Boulevard Smokestack Series - Imperial Stout

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

Serve in Snifter

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Pours a dark brown with little head and lacing. Nose is malty with slight lacto and cherries. First sip is great balance of all intended flavors finish well.nice beer

The aroma is light infected yeast notes on top of smoky malts. The beer pours dark chocolate with a tan head on top. The flavor, my favorite part, is roasted malts, chocolate, and smoke, which come after the initial flavor of infection from the specific batch. The infected flavor is smooth and welcomed on the palate.

’08 bottle kindly shared at Woodshop. Pitch black pour with a slight tan slick of foam. Aroma is chocolate, roasted malt, light oxidization, and soft coffee. Taste is big roasted chocolate up front with light bitter hops and some oxidization. I couldn’t really pick out the barrel influence. I really liked this beer though for its big roasted character and the slight oxidization was not at a level where it meaningfully detracted from the beer. Very good.

It’s like a tall, cold glass of chocolate milk, only made with an outstanding dark chocolate instead of Hershey’s syrup and with a shot of espresso mixed in.

2011 Batch 2. Poured a pitch black. Great head and lacing. Nose is off-putting. Sours brett, along with malty chocolate. Taste is thick and rich, with roasted malts, cocoa, wood and vanilla. Sweet and slightly tangy finish. Not terrible, but after having the non-bretted version, this one doesn’t do it for me.

Pours black with a dark brown head. Aroma is chocolate and coffee. Medium bitterness with mild sweetness. Thick chewy body.

6/3/11. 750mL bottlee courtesy Tim and Rachel! Opaque black pour with a small brown head that fades to a ring but sticks. Rich aroma of BA stout with caramel, fudge, vanilla, coconut, a touch of sour, and more. Rich flavor with a bit of sour, licorice, oak, chocolate, and huge lingering roast. Nice!

750ml bottle: Bottle #16825, 2011 batch 2. This batch was the one that they knowingly released infected with Brett, and neglected to notify anyone until later. This one pours an inky, almost black color. There was many inches of a light brown head on it that lingered quite awhile. It also leaves lots of lacing. Nose is Funky and sour. Some chocolate notes coming through, and maybe some vanilla. Anything else is being overpowered by the Brett. The taste is interesting. The brett doesn’t ruin it, but it is a big change from what was expected. The sourness is in full command. There is a fair amount of chocolate and roastiness coming through. Some vanilla and dark fruits also. It is good, but the Brett detracts from what it should have been. Don’t get me wrong, I like Brett infected beers if they are done right. The Brett is just too overpowering to let me appreciate the very good beer that is hiding behind it.

Opaque black with a small, tan head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of roasted malts, burnt wood, cocoa, wood, brett, cherry, and alcohol. Taste of roast, chocolate, wood, vanilla, smoke, and light wildness.

Bottle... Poured pitch black with a light brown head. For partial barrel aged it had a great whiskey character both on the nose and in the flavor. Roasty and full bodied. Slight hop tone to balance all of the sweetness. A little acidity with vanilla, white chocolate, and pastry-like malt characters. Pretty exceptional beer.