Drakes Port Barrel Imperial Stout Cherry

This is really pretty hard to call an imperial Stout, its much more of a big sour ale. On Cask @ Hamilton’s 4/18/08 shared with my girlfriend Cyn, BikesandBeer, WeeObese, Darkelf, Bill and Jessica from Alesmith and a crowd unrivaled for 5pm at any bar. Pours reddish black with a tan head with hues of red. This cask spout was different than the blueberry one, which could explain the difference in pour or it could be differences in the two beers. Nose is very big and full of yummy cherrieness. Taste is tart, and gives a big faceful of cherry. Very sweet and sour, with a pleasant mouthfeel, no alcohol can be detected here. Darkelf pointed out and I concurred there was a nice prune flavor that came out towards the end of the glass. This is very good, usually as beer is concerned I prefer cherry to blueberry, but I liked the blueberry better than this cherry. Partially because I prefer blueberries to cherries and partially because that version seemed overall better.

Sampled at the second annual Bistro’s West Coast Barrel Aged Beer Fest: Pours a nearly opaque with dark mahogany edges and a thin ring of light tan bubbles. Aroma of vinous port and black cherries along with some caramel malt and tart complexity. Body starts fairly rich and malty sweet with good dark cherry flavor and tart balance with lingering dark chocolate in the finish. Has good unique complexity throughout, which hides the alcohol well. A nice, unique brew.

Tap @ Bistro: Dark, dark color with a fantastic aroma of cherries, wood and cognac. The flavor has both a sweet and tart quality with a smooth feel on the end. Cherries definitely dominate this one, but it’s not nasty. Interesting!

Tasted on tap at the 2007 Bistro West Coast Barrel Aged Beer Festival. This Imperial Stout poured a deep black color. Small sized tan foamy head. Aroma is chocolate, coffee and cherries there is also a touch of tartness. Medium bodied Imperial Stout. The malts are chocolate and coffee. The hops are earthy. Very tart cherry flavors dominate the malts till the finish where the malts come on strong. Nicely balanced. The port and oak are not as noticeable, but the cherry flavors dominate. Very interesting beer. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is tart and slightly bitter.

Draft at the Bistro’s West Coast BA Fest, 11/10/07; Nose is oak, a tiny tart note, cherries, and chocolate; black with a small ring of bubbles, flavor of light chocolate, winey oak, and tart cherries! Pretty good!