FiftyFifty Totality Imperial Stout

Brewed by FiftyFifty Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Truckee, California USA

Serve in Snifter

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Sampled at the brew house. Pours jet black with no real head on it. Served at a cool but not cold temperature that drinks thick. The flavor is really nice and full bodied. Really well made stout.

4 ounce sample on tap at the brewpub. Aroma has a sweet mocha characteristic with some balancing roastiness present. Reminds me of a chocolate milkshake. Yummy. Nearly opaque black body with a nice brown head that leaves impressive lacing. Sweet, chocolatey malt flavors initially. Has a slight spiciness in the middle before it finishes with lots of nice coffee roastiness. Very smooth and velvety. Fantastic.

Draft. Blackish beer with a tan head. Toffee and light roast aroma. Toffee and roast flavor with light chocolate. Medium-plus bodied. Toffee and roast lingers with light chocolate.

UPDATED: JUN 6, 2010 Growler. I prefer Eclipse by a wide margin, but this is still a rather nice beer and I wonder if I would be giving better scores never having tried its barrel-aged cousin. Good chocolate, roast and caramel flavors. Some dark malt fruitiness. Just doesn’t do much to separate itself from the pack. Would be fun to try it against Eclipse. Update a few days later: Draft, City Beer Store. Appearance-wise, Totality has a black body with a nice beige head. In the aroma, there’s a ton of chocolate, lots of brown sugar and molasses, some coffee and roast, and touches of hops that make a stronger appearance in the flavor. It’s a medium sweet beer that seems well-suited for barrel-aging, unsurprisingly. The finish has very good hop bitterness to reign in the sweet malt. Feel is fairly thick and smooth. A very good imperial stout that gets a lot better with some time in the barrel. (pushing up the score a bit after trying it on tap)

Black with a creamy off white head. Chocolate alcohol and mild cherry aroma. Smooth bitter chocolate taste with a chocolate and coffee finish. Quite good.

Draft on tap at the Flossmoor Map Room Event (Chicago, IL). Pours a pitch black thick opaque pour, a pretty big light brown chocolate milk head that pretty well, stays moderate. Aromas are dark cocoa, sweet caramel, roasted malts, coffee, the milk chocolate really makes and entrance on the nose. Creamy, with a sweet and roasty slant. Initial is fairly roasty, cocoa sweetness, a touch of coffee. Good roast, with sweet aromas and nice balance overall. Roasty, then sweet, milk chocolate and dark choclate mix with ashy roasted malts. Good bitterness, good roast, a pleasantly surprising level of sweetness is really a treat and doesn’t get in the way of the roast and coffee/dark chocolate. Balances well, lingering roast and bitter finish. Top notch.

Fiftyfifty imperial stout... Pours a deep black with a creamy tan head... Aroma of chocolate malt and cocoa. Fairly run of the mill nose for an impy stout but decent nonetheless ... Rich and smooth chocolate malt with a slight roast and a chalky finish. Totally coats the entire mouth with a silky smoothness. 8/4/8/4/16

Tap at maproom, pours black with tan head. Nose is loaded with chocolatey malts, coffee roast, piney notes. Flavors are chcolately, mild soy sauce, bread dough, nutty. Nice full and creamy body.