Darwin Rare Stout

Tasting Summary

These comments are the opinion of the individual reviewer and represent what they thought of the beer on a particular day in a particular pub. If a review is less favourable, it may be because the beer suffered somewhere in the supply chain between them and the brewery.

19th Bexley Beer Festival 2026, Bexley, Greater London

Who	Score	When	Notes
Hogan Sampling		08 May 2026	7th beer of the festival visit: Presented with very good head and lasting lacing on this classic English stout from its current home in North Shields having originally been set up in 1994 in Sunderland as a small 18-gallon brewing school system operating out of Brewlab* which is the UK’s leading provider of independent brewing training, laboratory analysis, and yeast services, and at that time based at the University of Sunderland. A lovely malty first hit. A dry bitterness rising. A strong maltiness winning over with prominent chocolate flavours coming to the fore from its dark chocolate malt. Sweet vanilla and cacao** infusions joining in, and the latter when the beans are crushed becoming cacao nibs to add a dark chocolatey bitterness without adding fermentable sugars. Their bittersweet infusions lingering in the mouthfeel. Served in top form. *Brewlab has since evolved into a standalone, internationally recognised academy for global craft brewers. **Cacao is the raw, unprocessed bean harvested from the Theobroma cacao tree, which serves as the foundational ingredient for all chocolate.

The Harp, Charing Cross, Central London