Porterhouse Celebration Stout

Brewed by Porterhouse
Style: Imperial Stout
Dublin, Ireland

[1818-20081022] 650mL bottle. Sweet malt and green wood aroma with some slightly smoked raisins. Dark dark brown red-hued body with a quick creamy tan foam. Heavy dark plum malt flavour with some plastic bandaid notes, finishes raisin roast malt. Medium-full body. Tasty though a little sweet.
(Vintage 2006; c/o garthicus, w/ him, blankboy, HogTownHarry, jerc)

Bottle thanks to JoeMcPhee for sharing at a recent tasting. Pours a nice deep dark brown not quite black with a moderate lasting head- some lace. Aroma is licorice and anise right from the start with tar leather, and dark chocolate. Some coffee comes in the flavor a bit too along with the previous notes, dry dusty dark chocolate- more leathery dryness in the end and a spicy phenolic anise character. Full bodied and nice throughout- good smooth sweet finish.

Bottle shared by JoeMcPhee that was a couple years old. Just past it’s Best By date. Cherry, chalk, coffee aroma, some corn and pine and red wine. Light, sweet, crunchy lettuce and corn, wine grapes, apple. Not much like an Imperial Stout at all, though certainly still an enjoyable drink. Much less body and sweetness than its American counterparts. Thanks Joe for sharing I’ve wanted to try this one for a long while.

Bottle, kindly provided by KnutAlbert. A reddish, very dark brown body under a tan head. The aroma is a lovely blend of chocolate, coffee, licorice, malt extract alcohol and notes of oxidation. The flavor is even more lovely, with the same elements found in the aroma as well as a nice bitterness and a slightly more obvious oxidation note. The finish starts hoppy bitter, but soon turns coffee bitter. A beauty. (081031)

Bottle. Black colour with a beige head. Aroma is malt, licorice, cacao, chocolate, alcohol. Flavour is sweet, alcohol, licorice, chocolate, hop. Complex, but balanced beer.

<i>Bottle (500ml) shared with jerc & mabel -- courtesy of garthicus.</i> Pours a very deep ruby, almost black, with an average size diminishing creamy tan head. Aroma’s roasty along with molasses, coffee, dark fruit and a good amount of hops. Flavour of roasted malt, coffee, herbal hops, dark fruit and alcohol -- mmm, quite complex and very enjoyable. Average to medium bodied. Great stuff and even better then expected. Thanks for sharing Al!

2008-10-22. Black body with a nice modest creamy tan head. Aroma is a touch muted, mild mocha roast. (6+) Flavour is rich malt, dry bitterness, light roast accents, very light coffee and chocolate notes. Light warming alcohol grows as the glass goes on. (8+) Smooth average to medium bodied palate. (3+)Very nice stout, alcohol is quite subdued. Bottle shared by Garthicus

In short: An over-the-top imperial stout saved by a crazy fresh hopping profile. Very good beer.
How: Bottle 500ml. From HogtownHarry, thanks a lot Harry for this rare treat.
The look: Black body topped by a small tan head
In long: Nose of black liquorice, dark fruits, rubber and chocolate cake. Oh boy, that smells like a big beer. Big is indeed big and sticky. I could eat this beer from a bowl with a fork. Sticky molasses bordering tar texture. Medium roastiness level, flavour of burnt toasts, molasses, raisins, extra-thick caramel, deep fried beans (!), black cake, black liquorice and more. Alcohol is somewhat well hidden which is not surprising with such a big body. If that’s all there was to it I wouldn’t be impressed at all as I’m one who doesn’t care for over-the-top imperial stouts. But what saved this one is the truckload of hops. I mean, this beer must have gone crazy on the hops here cause the beer felt well balanced, and with that syrupy sticky body that’s quite an achievement. The hopping had this green fresh feeling with a flavour that reminded me all to well of me chewing on a nice green hops pellet, something I can never resist when I see one. Ok now looks like the Irish has joined America in the bigger-is-better trend. Oh boy, as it the Irish weren’t drunk enough already.