Arcadia Imperial Stout

Bottle thanks to bgburdman: Black with a tan head. Aroma of chocolate, some vanilla, and a bit milky. Flavor, roasted malts, some chocolate, and a sweetness to it. Not bad, it’s your typical average imperial stout.

12 oz. bottle purchased at Lukas in Kansas City, MO. 2006 Vintage. Opaque black pour, with a swirling tan head that disappeared at normal pace. Aroma is roasted malt, dark chocolate and licorice. Roasted malt and coffee taste. Not a huge body like many imperial stouts, but nice balance nonetheless. Not the perfect example of the style, but a nice beer when you want something more serious than a stout and less boozy than an imperial.

12 oz bottle. Bonus Beer in a trade with demitriustown. 2nd Michigan brew of the night. Still have a bit of lingering sweetness on my tongue from a bottle of Founder’s Black Rye. Pours black as night with a small light brown head, the exact kind of head I want to see when i pour an imperial stout. The nose is rich with aromas of roastiness and a nice chocolate feeling. The taste is nice, but a bit more watery then I expected. The coffee is overwhelmed in the taste by the chocolate but a bit is still there. If it had a bit more octane I might like this brew more. Good work Arcadia, but not quite there yet.

Virtually no head formed over this blackish brew. What was lacking in the head came in the aroma which was full of dark chocolate, coffee and a hint of licorice. Smooth, with some alcohol. This was quite decent, but there are plenty of Imperial Stouts out there that can give this one some competition.

Strong coffee flavor with chocolate malt. Good roasted molasses aroma that hits your nose right away. Dark black with dark brown foamy head. Creamy mouthfeel. Rich but not syrupy or thick. Very drinkable and very good.

04-Jan-07 12oz bottle. This one just showed up round here and I was pleased to be able to get a single for a buck fifty. Pretty standard looking impy stout is almost black with a medium sized brown head. Aroma is a burst of boozy, rummy richness, soy, and some burnt caramel -- it’s a burnt caramelish soy thing. Flavor is more of that burnt soy but with hits of concorde grape and a bunch of coffee. Seems thin, especially for its size, and the alcohol comes through a bit heavily. The more I drink it, the more it’s reminding me of grape cough medicine. Oddly drinkable.
I thought I’d give this one another go. Still seems a bit sweet, but the texture is fuller than I thought before and the burnt qualities I noticed last time seem more pronounced, along the lines of a bitter coffee that’s been sugared. Bumped up score from 3.2 to 3.7. I bet this gets better with a year on it.

The pour reveals a pitch black color with a long lasting creamy brown head. Superb aroma of coffee liquor, chocolate, roasted malt. alcohol and hops. The flavor is excellent and has the same complex elements than the aroma, it’s well balanced and every element seems to live in harmony with the others. The body has a light to medium thickness with a liquorous texture and gentle carbonation. Excellent, complex, two thumbs up !

12 oz bottle 2003: Pours w/ a lasting tan medium sized head and a dark, almost black body. I’m kind of suprised that I’ve not rated this before! I’ve had these for 3 years, and had not realized until now that I hadn’t rated it! Licorice, sherry, and raisiny dark fruit aromas laced w/ a touch of alcohol. Some port wine fruitiness as well w/ a hint of roasty, toasty, and chocolatey aromas. Well balanced beer w/ a drier finish. Some raisiny port wine like flavors w/a light roasty coffee and chocolate that is more present than in the aroma. A hint of buttery diacetyl adds to complexity of flavor, as well as still having a decent amount of bitterness from hops to balance the malt. Also a touch of alcohol. Aftertaste is dry, bitter from grains/hops, and lasting roasty coffee. Fuller medium body, light alcohol presence, lower medium carbonation, and lightly dry in the mouth. I personally think this beer has aged very well. I like the dark fruity characters it’s developed, as well as rounding out the dark grain and bitterness from hops that I seem to remember this beer having when young!