Arcadia Imperial Stout

Brewed by Arcadia Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Battle Creek, Michigan USA

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.

This a very dark, nearly impenetrable black. When held up to the light only a faint hints of ruby seep through the edges. The pour leaves a dense one finger head, that’s slow to settle to a fairly thick cap, leaving behind a thick webbing of lace. Smell; dark roasted malts, with coffee, and a bit of a smokey aroma. There’s a bit of anise and molasses, with a little hint of dark fruits. After this gets a little warmer, some chocolate comes out as well. Very nice. Taste; bold roasted malt flavor up front, almost like slightly burned toast. This settles down after a little bit, and I’m glad, because I;m not mush of a burned toast fan. The molasses, anise and dark fruits come out in the middle some, and finishes with a bit of a smokiness mixed with a little chocolate. I was expectng much better after the way this smelled, so overall I was a little disapointed in the flavor of this. Mouthfeel is kind of thin for what I’ve come to anticipate in an RIS, so it was a bit of a disapointment, and the drinkability is hurt, atleast for me, by the burned toast flavor.

Bottle of the 2006 vintage. Pours thick, inky black with virtually no head at all. When held to the light, I can see some faint ruby spots around the edges. The aroma is sweet, leaning towards molasses, rum, ripe fruits. Blindfolded, I might not guess imperial stout by the aroma alone. The palate is fairly dense, though nothing too ridiculous and lacking any vigorous carbonation. Rich hints of brown sugar, rum, and sweet raisins are up front. The finish is almost meaty, maybe something like teriyaki beef jerky. This imperial stout is all about the sweet flavors, though it never becomes problematic or cloyingly sugary. I suppose it just lacks any real bitterness or roast that are commonly found in other imperial stouts. This pulls off a sweet, dessert-like beer without hurting my teeth. Not bad.

Thanks to Yaniv for the bottle! I’ve gotta pour a little out for the homie who could drink this week. A cold one to not drink on! 2005 bottle. Pours text book imperial stout. Dark dark black wih a thin tan film head. The nose is again, textbook impy stout, ala Old Raspy. Fun enough, but not the mind boggler. But a man can stand only so boggled a mind for so long before he’s permanently boggled. Raisins, dark fruit roast. A bit sweet, but not too much. A bit of toast. A bit creamy. Smooth slightly oily mouthfeel with higher than average carbonation. The flavors are a touch on the downside. Perhaps age hasn’t been too kind here? A bit of that cardboard oxidation flavor. A bit sweet. A bit chocolatey. Fruity roasty acidity. A long lingering roast. Strong berries. A bit of booze in the finish too. But not a bad one at all. Becomes a bit deeper with warming, like most decent beers.

Pours black with a mixture of tan and dark tan bubbles to make a small head, this ale is dark but I can see small bubbles floating up along the edges of the glass, leaves creamy bubbled lacing on the glass, aromas of dark and milk chocolate, dark roasted malt, and some coffee, faint nut fragrance, flavors of dry dark chocolate, dark roasted malt and some coffee, just like the aromas, burnt dark brown sugar and molasses flavors, has a good hop bitterness at the finish, mouth feel is pretty nice, it is full with some creaminess, this was better than what I expected, very nice.

Bottle. Pours black with a ultra small tan head. Aroma is roasted malts, mild coffee, chocolate, dark fruit and a hint of molasses. Oily smooth mouthfeel. Flavor was mellow and well balanced with roasted malts, dark chocolate, roasted coffee, dark fruit and licorice with a medium to full body.

Bottle (Lars) at The Club !! Black - small brown head. Aroma: Dark fruits, raisins, hoppy, roastedness. Taste: Coffee, licorice, burned, raisins, prunes, roasted, light sharpness. Medium carbonated. Nice smooth.

2006 bottle. Pours a dark brown with almost no head. Aroma of roasted sweet malts and light alcohol scent. Flavor of molasses and sweet roasted malts, but no alcohol in the flavor. Did a side by side with an 02 that tasted like teriyaki sauce. Way past its prime.