Black Forest Imperial Stout

Brewed by Black Forest Brew Haus
Style: Imperial Stout
Farmingdale, New York USA

Serve in Snifter

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Pitch black with a thin white head. Woody aroma with a strong earthiness, heavy char and licorice. Oaky and heavily roasted. Quite salty. Roasty with a strong bitter chocolate, salty licorice and a touch of treacly character. Gets quite hoppy as it warms up, showing lots of woody earthy character. Very British and really reminds me of the Porterhouse Celebration. It’s okay, but not great.

On tap at the brew haus served to me in a glass beer mug. The aroma is faint chocolate. The beer is black with a small head that thinned to a ring. The taste is light with a bit of coffee and chocolate. Thin feel, more like a porter than a stout. I really wasn’t impressed with this one.

Black Forest Imperial Stout - An English style popularized by Catherine the Great, empress of Russia in the 18th century. This beer style was brewed with a higher alcohol and hop content to survive the voyage from England to Russia. This beer has a flavor reminiscent of coffee, due to the use of roasted and black malts, with an alcohol warming finish. Our version of this popular winter beer style uses lager yeast, as well as ale yeast, to provide a smoother finish this thing is 85, watch out! but amazing!!

08 Dark rich pour with a small head, fades fast. Aroma has some honey sweetness and chocolate and coffee with a little bitter roast. Flavor is sweet with some bitterness. Balanced.

Growler filled at brewpub: Very deep brown, near black with some light getting through at the edges. The deep an head fades to a weak film. Roasted barley aroma. Pretty straight forward with a good amount of dark coffee, as well as bitter chocolate notes. Body is well carbonated. The roasted qualities give off some bitter chocolate (bakers chocolate), salty qualities, which leads to a chary, unpleasant finish, reminiscent of stale coffee grinds. Doesn’t seem Imperial, and doesn’t have much depth. A decent Stout.

Typical for this type. A decent imperial stout. The appearance is jet black, rich tan head. The aroma is roasty, with some bittersweet chocolate. The palate has a bittersweet quality as well. No better or worst than most in its style. Its slight blandness in tatse could be attributed to the beer being served too cold. Not bad.

Dark black, brown head, chocolate/coffee flavor, alcohol finish. Except for the thin body this is a textbook Imperial Stout. Not terrible by any means, but it doesn’t really take any risks with complexity.

Tap @ Black Forest: Poured black with a creamy beige head. Light roast and light coffee on the aroma. The flavor is roasty with some fruitiness and a hint of chocolate. Light to medium bodied with a thin finish. Way to one dimensional and thin.

On tap at Mug’s. Black with a small tan head. Aroma of dark roasted malts, chocolate and dark dried fruits. Flavor starts off with lots of roasted malts and some dark chocolate before turning slightly sour on the finish. A bit thin bodied for an Impy Stout.

The board at the brewery described this beer as "roasty toasty" - I guess that’s a pretty accurate description, considering it’s quite roasty for an impy stout - body is nearly black, with a small tan head - aroma of coffee grounds that have been sitting in the mr. coffee for a few days, along with some tobacco notes and background chocolate and roasted malts - thin-bodied - some suprising fruity flavors up front (blueberry and plum), quickly undercut by hop bitterness and espresso - the bitter and roasted qualities linger a while, followed by some faint chocolate sweetness - overall, it lacks complexity and character, and the alcohol is very evident in the finish - the should stick to the german-style beers.