Category Archives: Stout – Imperial

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Estonia, Põhjala x To Øl, Stout - Imperial

Põhjala x To Øl Cellar Series Taanilinn Cognac BA

Monday, 18 April 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Põhjala x To Øl
Country: Estonia
ABV: 14%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Cognac barrel aged spiced Imperial Stout. 70 IBUs. Malts – Pilsner, Oats, Cara 150, Melanoid, Chocolate, Cara Amber, Special B, Chocolate Rye and Demerara Sugar. Hops – Magnum and Goldings. Other – cinnamon, aniseed and orange zest.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Põhjala and To Øl created this beer together to honour the old Danish heritage of Tallinn. Deep complex oatmeal stout aged for months on cognac barrels. Spiced with all the best from the liquors of Estonia.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.72
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.6

Intro: A 330ml waxed bottle with a best before date of 4th November 2018, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: It poured a pitch black colour with a thin beige head that dissipated quickly but left nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Caramel, toffee, chocolate, vanilla, cognac, wood with a hint of dark fruit, plum and cherries.
Taste: Sweet. Its so sweet, but so good. Brown sugar, cherry, vanilla, oak and cognac with hints of bittersweet chocolate and espresso coffee.
Mouthfeel: Very smooth, mid to full bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: I usually do not enjoy sweet beers, but there are a few exceptions and this is definitely one of them. It starts very sweet, but the combination of oakiness and cognac helps to balance out this sweetness and keep it in check. It’s also surprisingly not full bodied. It’s almost there, but lacks just that little bit that you usually expect from a 14% ABV Imperial Stout. But, despite all that, in my opinion, this is right up there with the best Imperial Stouts, and is easily a must buy beer for me.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Brasserie Dieu du Ciel, Canada, Stout - Imperial

Dieu du Ciel Péché Mortel

Thursday, 31 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Brasserie Dieu du Ciel
Country: Canada
ABV: 9.5%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Extra strong Stout brewed with coffee.

Brewer Description: (from website) A deep, dark and profound stout. Espresso coffee is infused during the brewing of Péché Mortel, resulting in an intense dark beer with roasted malt flavours enhanced by bitter coffee. The dry finish is long and persistent. Intended as a tasting experience, we invite you to enjoy this brew in moderation.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.71
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5

Intro: A 341ml bottle with a bottled on date of 13th August 2015 and poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: It poured a deep dark brown, near black colour with a less than one finger tanned head that disappears fairly quickly but leaves nice small spotty lacing.
Aroma: Strong coffee, espresso, sweet black cherry and vanilla, roasty malts and a hint of dark chocolate.
Taste: Very nice coffee, roastiness, lightly charred with a finish that is a lingering dark chocolate bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Smooth velvety, full bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: Very nice coffee stout that I could drink again and again. Will definitely age a few bottles since it does suggest that on the back label. Would also love to try a barrel-aged version of this bad boy.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, The Lost Abbey, USA

Lost Abbey Box Set Track #10 (Bat Out Of Hell)

Monday, 14 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: The Lost Abbey
Country: USA
ABV: 13.5%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Aged in American Oak Bourbon Barrels

Brewer Description: (from website) From the Ultimate Box Set: “A fresh track, Track 10 began as a fresh Serpent’s Stout base aged in bourbon barrels with oodles of coffee and cacao nibs added shortly before packaging. Late in November of 2011, our head brewer asked about creating a Coffee and Cacoa Nib version of Serpent’s Stout for the San Diego Strong Ale Festival. The beer was a hit with our fans. When we wrote up the syllabus for the Ultimate Box Set, we knew a version of this beer would be included. We waited until the very end of the release schedule to put this beer in a bottle so that the coffee and cacoa nibs really come through.”

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.77
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.6

Intro: A corked and caged 12.7 fl oz bottle poured into a snifter glass. I believe this is a 2015 bottling as “2015” is printed on the neck.
Appearance: It poured an opaque pitch black with a thin less than half finger dark brown head that leaves nice stringy lacing.
Aroma: Strong bourbon and chocolate with some sweetness coming from hints of molasses, toffee and vanilla.
Taste: Very nice espresso coffee, crunchy coffee bean, dark bittersweet chocolate and bourbon notes.
Mouthfeel: Thick, full bodied with low carbonation and light alcohol warming.
Overall: This was really good. It was surprising that there wasn’t much coffee on the nose, but it definitely came out in the taste. A great sipper on a cool night.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Stone Brewing Co., Stout - Imperial, USA

Stone Americano Stout

Monday, 14 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 8.7%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 65 IBUs. Hops – Amarillo, Cascade, Chinook and Columbus. A decidedly American Imperial Stout with espresso.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The coffee notes in Stone Americano Stout are bold, rich and full of American swagger. We incorporated a mother lode of artisanal espresso beans into the mash and added in Columbus, Chinook, Amarillo and Cascade hops to invigorate the coffee taste with a slight citrus and resin hop presence.

Coffee roasting, like artisanal brewing, has risen to be a true art form in recent decades. Techniques that blend art, science and ingenuity have allowed roasters to create coffees that offer incredible depth, complexity and nuance. When it came to selecting our coffee, we chose San Diego roasters Ryan Bros. Coffee. These are the same guys who contributed their art to our sought-after 2013 Stone ESPRESSO Imperial Russian Stout. Their fantastic espresso helped us achieve the perfect match to our beer, one that’s certain to satisfy your coffee fixation. Rest assured… not a single decaf bean was used in the process.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.08
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a bottled on 22nd January 2016 date. Poured into a Moonzen teku glass.
Appearance: It poured an extremely dark brown with a one finger tanned head that had good retention and left only a little lacing.
Aroma: Strong espresso aromas and sweet chocolate/mocha with a hint of cinnamon and coconut.
Taste: Espresso and dark chocolate. There was a bit of sweetness midway through, but the finish was a nice long lasting bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Mid to full bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: A nice Imperial Stout with coffee that has a wonderful lasting bitter finish. I think my one gripe is that it was not as full bodied as it could have been.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Goose Island Beer Co., Stout - Imperial, USA

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout

Tuesday, 2 February 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Goose Island Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 14.3%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 2015 vintage. Stout aged in bourbon barrels.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Intense aromas of charred oak, vanilla, caramel & smoke.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.95
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.9

Intro: A 1 pint .9 fl oz (500ml) bottle with a bottled on date of 22nd October 2015, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Poured an extremely dark dark brown colour with a reddish hue on the sides. Dark tanned head was very thin and did not last long and there was some thin spotty lacing.
Aroma: Rich rich aromas full of bourbon, oak, caramel, salted chocolate and vanilla.
Taste: Much like the aromas it was full of bourbon, oak, caramel, salted chocolate and vanilla. Stunning, heavenly goodness.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied, thick motor oil like richness. Low carbonation. Nice light burn as it goes down.
Overall: Wow, this was amazing… a brilliant sipper. Even drinking it 3 months in, aromas, taste and feel were already wonderful. It should develop more complexity with a year or two of aging, which is what I’m going to do with the rest of my bottles.

words of another dreamy traveller