Hook Norton Double Stout (Bottle & Keg)

Bottle & keg: Filtered

A smooth, full-bodied stout with a refreshing hoppy aftertaste. Brewed with proportions of Black Malt for colour and ’toast’ flavour and Brown Malt for dryness. Based on a recipe over 100 years old, brewing was revived in 1996 after a break of 79 years.

3.5

401 reviews

Hook Norton, England

Community reviews

3.6 Bottle from Beers of Europe. Appearance - deep brown to black and opaque. Nicely proportioned off white head. Nose - sweet malt, caramel and dark chocolate. Taste - light smoke and molasses. Edge of liquorice. Palate - medium bodied and crunchy texture. Dry crunchy finish. Overall - good.

3.2 Bottle, from Waitrose Oxford. Pour a jet black with a beige head. Aroma: roasted malt, cocoa, dark chocolate, toasted grain notes. Taste: roasted malt, cocoa, chocolate, grain, mild lactose, creamy flavours. Medium bodied. Fairly creamy mouthfeel. Smooth. Easy to drink without being exceptional.

3.6 500ml bottle. Black colour with light tan head. Dark roasted malts, dark chocolate, Americano, coffee beans, toffee, cocoa powder, light dark fruits, light tobacco, burnt toast, light liquorice, light grassy hop finish. Good complexity for abv, super drinkable, nice.

3.5 The aroma includes roasty notes, coffee, dark chocolate and malt whiskey - with a faint burnt edge (nice). You get medium intensity on the tongue: somewhat single-mindedly (but not overpoweringly) bitter... leading up to a dry finish. Enjoyable and juicey, but not terribly complex.

3.7 Bottle - solid dark with thick tan head, creamy finish. Strong dry coffee aroma. Good mouthfeel. Good stout tasting - coffee with dry finish. Maintains head throughout - excellent beer.

3.1 Starke, schwere Röstaromen und trockene Bitterkeit im Hintergrund. Starker, individueller Charakter, doch mir zu stark dunkle Schokolade.

4.1 Bottle from Waitrose in Canary Wharf. I got this at the perfect temperature and the rich smell of burnt malt was very inviting. The taste was that of rich burnt malt with a velvety smoothness that was lacking from the S&N version that I had the day before. The taste was long and lingered in my mouth after every mouthful and I was sad when I reached the final sip. A proper English stout. Hurrah.

4.1 500ml bottle from Waitrose. Pours dark brown/red almost black with a beige head. Aroma of roasted malt, milk chocolate some dark fruits and a hint of orange peel. Very smooth and fairly light mouthfeel. Taste is roasted malt, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, prunes and some citrus peel. Medium roasted malt bitterness and some hop bitterness on the finish too. Very tasty and easy to drink !

4.0 lovely stout - dry roast, depth of flavour excellent. Lasting head, good aroma

3.2 500ml bottle from Waitrose. Pours cola brown with short lived light brown head, quite fizzy. Aroma is faint. Taste is good if not a bit too carbonated. Chocolate, but not overpowering, earthy, malt, done subtle coffee. It’s pretty good. Nice long finish. I’d have this again.

3.2 Bottle from Asda. Dark brown. Nose is chocolate, roasted malts, light liquorice, toffee. Tastes roast, light coffee, dryish cocoa, dry bitter. Nothing wrong but light roasted and dryish stouts are not my thing.

3.8 From Jul 2008 Purchased at Wilbur's Total Beverage. My 3rd brew from this brewery... It pours a very dark brown with some reddish hues shining through. Good close to 2 finger head of foam with some nice lacing. Very good head retention. It smells very roasty but also has some chocolate and a touch of fruit. Oh, and some caramel. Nice nose. The taste is also roasty. Roasted malt with some grain, caramel, some chocolate, and some notes of bread, but not much. Heck, the other flavours are doing just fine. ;^) It has a nice medium mouthfeel and the carbonation is lightish. It finishes with a dark chocolate bitterness that doesn't go overboard. Nice. And so damn drinkable..hell....it's under 5%abv! Now, this is a sessionable Stout indeed! Too bad, yet again, that I only picked up one bottle but I hope to pick up more on my next visit. If they still have some. /me with my fingers crossed.

3.3 Old rating. 500ml bottle. Dry earthy beginning. Fresh roasted coffee and dry chocolate. Intense rich with a nice bitter roasted body. Nice.

3.2 Bottle at friends, 5th August 17. Pours black, tan head. Aroma is burnt malts, chocolate. Taste is roasty, dark chocolate, cocoa, dry. It’s OK, probably nice on cask.

4.1 fyldig aroma af mørk malt, som giver en god sødme. smager også af kaffe og lakrids. Den har dog en lethed over sig som gør at man godt kan drikke mere end en.

