Beach Brewing Sea Devil Imperial Stout

Brewed by Beach Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Virginia Beach, Virginia USA

Serve in Snifter

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22oz bottle from grape & gourmet. i remember having a sample of this at the brewery back when it was just a concept beer and i wasn’t impressed. but the recipe has been tweaked and the Beach Brewing guys have been cranking out some great stuff recently so i’m glad to see this in bottles. pours a surprisingly (i say surprisingly since many of these local imperial stouts pour a bit thin) thick, oily, jet black capped by a rich mocha head that leaves sticky rings of lace on the edges. aroma is great, very balanced, with notes of dark chocolate, toasted malts, graham crackers, and smooth caramel backed by hints of smoke, cold coffee, raisins, and subtly black cherry notes. flavor is damn tasty as well with heavy roasted malts, cold coffee, and bitter cocoa up front backed by sweet dark fruit notes of raisin, plum, and cherry with subtle notes of smoke, soy, and topsoil on the back end. palate is smooth, rich, and lightly carbonated giving it a creamy mouthfeel ahead of the dry, roasted finish. overall, a damn nice imperial stout from the beach brewing guys. looking forward to the barrel aged version!

Bottle shared by alexsdad06. Poured a black color with an average frothy brown head that lasted with excellent lacing. Moderate to heavy roasted chocolate and alcohol aroma. Medium over roasted chocolate malt flavor with a medium burnt sweet bite finish of moderate duration. Medium body with a dry smooth texture and flat carbonation. Good start, weak finish beer.

Bottle via a trade. Pours with a quite large, deep brown to tan head that settles over a menacingly dark, black hued body with reddish highlights. Great retention and lace. Aromas are oddly ester forward, dark fruits, vinous, currants, cherries. Overpowering fruit and other aromas that would point to an infection. Moderate roast aroma, nutty, fudge, low hops, some alcohol. Flavors show that this is a bit infected. Mild acidity. Chocolate, medium roast, black currant, dark fruits. Lasting tobacco and a ton of esters. Big dark fruit character, medium bitter, chocolate, alcohol, iodine. Long duration. Medium carbonation, fuller bodied. Some tartness lingers.

Bottle to snifter. Looks good; black with lacing. Smells roasty and malty. Tastes over-roasted and sour (which isn’t good for this style). Mouthfeel is bad for the style too. Bummer.

Roasted chocolate and coffee aromas. Flavors mirror the aromas. Mouth coating finish. Overall a pretty solid imperial stout.

UPDATED: APR 29, 2012 Bottle. Nice moody, recalcitrant pour ... dark and brooding. The aroma is roasty and sweet at the same time, with a hint of chocolate. The beer is sneakingly easy to drink for a 10% IRS ... no offending sense of alcohol, no char ... just a nice, easy-going bitter chocolate and light toasty finish. Quite delicious, and best-to-date from this new player in Hampton Roads. (#4526, 3/19/2012)

Pours jet black with nice lacing. First smell is of dark brewed coffee and chocolate, upon second whiff it smells a bit like soy sauce...which is a good thing. Taste is very bold and complex. I have had it several times and will have it several more.

22 oz bottle. Pours thick and inky with a finger of brown foam. Nose is plum, coffee, chocolate and licorice. Body is almost as dense as expected. A buzz and a bite lead to a surprising clean finish. Taste is French roast, dark chocolate, dark fruits and bitter grassy hops.

This review is from the first time this was made. I’ve heard this has been tweaked a bit since. I’ll review the tweaked version one of these days. I was hoping for a nice big aroma here. But instead it kind of whimpers. Small amounts of roasted malt, dark chocolate, and a tad bit of smoke. OK aroma but nothing to really write home about. Sadly the aroma was better than the taste here. First thing I noticed from this beer was a big burning taste of alcohol. Burned the mouth and pretty much killed most of the other tastes here. As I drank my glass I noticed less and less alcohol and more of the chocolate, burnt coffee and roastiness from the black patient and roasted malt. But the taste isn’t big at all and as it hits mid palette it starts to disappear quickly and there is nothing on the after taste. Just disappears. Mouthfeel is pretty decent. Smooth, silky, and medium bodied.

Bomber from Beer Run. Pours an opaque very dark brown color with a thin off-white head that fades quickly. Aroma of roasted malts, tobacco, roast, more roast, treacle, coffee. The taste is big roasted malts, a dry ashy note, tobacco, coffee, almost leathery. Medium-full bodied. Very bitter and very dry. Average carbonation.

On tap at brewery tasting room (BA version?)
Aroma: solid mild yet with impressive depth/ Roast feel, hint of coffee , dark barley , cask hints with alcohol backing.
Appearance: dark brown with plus sized tanned top. Some lace shown.4+
Palate / Taste: medium bodied. Very mellow base that will make you forget its potency. Not overpowering at approach. Very drinkable 10% imperial stout. Solid brewing.