DISH OF THE WEEK: Mauby Stout at ISLAND TO ISLAND BREWERY

Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City

I headed out to the unique brewery Island to Island in Flatbush, Brooklyn to include them on my official search for the best breweries in the city. This is one that has been around for a few years but often gets forgotten about. And after visiting it, I can understand why,

Not only is it a bit out of the way in a quiet area of Flatbush, but it’s designed more like a bar than a brewery. They don’t seem to focus on distributing their beer or even having enough on hand for the tasting room. When I arrived on a Saturday afternoon, I was told that they had sold most of their beer at a recent beer festival and had very limited options on tap.

I was very disappointed because I had come all this way to sample some of their more unique beers and fermented juices. The focus here is on Caribbean and West Indian flavors. I was intrigued by the idea of a Sorrel IPA or a Jerk Spice Helles. None of those were available.

The few beers on display didn’t read as anything terribly unique. When I asked the bartender about them, he didn’t seem to know much about the beer. He kept telling me I’d have to ask the brewer, but she wasn’t there. She actually lives in Texas!!

I also like to do flights when I visit the breweries so I can sample many options. Not only were there very few to choose from, but the flight cost $30(!!)

The whole experience was really weird and disappointing. And I decided not to write an official brewery review because it didn’t feel like an actual brewery and I couldn’t try many of the beers.

Now that I got all this out of the way. I want to write about the one beer I did try. Because it was really quite good.

Mauby is a famous soft drink in the West Indies made from sugar, bark, and spices. I’ve tried this before at food carts and local restaurants. It reminds me of root beer but quite a bit more bitter. It makes a lot of sense to use this flavor in a stout.

And I found the Mauby Stout to be one of the more interesting stouts I’ve had. Despite the pitch black color and tall beige head, it was light and drinkable for a 7% beer. Surprisingly, the bitterness here was not your usual grassy hops, but rather an earthy mix of roots and spices. There was some roast malt notes but not the usual cacao or coffee.

It was exactly the kind of refreshing beer innovation I was hoping to try. Too bad it was the only one I could experience here. Price: $8