Stout Challenge V: Another year, another new champion

The Dark Side Brew Crew gathered on Super Bowl Sunday for the fifth straight year to hold a blind taste test to determine the best house stout in the Albuquerque metro area.

And for a fifth straight year, we had a different winner. So who was it?

Well, rather than keep everyone in suspense, here was the full list of 14 beers (we thought we would have 15, but it turns out Kaktus’ Nob Hill taproom was closed Sunday, so we could not get theirs). The beers were graded on a 0-5 scale in four categories — aroma, flavor, mouthfeel, finish. The voting Brew Crew members were myself, Franz Solo, Mrs. Solo (our hosts), Brandon, and Kristin. Shilling, sadly, had to work, while E-Rock was playing music in Florida and Porter Pounder was on a boat with a bunch of metalheads and metal bands. The rest of the Bullpen was unavailable as well.

From the lowest rated to the highest, here we go.

14. Rio Bravo Black Angus Stout (16 points): This was … not good. Last y

…