Boulder Beer Obovoid Empirical Stout

650 ml. Opaque with a half-inch of creamy foam above. Beautiful frosting on the glass. Nose is dark chocolate, raisin and espresso, with some hints of fruity caramel and wood. Flavor is dark chocolate and espresso on front, with later notes of vanilla, caramel and cherry/lactic acid. Oak and charry roast on the satisfyingly dry, slightly astringent finish. Medium-heavy body is super smooth and dangerously drinkable as it seems to have struck a perfect balance between watery vs. sticky.

Pours deep brownish black with a tall, semi creamy froth. Good head retention reducing slowly to reveal a fluffy canopy and some sticky lacing. Aromas of roasted chocolate. Medium full nectar with good carbonation creating a soft texture. Out of the bull pen this one is moderately roasted with defined bitter sweet cocoa. It doesn’t seem to overload me with anything really. A great balance between all components. Theres a bit of a roasted nut shell essence, some coffee bean, and leather. The play between the hops and the carbonation create this snappy, lively sensation on the palate. The finish is bittered swiftly and sticks. No apparent oak flavors. Overall: this is a very tasty stout with a great mouthfeel, almost chalky and not sweet at all. A nice balanced brew. Solid!

On tap pours a black color with a dark coffee aroma. Light tan head fades quickly and laces the glass well. Good malty body and has a sweet dark roasted finish.

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.

This was one of the best beers I’ve ever had. Thick and dense, chewy and fresh, this beer had a roast complex of utopia. There’s something about the balance this one achieves that’s mind blowing. It’s thick and roasty and harsh and abrasive yet it’s soft and fluffy on the swallow in a way that the body lets down it’s bigness but the flavors still sink deep into every crevice of your palate. Very interesting, and I loved every minute of this one. Will buy whenever I see it.

great taste with a Dark pourwith a off white head, very deep Oak malty flavor.

Looks fantastic in the glass, a deep color with creamy off-white head. Smells very nice, hints of chocolate and coffee and oak? I doubt I would smell the oak if I didn’t already know it was there. Flavor is sweet for a porter, with a lighter aftertaste.

Yaaaammmmyyyyy... Luscious beer. They can keep the name though. Pours with a very creamy tan head and plenty o lace. Creamy svelte body, just a bit of tang at the end. Bitter chocolate and coffee beans, can almost feel the crunch. Short finish. Good stuff Maynard. Having a bottle of this at Bodega Brew Pub downtown La Crosse, Wisconsin.