 drewbeerme (1895), Chicago, Illinois, USA
May 17, 2007 Updated: Oct 13, 2008
5/17/07, 750ml, 2005 vintage, cellar aged approx. 24months. pours pitch black with tan creamy head. nose is exploding with dark chocolate, fresh dark roasted coffee, caramel, roasted nuts, and some juicy hops still barely present. flavor has lucious dark chocolate combined with robust dark coffee, caramalized nuts, cookie, and brown sugar. alcohol warms but doesn’t bit. mouthfeel is silky but a tad thin. palate is long and chocolatey. carbination is real low. at 24months this seems to have mellowed but the flavor has blended together seemlessly....as i enter into the 18oz point of this beer i’m reminded why i’ve never fallen in love with speedway (no not just its stupid nascar lovin name) it becomes rather astringent with over ripe dark fruits and really leaves something to desire. a good coffee imperial stout but after several bottles at different ages i’m still waiting for this beer to blow me away.4.1. <br /><br /> 5/27/07, another sample from a bottle probably 9months old thanks holdenn.. i found the coffee roast and hops to be a bit harsh. all right, i’m just not going to be the biggest fan of this beer, i’ll find a way to live with that. 8/5/7/4/15=3.9. <br /><br /> 11/20/07, 05 vintage aged almost 3 years. pours dark brown, low carbonation, pretty thin. this lost a lot of coffee notes. stll some silky chocolate, nuts, and coffee coming together pretty well. i can’t say this has improved much with age but it holds up nicely. a solid imperial stout but over rated imo..3.9. <br /><br />
10/12/08, 750ml bottle, ’07, thanks to holdenn for sharing, i haven’t had this brew for a while and just realized that when Matt said he brought one along camping. Cool! wonderful brew again, everything is balanced and really tasty, not huge in coffee, roast, hops, or a syrupy body but mellow and to perfection. excellent. 4.0.
beachbum25 (625), Powellville, Maryland, USA
Nov 30, 2008 750 Ml Bottle-aged 1 year-Poured black w/no head. This beer just didn’t overwelm me like I was expecting. It was a solid stout, coffee flavor was a little too strong & it overpowered the brew, kind of threw it out of balance. Had a good mouthfeel, but I just didn’t think it was the greatest thing since sliced bread-as it is often described. Left me wanting more. Long, full coffee finish.
502Flavors (345), Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Nov 27, 2008 2007 750 into snifter. Pitch black with a nice mocha head. Great coffee character on aroma and flavor. A pretty big beer.
BigBeer45 (502), Troy, Michigan, USA
Nov 21, 2008 Bottle with a silver foil wrap from Vintage Estate in Ohio, pours really black with a tan and chocolate shake bubbled head, I could see dark ruby at the edges of this ale, leaves a slight brown oily film when swirled, there is a good covering of sediment in the bottle, dark roasted coffee bean nutty aroma when first poured, dark roasted malt, chocolate, dark brown and burnt brown sugar fragrances, real faint alcohol in the background (not a bad thing at all), baked brownie aromas, coffee fragrance is more in the background and not as prominent as expected with the note on the label that this brew is made with coffee beans, nuts taper off a bit after pouring, flavor of dark roasted malt, chocolate and some coffee, I sensed a little alcohol warmth on the palate, some tingle in my nostrils when I take a drink, a very nice Impy, mouth feel is more then medium, this Impy layers the tongue and has a decent amount of carbonation, has a nice creamy feel on the palate which I get with all of the AleSmith brews, glad I was able to find and enjoy this brew, I recommend this if you can get it
JLAudio (281), Crestwood, Illinois, USA
Nov 21, 2008 One of the best. It pours dark black, opaque, with a nice beige head. The flavors are very balanced and refined. Starts with a raosted & toasted malt flavor, surrounded by caramel, chocolate, coffee, and cafe au lait. The finish is sort of acrid and reminds me of a strong turkish espresso. The mouthfeel is perfect, the alcohol lends a complexity as it warms the throat. Just perfect.
poolboy (28), Lafayette, Indiana, USA
Nov 20, 2008 My favorite Russian imperial. Very dark, black I would say. Full of chocolate, smoke, and coffee. Plenty of malt. Thick but not syrupy.
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