Drakes Drakonic Imperial Stout

Brewed by Drakes Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
San Leandro, California USA

Serve in Snifter

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2003 version. Eclipse black color. Small thick head. Aroma is chocolate, toffee and roasted malt. A full bodied Imperial Stout. Malts are chocolate and toffee with strong hints of vanilla and dark fruit. Hops are a touch grapefruity. Nicely balanced. The chocolate and dark fruit flavors at the start give way to end with a vanilla-ish finish. Hides the 8.7% alcohol very well. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

a sawn board chocolate milk scent, huge fat medium tan head - with a dark brown body with reddish tints, rich malty chocolate flavor - a bit of bitter alcohol taste - a bit of vanilla bouncing around in there, an oily velvet coating of the mouth as it goes down, very nice

See through brown,but looks black/red in a glass,weird. Fizzy,khaki,head. Diminishes but leaves a good ring. Roasty,dark chocolate,caramel aroma. Slight alcohol burn. Mouthfeel is creamy/oily,texture is silky,medium body. Good mix of caramel,chocolate,vanilla,and roast in the initial flavor. Has some red wine/wood character as well. Gains thickness approaching room temp,when it peaks. Finish is slightly astrigent,very bittersweet(chocolate),and quite roasty. Just the slightest hop notes in the finish. Great Imperial! Thnaks beerguy.

UPDATED: OCT 31, 2003 Looks light brown coming out of the bottle but in the glass it is a very opaque dark brown. The head was nice and thick at first and then diminished to a persistent film...almost eggshell white in color. The aroma had a distinct lactic quality with strong cocoa tones and some freshly cut oak. The flavor was dominated by strongly bitter chocolate (not bitter hops mind you) with some nice vanilla, slight sourness, wood, alcohol, and plums. The feel was very refreshing...slightly thick and perfectly carbonated. Very wet finish...coating the tongue and throat.

UPDATED: FEB 25, 2005 Judging by the bottle, I thought I was in for a real treat, but when poured into a glass, the color was lighter than I like, and one could taste that in this brew.

poured way to thin and semi-see-through to be a god damned imperial...settled dark though and light had some trouble making it through though i did see some red here and there..the head started a little smaller than half and inch and tan but settled to a point where there was ring around the edges and trippy ink-blot-like markings in the middle..i smelled roasted barley turning to sweet chocolate..the chocolate aromas grew until all i smelled was deep chocolate candy bars..nice and sweet..deep bodied mouthful..not exactly thick, but not at all thin..just plain deep..now damn, i like this stout..chocolatey yes..but it gets deeper with vinous notes, grill-charred plums, vanilla bean, chocolate covered blueberries..a tad of astringency finishes things out..but it doesn't bother me too much..not bad, but the astringency kinda cuts at the back of the throat..not sure where this is coming from..but its the beer's only fault..impressive nonetheless.

Flavor is full of malty sweetness with burnt currant, chocolate, toasted grain, and a hint of vanilla, all balanced by a fine bitterness. An alcohol warmth that is mellow and pleasing. Nice aroma; chocolate and vanilla with subtle tropical fruit (which I perceive as coconut). Appearance was a bit lacking though; poured with a thin, fizzy head that disappeared completely after a minute but this being a high gravity brew (1.086 OG; 8.75% abv) I guess that's to be expected. Nice black color with deep mahogany highlights, however. Firm, full bodied palate with a slight oiliness; best to drink this brew no cooler than 50F otherwise it will seem a little thin and harsh. A nice full flavored, full bodied brew (packaged in a cool swingtop bottle to boot).

I was very impressed with this beer. This beer really exists and is not the sir francis, which i must say so that it does not get deleted. Very roasted nut on the aroma with some overtones of chocolate. A nice thick taste deep coffee flavors mingled with chocolates, nuts and even some hickory smoke. I really like imperials, and this one competes with some of the best, its very fuckin legit.