Arcadia Imperial Stout

2006 bottle. Pours an extremely dark brown with a 2 cm head that settles into a thin uneven tan head. Cocoa, vanilla, and nutty tones in the aroma. Palate slightly thin. Cocoa in the taste, along with some roasted notes. A bit too hot overall. A decent hop finish as well, but doesn’t linger long. Decent.

Bottle into glass, pours a dark dark brown, you can smell the richness...dark roasted malt and hazelnut with a bit of mocha and dark chocolate...toasty and tasty coffee beans in their liquid form, enhanced with some alcohol and sweetness..yummy...:)

Quite dark, but not the darkest. It showed some red-brown at the edges of the glass. Minimal head. Unusual aroma for an impy: oxidized (more cardboard than sherry unfortunately) burnt chocolate milk. There’s a sinus burn from alcohol, possible fusels. Heavily roasted flavor up front, moderately acrid. I’m not getting the fruits other raters have mentioned - rather it seems all ashy roast with perhaps a touch of licorice. Pretty one-dimensional, reminds me of Siberian Night in this regard. Oily palate, lingering hoppy bitter finish.

12 oz bottle via the epeeist (THANKS!). Pours a near black with a tiny tan head. Nose is oxidized, cherry, apple. berries. Tastes the same. Moderate carbonation. Medium body. A cross between a decent baltic porter and an oxidized Imp stout. Don’t care a whole lot for this one.

Opaque black with a thin tight bubbled head around the ring of the snifter I poured this in. Aromas present are strong fig and licorice, with mellower caramel toffee and coffee. A roasted nut flavor makes its way to the forefront when sipping this concoction. A smooth velvety mouthfeel, somewhat along the lines of a chocolate milk. A slightly chalky finish. IMO, one of the flaws of this beer would be the undercarbonation, as I prefer a little more carbonation. However, part of that could be me drinking this at too warm of temperature. This is a little better than average imperial stout, not top of the line, but affordable and something I may seek out in the future again.

Bottle. Black pour with a tan head. Aroma of chocolate, dark fruits and some coffee. The flavors were similar with chocolate and coffee standing out the most. Medium bodied with a toasty finish. Not bad, but a bit weak for the style.

(Bottle (2005) via trade with <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?UserID=21222 target=blank>OhioDad, thanks Scott!, cellared for 1 year after trade) Tasty and mellow...Pours very, very dark brown, virtually black. Thin brown head mostly stays. Aroma is rich and sweet - coffee, dark chocolate, plums and other dark fruits, dark rum, molasses, touch of port. Mouthfeel smooth and thick. Some thin, fine rings of lacing. Taste is rich coffee and bittersweet chocolate intertwined with notes of plum, cherry, grape, molasses and rum. Pretty damn nice. Alcohol just barely detectable.

A very dark brown pour of what appears to be medium density, slightly viscous. What tiny film of a head there is forms a ring of foam around the edge of the glass, presenting an oily topping. Aroma is soft chocolate, all by its lonesome, in the fore. Warming presents a parade of trace amounts of caramel, chocolate, nuts, marshmallow, lightly roasted malt and anise. Alcohol is very evident. A dark blend of unidentifiable fruits brings in the rear. Flavor is more allusive, a nice blend of roasted malts and chocolate. Fruit is at a minimum, along with previous notes of caramel. This would make an excellent campfire beer on a balmy night in a western Texas state park. The different components of the taste feel like they’re too loosely tied together to allow for a well rounded or truly balanced taste. Finishes with a really great, lightly bitter chocolate kick that reminds of Hershey’s Kisses. Mouthfeel is full and slick. Tasty.