3.9 Butelka. W aromacie przyjemnie, gorzka czekolada i kawa. W smaku podobnie. Intensywne, dobre.

3.4 500ml bbFEB18, Waitrose Hull. - "Bottle conditioned", depicted bottle... Short: distinctly roasty dry stout navigating with perfect poise between bitter chocolate, coffee grounds and hard toffee and hazelnut. Nothing spectacular, but makes immediate sense, making for easy drinking. Not as full-bodied as advertised, with some fizz, - so less of a dessert than a very decent meal accompaniment with original character and a clean grassy hop bitterness to complement the roast.

3.4 A nice stout but bit too fizzy to be too highly rated. Dark chocolate and coffee notes as expected, quite a long finish. Good but not that good.

3.4 Bottle from Waitrose, consumed at home with considerable gusto. Very dark brown, opaque, with a bit of visible carbonation. Some khaki head but it goes quickly. Light aroma of roast coffee grounds and dark chocolate. Taste is malty yet nicely bitter. Long dry finish; lingering cooking chocolate in the aftertaste. Body’s a bit thin, and I don’t think such carbonation in the mouthfeel is necessary. It’s still a drinkable and more than competent stout.

3.4 Bottle. Dark brown color, good creamy. Aroma: slightly sour smell, caramel, roasted malt. Taste: caramel, burnt barley, dry.

3.8 Pours black with medium sized beige head. Aroma is roasted malts, caramel and cocoa. Taste has cocoa, roastiness and caramel.

4.2 Dobry Stout, bardzo ciemny, ciemno brazowa barwa bardzo niewielkie refleksy czerwieni. Bezowa piana sredniej wielkosci szybko natomiast opada. W zapachu gotowana czekolada, troche mokki i espresso. W smaku palony slod, czekolada, nieco kawy i znowu ta czekolada. Nieco palonosci i wytrawnosci w dalszej fazie smakowania. Na zakonczenie pozostawia posmak trufli posypanych starta deserowa czekolada.

3.8 20-Oct-16 (500-ml bottle: Purchased 02-May-08 for $4.99 at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, CA) This English Stout pours a medium-dark brown body and half an inch of tan head that settles to a bubbly ring. It’s been aging unintentionally for several years, so the nose shows earthiness, molasses, some toffee, a little cocoa. On the palate, beautifully toasty malt flavors show additional flavors of chocolate, molasses, smoky meat, and dark bread. The beer is medium-plus in weight, medium in carbonation, and super smooth to drink. Overall, this is a really enjoyable beer that features a malt flavor that you don’t come across much any more. What a treat for an old-timer like me.

3.5 500ml bottle, pours dark brown to black with a khaki head and lacing. Aroma of toasted and roasted malts, some chocolate, some coffee. Taste has that typical English stout characteristics in it; dry, thin/watery, toasted and roasted malts, slick/smooth,powdery chocolate, medium sweetness, weak/medium bitterness, weak body, some lactose, still a bit too thin for a stout i that i prefer..

4.0 L: -pours the darkest of brown with very faint ruby tinges and a big,foamy,beige head S: -spicy,grassy,coffee,zest,plums,dark chocolate T: -nutty,coffee,spicy,grassy,plums,licorice,brown sugar,raisins,black bread F: -medium carbonation -medium body Very full-bodied for a 5% Stout O: I don’t think a regular Stout can be much better than this

3.6 Pours dark with small foam tan head, not long lasting but nice. Aroma has toasted malt, coffee, dark chocolate and a touch of hop. Taste is mild sweet and medium bitter, nice and smooth. Long lasting finish, a decent stout

3.8 550ml bottle from Ocado. Almost black with a long lasting tan head. Aroma of roasted malts, sweet chocolate, toffee. Taste is bittersweet from the chocolatey and roasted coffee-like malt, caramel, toffee, hints of dark fruit. Smooth. Pretty nice.

3.6 Butelka. Ciemne z palona bezowa piana . W zapachu dominuje palony chmiel i kawa. W smaku mozna jeszcze dodac karmelowe tony.b.dobre szkoda ze tylko 4.8 abv.

3.8 Good taste and aroma of black malt, dark chocolate and dark coffee. Good bitterness that fills the mouth to a weak moment. Good and tasty beer. Follow me @ Kung av öl @ Facebook for more pictures and ratings.

4.4 Backlog. Bottle shared with JMD at HNB 31.03.13. Black as tar, with a hint of red. Pale beige head. Aroma of roasted malt and dark toffee. Taste of of toffee, dark caramel, coffee and some bitterness. Long aftertaste of coffee, dark chocolate and some bitterness. Round and appropriately carbonated mouthfeel. Very high drinkability.