Beer Review: Irish Car Bomb Nitro Stout (Rotunda Brewing Company)

Its March 14th, Pi Day, and doom and gloom, national hysteria, societal collapse, is all impending and collecting around the fringes of our collective consciousness. The end is nigh. What do you do? …Simple. Irish Car Bombs at 9AM awaiting Kegs and Eggs.

Now, obviously, this is not a “traditional” Irish Car Bomb. BUT…. it is called Irish Car Bomb (Nitro Stout) and it is better than a Guinness at being the same thing. You could easily do the ‘real’ Irish Car Bomb with this beer, and it’d be better than using a Guinness (also a lot more filling, richer, and probably lead to even more car bombs than the traditional Guinness approach).

For those not in the know, an Irish Car Bomb is a drink / shot. You have a full pint (or for some a half-pint) of Guinness. You then drop a shot of either half and half of Bailey’s and Jameson or straight up Jameson into the pint, and chug all (both pint and shot) as one. Its delicious, its tradition, and its pretty much the only way I do shots anymore unless harassed and harangued into doing some by co-workers when out and about at dive bars with them. (See Tuesday night / Wednesday morning for proof of that.)

But, this could easily replace the Guinness in those shots, and would be much better. Its smoother, tastier, creamier, more delicious, all around better than a Guinness while being pretty much the same thing.

Comparison sake:
Guinness Draught:
Style: Stout – Irish Dry
ABV: 4.2%
IBU: 45
Untappd Description:

Swirling clouds tumble as the storm begins to calm. Settle. Breathe in the moment, then break through the smooth, light head to the bittersweet reward.

Unmistakeably GUINNESS, from the first velvet sip to the last, lingering drop. And every deep-dark satisfying mouthful in between.

Pure beauty. Pure GUINNESS.

Guinness Draught is sold in kegs, widget cans, and bottles. The ABV varies from 4.1 to 4.3%. Guinness Extra Cold is the exact same beer only served through a super cooler at 3.5 °C
Global Untappd Rating: 3.79 (as of 3.16.20)

Rotunda Brewing Company’s Irish Car Bomb Nitro Stout:
Style: Stout – Irish Dry
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: No IBU
Untappd Description: (Blank)
Global Untappd Rating: 4.31 (as of 3.16.20)

So stat wise; you go from a 4.2% to a 5.5% ABV. No mention of IBU in the second so can’t really compare. And also no description, so if your looking for information on the beer going in, your getting a blank. But I can tell you… which one is better. So thats just what I’ll do.

So lets run this beer down and drink up for St. Patty’s Day and for The End of Times. So cheers to the end of all things and for the doom of society!

Beer: Irish Car Bomb (Nitro Stout)
Brewery: Rotunda Brewing Company
Style: Stout – Irish Dry
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: None Listed
Untappd Description: (blank)

First off, you can tell this is creamy. Just look at that picture! Nitro is one of the best things that has ever happened to beer, and this proves why. It provides a wonderful robust creamyness to this already good looking beer. It is dark, Razor Ramon hair black, midnight black, your ex’s soul black. It has a super rich, creamy head to it. The whole appearance of this looks frothy, rich, creamy, decadent. (Don’t worry, it lives up to it.)

Aroma is malty, rich, and creamy. You are going to see the word ‘creamy’ a lot in this review. Maybe I should have led off about that getting people to do a drinking game everytime they see the word creamy in the review. An Irish Car Bomb (shot included) everytime they read the word creamy in this review? ….Ah you poor schmucks would be dead by the end of the review then! Anyway, back to the aroma….. this has a deep malt smell, roasted malt, with vanilla, the nitro brings out that and the deep roasted malts and also highlights the caramel malts a bit as well. All around this smells as delicious as it looks… and it certainly does…. look….. creamy.

Creamy. Creamy. Creamy. Creamy. This. Is. Creamy. Oh… did I mention; that its creamy? You guys still alive out there doing the drinking game? Because if so…. its creamy. Despite its 5.5% ABV, this is a strong, dark, deep, rich, full, and filling beer. Its basically brewed on the same premise as a Guinness draught. To be filling, full, and a damn good stout. The ABV doesn’t matter because the beer itself is so full and rich. And with the nitro, it makes it so creamy, and even more rich and full. This is both a beer you could drink TOO many of and also not be able to drink TOO many of. Depending on time of day, mood, food, stomach, etc. You get the dark, roasted malts, the caramel malts, the roast and darkness of this brew really kick into ultra-drive as you drink it down. The richness from the nitro lending a strong sweetness to it is very nice. It does differ from Guinness where there’s not really a lot of bitterness to this. It might be more malty, and it might be more high ABV, (4.2% to 5.5%) but its certainly a lot sweeter. Not in a bad way, but for a traditional Irish Dry Stout some might prefer some level of bitterness to this, where here its pretty more nonexistent. This is a full, and delicious beer, as it warms you get even more essence out of it, and it just broadens and opens up more, offering the fullness of its vast flavors and ingredients. This is a wonderful beer at 9AM to start your day with breakfast, and even better to be the kick-off lead-in beer before doing a Kegs and Eggs mini-brewfest! (It certainly helped stave off the gloom and doom anyway!)

My Untappd Rating: ****.50
Global Untappd Rating: 4.31 (as of 3.16.20)

Like I said, March 14th (Saturday), was the Kegs and Eggs (2020) brewfest and event at The Batdorf and Rotunda Brewing Company in Annville, Pennsylvania. I am working on the write-up of the event as we speak, and it might get posted tomorrow, or Wednesday. Currently, my job is still open (the only Casino in the state to still be open despite the pandemic going on), so I am still working. I don’t know when I’ll be shut down, if I’ll be shut down, or whats going on. There’s a lot of uncertainty at my job right now, especially since we’re the only ones still open. Ohio Casinos are shut down, Maryland casinos are shut down, the other PA casinos have voluntarily closed…. but we are still open. Financially, health, ethically, there is so much uncertainty at our job right now. Getting to work on the blog is providing a nice escape and stress release for me.

So you can look forward to seeing a Kegs and Eggs (2020) event write-up by myself. I hung out with J. Doncevic, D. Scott, and we caroused our way through sampling from a myriad of breweries in a confined space. Also hanging out with guys from Rotunda Brewing like Kevin, Bryan, and hanging out with Bart from Hop Headz and so many more great people.

I have talked to Karl Larson recently, and he has expressed interest in writing for the blog. So he might start writing soon… or he might not. Either way, no pressure on him. He does have a fantastic Wee Heavy for me to try and review for the blog, that he’s won a National Award for, so I can’t wait for that.

I think I will also be trying to wrap-up my Coronavirus / COVID-19 article. And give ways to help out local breweries. As they are going to be hurting the most from all of this. So please, if you are able to support your small time local breweries (like Boneshire Brew Works, Moo-Duck Brewery, Rotunda Brewing Company, ZeroDay Brewing, etc.), please find ways to help them out where you can. We all need to stick together to get through this.

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Thank you for reading, cheers, and Happy Stone Cold Steve Austin Day!

-B. Kline