4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
75cl bottle. Medium brown head that mostly dissipates atop a motor oil black body. Aroma is moderately sweet, rich cocoa, some vanilla, cinnamon, chili pepper. Taste is sweet, cocoa, dark chocolate, some chili pepper, light vanilla. The chili burn is noticeable, and while it builds slightly in intensity, it never overpowers. Sticky full body.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Pours a dark brown with a wispy yet thin brown head. Nose is subtle with cocoa, raisin, and subtly smokey from the chilis. The cocoa and the chilis combine in a very mole sort of way...but the super aggressive hopping keeps them from really coming together as the bitterness distracts a bit. The cocoa flavors are pretty vivid though... the capsicum heat is a bit of a creeper as it at first is just a subtle scratchiness but after a while you can feel the heat throughout your mouth and throat. The vanilla notes are nicely complimenting....and I’m really digging the influence of the chilis, the chocolate, and the vanilla...almost a kin to a nice mole. Other than the out of place bitterness here, this is a pretty nice beer.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
A super thick and oily black imperial stout with a thin brown head. In aroma, an explosion of chocolate sauce, molasses, berries, rhubarb, tobacco, and licorice. In mouth, loads of bitter chocolate and tobacco, herbal in nature, burned coffee, bitter cocoa, soy sauce, iodine, complex and intense. 750 ml shared with GRM, Mike H and Ian G, June 5 2011.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 17/20
This bottled brew from rbsg #17 poured a small sized head of foamy with a frothy top fine to large sized bubbles that were and left behind a and a good lacing. The aroma was musty hot cigar smoke. The mouth feel was weakly tingly at the start and at the finish. The flavor contained notes of mild chocolate and dark malt. A wonderful best in class brew.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Bottle shared by badnewsbeers. Long anticipated, and finally opened on a lofty night of beer tasting. Pours the deepest opaque brown/black with a medium cream to ochre head. Surprisingly subtle nose with burnt caramel and firm pickly peppers. Spritzy body with slightly tart chocolate, coffee, and bitter roasted malt meshed with pickly, almost sour chiles. Vanilla is prominent mainly in the finish. A rich beer with nice mouthfeel and good complexity, but the peppers struggle to play well with the base beer, and end up dominating the experience in memory. Not one of my elite imperial stouts, but a very good one, and a pleasure to sample.
4 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Chitown RB gathering Jan 2010: 22 oz handbottle graciously shared by Adam. What a nice way to start the hours of drinking...
Basically opaque with a lasting tan head and very good lace. The aroma has notes of pepper, chocolate, vanilla, smoke, leather, anise, and cinnamon. The taste was more malt forward with the spicy components more of an accent than expected, that said the dark fruit and grassy hops work nicely. Some espresso and smoky notes as well. The mouth feel is a bit chewy and slightly aggressive, a tad chalky as well. This is quite nice and is the 2nd CC brew that actually met my expectations. Yummy!
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Bottle from MaltOMeal.
Pours a deep, thick, rich black with nice olive green highlights. Aroma is cocoa, cinammon, french toast, sugar, and smoke. Flavor is a nice blend of chocolate cocoa powder, slight pepper, sugar, toasted chocolate bread, and a touch of dark fruit. Slippery mouthfeel. Good beer, but not CC’s best. Looks like chocolate pudding in the glass. If pepper wasn’t listed as an ingredient, it easily could be overlooked.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
750 shared by maltomeal at the July Houston RB tasting. Thanks Bill. Poured jet black. Nose is very smoky, ashy. Taste is the same with added spices, smokiness and sweetness. Body is thick and chewy. Tough to rate this one after having a FW Parabola. This stood up pretty well and is unique in it’s own way because of the sharpness and spiciness not normally found in an impy stout. Good drinking beer.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Funky medicine bottle taped to death courtesy of Tertons. Pours dark brown with a light brown head. Smells roasty, dry, spicy, chocolatey. Tastes sweet, cinnamony, pumpkins, chocolate, cocoa. Excellent beer.
4 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
Bottled. Beautiful pour. As this warms and breathes the aroma really opens up, with nice, smooth spicy complexity but not much in the way of the actual beer. A lot of cinnamon all around, some definite spice from the chili peppers but in a very balanced way. Pretty much all the roast is covered by vanilla and cocoa. Full bodied with minor pepper throughout, more cinnamon and cocoa, perhaps some tomatillo. A delicious beer, but sadly one that is completely defined by its spice treatment and little else. Fails to wow.
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