Boulder Beer Obovoid Empirical Stout

$6.99 bottle from store. No ABV on the bottle. Said oak-aged RIS, so I thought this might be good. Served at room temp. Big mixed bubble head that settles at a medium pace. Aroma is grain with some husky roasted grain hints. The oak is hard to pick out if it’s there. Lots of dry, over-roasty sourness that I don’t like in many stouts. Please mash at a higher temps, or do something to increase your unfermentable sugars!!! I feel like many brewers are trying to minimize the amoun t of grain they use to reach a desired ABV quoting "maximum efficiency" as they go. The end result is a dry bitter yucky beer. I’m don’t think I like the hop combination here too, with too much early boil hops. Again I can see the brewer maximizing his IBU/$dollar ratio. Blucky.

i love boulder beer company. there. i said it. there’s no taking it back. i just freaking love everything this company makes. however, until now, i have only tasted wildly hoppy ales, an extra buttery barleywine, and an overly citrused wit from boulder. as a stout lover, i’ve waited years for boulder to go darker, to plunge into the depths of tar black lightlessness. and, finally, on a recent trip to visit friends in denver, i found obovoid. this "emperical" imperial stout is top notch. poured into wide brimmed wine goblets, obovoid rejected any sliver of light or hint of illumination. overly zealous carbonation bubbles constantly ascended and bristled the top of the glass, hindering a solid head to form on the beer’s surface. aromatic flavor notes revealed abundant gushes of espresso, burnt dark chocolate, anise and dry raisin cakes. my good friend herb and i sipped obovoid at room temperature, and i found the flavors growing more pronounced as the beer warmed. sipping slowly, i couldn’t help but think of mint chocolate chip ice cream or a fine slice of new york style cheesecake beside this beer. instead, we had the "majesty" of the denver snowcapped skyline drizzling down a chilled grey morning on our overly black goblets. perfect. a close second in genre to old rasputin’s russian imperial stout. boulder beer has impressed me once again.

bottle - Pours near black with a one finger tan head. It has a roast malt and chocolate aroma. The flavor is of course of those big roast malts along with chocolate and a hint of oak. It’s well hopped and has a medium body. I really enjoyed this one.

Pours a four finger beige head that fades slowly to a thin layer, leaving some lace. Deepest mahogany color. Good carbonation and heavy bodied. Burnt coffee nose. Flavor has hints of malty sweetness but burnt coffee dominates. $6.49 for a 22oz bottle from Manchester Wine and Liquors Manchester, CT.

Bottle from Crown Liquors. Almost a black pour with a small brown head. Aroma is nice enough. Roasted malts, chocolate, espresso, etc. Flavor is hoppier and toastier than I prefer my stouts. dont get me wrong, it is a pretty well done beer...just not my favorite type of stout. Finish is dry and a tad bitter.

Bottle from 2007. Dark brown pour with fluffy brown head and thin spotty lace. Roast aroma, almost smoky. Silky mouth-feel with hints of; Oak, roast, chocolate, and a dry finish

Bottle. Thanks to Santa. Poured a dark black body with thin head. aroma is roasted chocolate malt, oak. Flavor is light oak, chocolate, coffee and roasted malt with a light hoppiness to it. Smooth and quite delicious.

Pour is a dark brown with light tan head. Roasty malt, chocolate, oats, oak, and a bit of smoke. Thin, but silky mouthfeel. Pretty decent stout.