Bièropholie Impériale Stout

Formerly brewed at Bièropholie
Style: Imperial Stout
, Canada

Serve in Snifter

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Aroma of roast coffee in abundance, deep black, fair sized head the colour of stong, dark coffee. Roasted coffee, almost cappuccino flavour at the beginning, middle and end. Gorgeous mouthfeel, bitter as can be! A mighty offering!

UPDATED: MAY 26, 2004 Almost jet black with a brown creamy head (stunning). The nose was quite roasty and fresh of coffee and chocolate. Syrupy mouth feel while being decently carbonated and smooth. Bitter burnt sugar, freshly roasted coffee, and deep dark gobs of fantastic chocolate. Herbacious and mediciney. Extremely good. The re-rate bottle was spectacular.

Smooth and subtle even all the way up at room temp. Very drinkable. 2/3 coffee and 1/3 chocolate, this guy does indeed have long long lasting bitterness - delicious and meaty like a nut. Almost oily. Yum. And lower alcohol - what's not to love?

UPDATED: APR 4, 2009 Extra black with no head. Very inky. Big, salty, roasty aroma with light chocolate and some molasses. Fruity, whiskeyish palate with chocolate and nut accents. Quite a bit of complexity and I dig the inkiness.8-4-8-4-16 = 4.0

Original rating (March 2004): Dark molasses brown. Roasty aroma with Belgian milk chocolate, macadamia nuts…rich and decadent. Body is sweet, treacly, with hints of black chocolate and slightly stinging roast. Long, bitter coffee finish teeters on the edge of astringency. Black malt acidity comes in late. 9-4-7-3-14 = 3.7

341 ml bottle. Inky dark chocolate pour, smallish thick brown pudding head. Medium chocolaty nose, by turns milky-sweet and espresso-strong; flavor is again a blend of sweet and strong intense cocoas, with hints of vanilla and maybe a touch of citrus. Extraordinarily smooth at the front, this becomes very bitter near the end, which really lets you know that this is not a beer to be taken lightly. As Rastacouere notes below, rather more drinkable than most imperials, but who cares what it's called? Rich, delectable, wonderful.

UPDATED: APR 2, 2005 2005 vintage. Bottle. Black in colour with a creamy tan coloured head, The aroma had a beautiful chocolate sweetness, some light coffee and a large roast. The flavour had large amounts of chocolate, roast and coffee, slight burntness as well. Creamy mouthfeel, medium body, medium carbonation. Finishes smooth and very long. So much flavour for a small imperial, simply amazing.

2004 vintage. Bottle. Deep black in colour with a thin chocolate coloured head. Aroma of dark chocolate, cream, coffee beans and espresso. Flavour was very smooth, rich, roasty, with coffee, chocolate milk and some sweetness. Finish is very smooth with a mild bitterness. Slightly dry.

UPDATED: FEB 16, 2005 2005 vintage (8-4-8-4-16=4.0):
Strong notes of roasted malts, chocolate, fresh ground coffee and green hops in the aroma. Opaque black body is topped by generous dark brown head that recedes to lasting ring and cover with very nice lacing. Sweet, rich chocolate flavour up front is subsumed by roasted malts emerging to offer up a bitter finale in concert with some herbal, resinous hops. Medium body with fair carbonation and a very dry finish. Bottle (Grand Duc - Feb. 2005).

2004 vintage(8-5-8-5-16=4.2):
Original rating 8-Feb-04: Sweet malt balanced by roasty bitterness with dark chocolate and burnt coffee beans in the nose. Thick black body with creamy-looking dark brown, diminishing head that lasts nicely. What a beautiful presentation - this beer begs to be savoured. Roasted malts dominate the flavour with a subtle sweetness underlying. Plenty of dark roasted malt bitterness in the finish. Smooth, creamy mouthfeel with medium-full body. Bottle.
Second impression in a blind tasting 21-Mar-04: Roasted coffee bean dipped in rich dark chocolate. Touch of alcohol. Some sherry notes. Dark black with very brown head that recedes to a ring but sticks to the glass. Coppery character with big chocolatiness and a very lasting roasty bitterness. A chocolate changeling. Smooth velvety mouthfeel. A bit still - could use more carbonation. Rather low filled bottle may have allowed some oxidation. Blind tasting #6. 9-4-8-4-15=4.0 Left original rating in place due to non-typical low-filled bottle for the re-rate.

There is a lot to like about this one! Dark brown, opaque, pours with a good size head for and Imperial Stout. Lot of chocolate, coffee, toffee in the aroma and flavor. It is missing the roast or burnt flavors, but I really like the flavor anyway. Fairly sweet. Moderate body, slightly chalky mouthfeel. Slighty dry finish. I liked it, thanks Rastacouere!

Molasses black, dark brown head. Aroma is strong, a little alcohol, but the main feature is coffee beans. Flavour is big, espresso with some chocolate. Some bitter hops finish it off. Big bodied, though quite drinkable. Very nice. Bottle.

UPDATED: NOV 15, 2005 Pitch black with a chocolate head, medium at first and surprisingly persistent and sticky, still over a centimeter after 20 minutes. Nose of Coffee Crisp/ Kit Kat, not too bold, roasty lactic notes. Pleasant sniffing, but not so complex although as it warms, a bold green resinous and coniferous hop profile shows up distinctively. Very creamy mouthfeel, medium body, almost silky. Bitter chocolate meets black coffee in a virtuous harmony. Burnt cigar, coconut and bitter torrefaction finish. Light alcohol vapours emane toward the end which seem paired with a rusty and citric aspect that I had not noticed on first sample. First sip is pretty mild, but as time passes by, the tongue is well coated with the necessary bitterness. Highly drinkable for an imperial stout, I fear the name including imperial stout itself will hurt their ratings here, but I confess I was also hoping for something a little more over the top as well.
Another blind tasting pushes this up a bit. It is every bit as good as 90% of impies out there.