Boulevard Smokestack Series - Imperial Stout

Brewed by Boulevard Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Kansas City, Missouri USA

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle No. 06246 pours black with a 4 inch head and lace sheets. The aroma is roasted malt, dark chocolate, coffee, all that dark stuff. The flavor is very complex, dark dried fruits, dark chocolate, coffee, sour fruit notes, earth, chocolate covered cherries, and hops to balance. The palate is rich and lively, nice and cleansing. Overall, very nice.

Black color with a large head. Light coffee and roasted malt aroma. Charred and roasted barley character. Some caramel and fruity notes. Fairly heavy carbonation. Pretty solid.

What a great Imperial Stout. Easily superior to Old Rasputin and Avery’s take on this style. The price is superior, too, though, and not in a good way. I nearly balked at the price but decided to go ahead since I missed out on Bully’s last limited edition. At 11% alcohol, be careful not to stand up too fast after finishing. Delicious.

Tasted 1/20/09. 750ml bottle. Pitch and thick. Dark brown hue. Layer of beige head. Aromas of coffee and wood. Touch Earthy, musty. Slight whiff of toffee. Toast and fudge. Decent burn in the nostrils. Full bodied with abundant sticky malts. Big hop presence. Astringent, from both the coffee acidity and moderate alcohol note. Typical Boulevard house yeast. Maybe a touch thin. Still, well crafted.

750 ml bottle. Pours a beautiful black with a nice big tan head that has excellent retention and lacing. Very nice. Aroma has a slight hint of sourness in there. There is a nice bit of chocolate malt and a slight burnt character. Flavor is full of chocolate flavors but there is a very slight sourness underlying everything else. Very strange, not what i was expecting. I was a bit disappointed with the mouthfeel, it seemed a bit too thin for an imperial stout. All in all, it’s good but not great. Nice to see Blvd doing something like this and I have been a fan of the other Smokestacks, but this one is a bit of a let down for me. I was hoping for WAY more.

750ml bottle #2165/11960. Pours a pitch black body with a big, dense and creamy, dark brown head that takes forever to dissipate and remains very lacy. I’m actually surprised at how good this looks coming from a bottle. It looks as if it was dispensed from a tap. Quite nice. The aroma can really only be described as "rich." Unique aroma in that I can divide it into three distinct smells, but I can smell them each during the same whiff. Usually I get more of one smell during separate intakes, however, I get all three in one. The three main aromas are rich dark chocolate, dark roasted espresso beans, and a mild bitter hop backing. Although this isn’t the most aromatic of beers, it is complex. Besides the distinct aromas, there seems to be some wood, thick molasses, dark cherries, and a faint boozy ester. The flavor is complex too. More black coffee loaded than the aroma, mixed nicely with a roasted grain assortment, smooth and rich dark baking chocolate, and a good amount of balancing mild hop bitterness. Slightly smoky in the wood character. Some dark fruit, dark sugary taste, and a very enjoyable warming alcohol note. Palate is medium bodied, silky smooth, but has just a tad too much carbonation. Because this is relatively fresh, I’m sure the carbonation would dwindle with time. Overall, I’m thoroughly impressed with this. Packed with flavor and really up my alley. It truly gets better as it warms. Not the thickest Imp Stout out there, but one of the "darkest" tasting, no doubt. It has an intense "darkness" to the flavor without ever nearing "burnt." I hope the $15 price tag goes down, but for now, it has been worth every penny. I hope once the introductory phase of this beer is complete, they price this near the other Smokestacks because I have a feeling that cellaring this could make it a real treasure. Outstanding.

UPDATED: MAR 7, 2009 Nice chocolate brown head, velvety feel to the tongue, this beer is very rich, lots of chocolate and coffee, alcohol is smooth....finished a bottle alone, but wish I’d shared it, as the richness was a bit over-the-top.

Pour is a black with an average tan head. Aroma is a nice dark chocolate with some molasses and a rich coffee. Flavor is a more intense coffee with some thick chocolates and a nice hoppy backbone. This is a nice imp stout and something you could sip on for a while. The alcohol is hidden and no problem its just that this is very heavy but full of flavor. Boulevard puts out one of these new smokestack beers about every other week and so far they have all been outstanding.

750ml bottle, #1248. Strongly malty, sweet aroma, estery and roasty with notes of dark chocolate, cherry, raisin, creamy toffee, woody smoke and dried flowers, along with a touch of faintly peppery alcohol in the background. Thoroughly opaque ebony color with a billowy, lasting, uneven, dark tan head and impressive lacing to match. Flavor begins with a roasty, mildly bitter espresso character, becoming sweeter as it progresses, with dark brown sugar and a huge amount of fudge-like, dark chocolate throughout, and finishing with a blend of date, fig, smoke/ash, licorice, earthy hops and appreciable alcohol. Thickly smooth, coating, lightly effervescent and warming on the palate, body is massive to be sure. Intriguing stuff, and a welcome rendition. This should also age very nicely.

750ml corked and caged, #2168/11960. Pours a dark brown/black with a towering tan foamy head, excellent retention and lacing. Aroma is freshly ground coffee, dark fruits, molasses, and a diverse roasted grain bill that blends nicely together. Flavor is just a touch sweet which I liked on this, along with more coffee, chocolate, molasses, and a little vanilla and candied dark fruits, and a slight citrus hops bite on the finish. This is not one I had a chance to sample a test batch of or anything pre-release so had no preconceived notions of what it would be like. A very enjoyable, unique and interesting interpretation of the style, with subtle nuances rather than trying to club you with a big beer. Another job well done Boulevard!