21st Amendment 's latest release is another great example of both their abilities as brewers but also the creativity of the folks that design their cans. The first oyster stout in a can, Marooned on Hog Island is collaboration brew between 21st Amendment and Hog Island Oyster Company. 

From the 21st Amendment site:

"When life gives you oysters, be sure to brew some killer oyster stout. That’s exactly what Nico Freccia and Shaun O’Sullivan, co-founders of 21st Amendment Brewery did. In a food+beer collaboration with Hog Island Oyster Company co-founders, John Finger and Terry Sawyer, the 21st Amendment Brewery team has created Marooned on Hog Island, the latest beer in their Insurrection Series, a limited edition, once-in-awhile four-pack release of a very special beer that rises up in revolt against common notions of what canned beer can be. Marooned on Hog Island has an ABV of 7.9% and was brewed using Magnum and Willamette hops with an ale yeast, a variety of malts including Pale, Crystal, Chocolate and Carafa, Rolled Oats, White Wheat and the kicker: 450 pounds of Hog Island Sweetwater oyster shells."

Here we go...

Pour - dark brown to black in appearance with a great looking off-white fluffy head. Looks rich, strong, and delicious...it also looks like the head on this isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Aroma - lots of big rich roasty malt notes, some sweet cocoa and dark chocolote, espresso, along with some very subtle hints of citrus. If you like your beers dark than you'll love the aromas this beer has to offer.

Taste - rich, roasty with big flavors of dark roast coffee and a dry bitter finish. The first sip did not bring about flavors of bottom-feeding mollusks if that is what you're wondering. Since this beer is brewed with the shells of the oysters, which are made up of predominately of calcium carbonate and did come from the salty sea, they do impart some bitterness and a perhaps a tad bit of brineyness in the finish. Some breweries do in fact brew their oyster stouts with whole oysters, including the prized meat inside the shells. This one does not. However, it does have a lot of great flavor coming from all that dark roasted malt. A perfect brew for a cold rainy/snowy night.

Overall - a great partnership between the brewery and a local oyster company. We love to see that sort of thing as it provides people the opportunity to try something new while promoting another business. If you've not had an Oyster Stout this is certainly a good one to check out. A great take on a style that has had some resurgence in recent years.

Note - if you're interested in learning more about Oyster Stouts and the rather unique history behind this interesting style we suggest reading beer writer Stephen Beaumont's "An Oyster in Your Beer, Sir" or  Oyster Stout is a Pearl of an Idea by Lessley Anderson. Both have much to offer on the style's history.