Green Flash Brewing Co. in San Diego, CA

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but now that I’ve lived in Washington, D.C. for a little over six months, I can definitively say it: Thank God the East Coast beer scene is a little dull. That’s not to say there aren’t a lot of great beers out here, because there certainly are, but it means that bars in the area scrounge every corner of the globe to find beers that make up for the lack of a dominant section of the East that can exert its beer dominance. So there’s never a lack of quality beers from breweries that I’ve never heard from before, much like the Green Flash Brewing Company in San Diego, CA. Though we are far from the season here in D.C., stouts are out in greater abundance than tourists hoping to walk into Obama’s big ol’ White House. And when I found a double stout at a great local bar, Churchkey, for under an arm and a leg, I dove into the Green Flash Double Stout, even though the temperature was pressing 100. I like taking risks, you know?

Oh, and hey, everyone. I’m back!

Churchkey’s interior is a little darker than I might like from my favorite beer bar, but sometimes it’s nice not being bombarded with loud music and drunk interns looking for the best happy hour special, so it’s a little hard to say what the Double Stout looked like after pouring. I think it’s safe to say we were looking at something around pitch-black (can we just go with opaque stout at this point? You know what we’re getting at) with a rather delectable and frothy hazelnut-colored head that might have stuck around until the bar closed. The smell was slightly muted, but there were was a sprinkling of malt and maybe some molasses. Not often can I say a beer’s texture trumped its flavor, but with the Double Stout, that’s exactly what happened. A quick burst of feisty bitterness kicked in right upfront, but was soon supplanted by a ballooning feeling of a froth-laden dark malt flavor that dug deep into the tongue. That explosion of flavor might be due to the balancing created with the carbonation, something definitely worth mentioning, but whatever it was, I’ve never had a beer that felt like it expanded so much. Regardless, the dry malt flavor really does linger for as long as you want to stare at the thick lacing the head left on the sides of the glass.

Maybe this isn’t the best beer for a day when taking a shower outside is possible without the rain even falling, but the Green Flash Double Stout is a worthy beer that will satisfy a stout fan. I was surprised to find the beer thinning out a little bit as it warmed up, but this little guy still packed a punch even after some wrangling. And I’ll still take a stout over a summer beer any day. After all, San Diego never has a stout season. So drink this one now for full effect.