Flying Dog's Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout

The beer we tried for this sample is an Oyster Stout and by Oyster Stout I mean it is a stout that was brewed with oysters. No, you get out of town; it was really brewed with oysters. Two Guys thought it was a one note gimmick thing but it turns out there is a history of oyster brewed stout. And what would Two Guys be if we didn't share that history.  Let's first start with oysters. Oysters are bivalve mollusks that live in a marine or brackish env---. Two Guys almost fell asleep typing that so, really, what do you need to know about oysters other than they taste excellent with cocktail sauce. Let's go straight to the history of the beer. Stout is a beer that is brewed with dark colored malts or barley and hops. The dark malts make the beer a dark color. Our ever alert readers may ask, why call it stout when that sounds like a normal beer other than it being dark. It's called stout because wedding dancing is strong with it. It is typically brewed at a 6 to 9% abv. There are many types of stouts. They range from Dry stouts(coffee taste) to the above mentioned Oyster Stout. There was a brief time in the first half of the 20^th century where brewers thought “we need to provide nourishment to our stout drinkers while they dance at all these weddings”. So they used such things as milk, oatmeal and oysters in the brewing process to do that.  At the time, oysters were very cheap which is why they were used. Plus there has been a long history of drinking beer along with eating oysters. So why not combine them into one product. The nourishment phase of stout ended after WWII and is now only occasionally seen. Now onto the beer!

Doing our part to help save the oysters!

Joe:  The beer we sampled was Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout from Flying Dog Brewery located in the Tetris piece shaped state of Maryland. I picked this beer with some trepidation because I was unsure how I would dunk the beer in cocktail sauce but sometimes a journey of beer exploration is not for the faint of heart. The beer was almost black in color with a 5.5% ABV. The taste up front had a bit of cocoa with a hint of vanilla. It then faded to a salty iron taste on the back end. I believe the oysters are what produced the back end taste but it did not actually taste of oysters. This beer is difficult to score because I really enjoyed the front end taste but was not sure of the back end. I did get used to it. I give this beer a 3. One further note, proceeds from this beer go the restoration of the Oysters beds in the Chesapeake Bay. Such is the power of beer, they even try to save oysters.

Justin:  When Joe first informed me that he had picked out an Oyster Stout I immediately tried reading his face to see if he was serious. Then I saw the bottle and quickly realized that this was no joke. O boy! I composed myself and decided that I was up to the challenge. I have been pleasantly surprised by other craft beers so I gave it a shot. The obvious intimidation factor here is that the beer is brewed with oysters but I was surprised (and relieved) that there were no fishy aspects to this beer. The taste was more of a smoky charred flavor. The aftertaste had me a little confused. I didn't hate it but I wasn't crazy about it either. The second beer that I drank was better than the first one and the third one. I learned that I prefer my beer sans shellfish and I probably wouldn't buy this beer again and therefore rate it 1 star.