Guardian, Double Bastard and Sierra Nevada Bigfoot that have been on the menu for a couple months now.

Erik Huntoon said...

I have never heard of that one myself. Sounds pretty tasty to me.

Matt said...

That looks very interesting. I would really like to give this a try if possible.

Matt said...

Bummer about the spices!