Boulevard Imperial Stout

Brewed by Boulevard Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Kansas City, Missouri USA

Bottle; poured a dark brown/black color with a big brown head. Aroma was quite strong, could smell it from a good bit away. Aroma of roasted malt and oats, cocoa, a touch of fruit, wood, earth and fruit. Couldn’t detect mutch of a bourbon trace. Flavor was very roast-forward; alot of roasted oat and barley notes. Lacking the desired complexity of an elite version of the style. Earthiness and wood; not a large amount of sweetness, sugary or fruit elements. Earthy hopping in the finish. Not very good for the style.

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a huge brown foamy head with great retention and perfect lacing. Aroma of dry roasted barley malt with some coffee notes and some sweet lingering notes with some bourbon notes as well. Taste is a complex mix between some roasted malt notes with light bitterness that is offset by lingering sweetness and some coffee notes with a slightly overwhelming bourbon finish. Body is quite full with some creamy notes and some perfect carbonation with slightly apparent alcohol notes. I am not sure what to make of this one – complex and somewhat balanced though a lot more bourbon then I would have liked.

My Bottom Line:
Wonderfully toasted cereals expand into cocoa and roast, as delicate smoke seems to rise from this crafty Imperial Stout’s molasses-like dextrins.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam surrounds the brown-lined black.
-The mouthfeel is not too heavy, yet it does offer plenty of love handles to hang on to.
-The toasted cereal flavors are absolutely stunning. The 5 different types of cereals used for this impy weren’t just thrown in there to make an audacious statement. They are ingeniously expressed in aroma and flavor, with remarkable cohesion.
-Alcohol is not very important in the flavor profile, even though this is a potent brew.
-This is yet another stellar brew from Boulevard! What a great brewery.

Bottle.

Pours an opaque brown color with a a brown head. Aroma is caramel, molasses, brown sugar, a touch of liqourish, roast, and some alcohol. Flavor is caramel, plum, toffee, chocolate, roast, and a spicy alcohol finish.

bottle # 05889 of 11960 Pours pitch black with a light creamy brown head. Big roasted aroma with chocolate, light coffee, caramel and some faint smoke. Flavor was slightly sweet with roasted malts, dark chocolate, roasted coffee and a touch of vanilla with a dry roasted finish. Awesome imp stout

Deep black, slight brown at edges, nice head. Aroma is bread, molasses, chocolate, coffee, and a touch of vanilla, quite complex. Flavor is molasses, coffee, and chocolate. Rich and complex. Great stuff, thanks to Secret Santa for providing for the Richmond 10th!

750 mL bottle courtesy of Kinz. Thanks! Pours a dark brown color with a medium head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma of roasted malts, bourbon, light smoky notes and light dark fruit notes. Taste is deep dark roasted malts, smoke, tobacco, raisins, vanilla, bourbon, spicy hop notes. Full bodied. Good stuff.

(Sample Date: 1/9/2010 Source:Other) Bottle 11957 of 11960. Courtesy of Lithy via Butters. Woody very dark almost black with tan head. Vanilla and caramelized sugar. Notes of smoke and creosote. Roast and chocolate. Medium body with fairly light mouth feel for such a big beer. Very smooth for 11%. Lots of vanilla and hint of whiskey and oak in finish. Extremely tasty.