Blue & Gray Temporary Insanity Imperial Stout

Brewed by Blue & Gray Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Fredericksburg, Virginia USA

Serve in Snifter

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22 oz bottle. Pours a dark, near black color with a tan head. The aroma is malts with chocolate and dried fruits. It was extremely easy to drink when you factor in the listed 12% alcohol content. Wow. Flavor is bitter dark chocolate, molasses, roasted malts, and a touch of coffee. Didn’t have any problems with this bottle.

Draft at the brewpub. Had the appearance of muddy chocolate milk with chunkies, no head or lacing, lots of particles that stick to the glass. A truly ugly beer. Aroma of milk chocolate and booze. Taste is gritty and strongly spiked chocolate milk. Something has gone wrong with this batch, and I don’t think it should have been served.

Bottle... Poured near black with a huge, easy forming, frothy, tan head. Some roast and booziness on the nose. Cocoa, whiskey, oak, vanilla, cocoa, and malts all over on this one. Like a dessert in a glass with some serious alcohol kick to it.

22 oz. brown bomber bottle. No freshness date seen. It’s been aging in my fridge for 3 years now. Small pffttt when opened. Poured out a deep dark brown, with red highlights around the edges. Small tan colored sticky head. Left a decent lacing down the sides of the glass. Aromas are of roasted coffee beans, dark chocolate, and a whisper of hops. Flavors are of strong roasted coffee, dark chocolate, roasted pecans. Medium mouthfeel, decent, slick, oily. Certainly drinkable after cold aging for 3 years.

This poured a murky dark brown color with a light brown head. Aroma was roasted malts, some chocolate/caramel sweetness, and some triple C hops. Flavor was lightly roasted, but also not very sweet and finish with a nice hoppy ending. The only thing keeping this one decent is the hops.

22oz bottle from Joe at Hangar 24. Very dark brown, almost black with a very light tan head. Has more of a belgian aroma than an imperial stout. Slightly sour and a little roasty, very different.

Hazy dark brown pour. Thin beige head and no lace. Heavy roasty aroma. Thin bodied especially for the style. Espresso, toffee, and overly caramelized flavor. The stand out thing here, which is a negative is the light acidity. Might be the begining stages of infection.

Bottle. Not a stand out but good. Basic roasty stout with coffe and dark cocoa and some alcohol. A little thin and simple with a little bitterness.

(22oz bottle) Large beige head atop dark brown body. Aroma is moderately sweet, roast/smoke, some chocolate, coffee, some alcohol. Taste is moderately sweet, roast, coffee, some chocolate, light smoke, cherry, alcohol. Medium-full body with light effervescence.

22oz from Once Upon a Vine, Richmond. Very still pour, dark brown and just a tad muddy. Couple bubbles, some patches of dark amber where you can see through the body. Very strong toffee and bourbon in the nose, which is odd considering that this is the regular, not the barrel-aged version. However, it’s unmistakable, even if it is artificial, the result of some weird flavor combination. Body is thin. Flavor is generic roasted malts, neo-booze, and some burnt caramel. Not quite as horrible as other ratings have suggested, though certainly not great.

Fairly fresh bottle (between 1-2 months old, but refrigerated): Pours a nearly opaque dark mahogany with a spotty lacing light tan head. Interesting aroma of dark caramel with a hint of soy sauce, black cherries and smoky coffee. Body starts about average for the style with some dark cherry fruitiness and a good amount of roasted malt before a smooth dark chocolate finish. Has a touch of tartness that may the beginning of an infection, but as it is now, it’s not really bad. In fact it adds a little complexity. Seems like it’s a good recipe, there just may be some sanitation issues going on.