I’m going to start off by saying how much I love what Flying Fish is doing with their very limited Exit Series. The whole concept is pretty damned cool.
I missed out on the first two releases in the series, but was fortunate enough to snag a sample of their latest offering. Exit 1 Bayshore Oyster Stout is just that, a fairly traditional export stout brewed with real oysters. That said, I’d be stretching the truth a good bit if I said I wasn’t at all worried about the oysters aspect of this brew — let’s just say raw oysters will forever haunt me *shiver*. At any rate, lets see if my fears were realized or a simple false alarm.
Appearance
Exit 1 pours near black with a rich, mocha colored head.
Aroma
The nose on this beer is pretty beefy with plenty of bitter coffee, subtle milk chocolate, malts and an interesting brininess like being at the beach (sea salt in the air).
Taste
So here we go. First sip. Yay! I’m still alive.
Seriously though, this is a tasty beer. It’s smooth and creamy up front with a dry, crisp finish. There is plenty of coffee bitterness, semi-sweet chocolate and a light touch of that oyster brininess I got in the nose. There isn’t a much of a hint of the 7% ABV so this one is quite drinkable. In fact, it probably disappeared a bit too quickly.
Overall
My irrational fear of oysters aside, I really liked this brew. I think I was expecting more of a sea saltiness form the oysters, but the levels at which they have affected the beer are just about perfect. The briny nature of the oysters come and go with each sip and give the brew a nice addition to its already deep nature. If you can get your hands on any of these limited releases from Flying Fish, I highly recommend doing so.
Rating: 3.5/5
