Fish Tale Poseidons Imperial Stout (Barrel Aged)

Formerly brewed at Fish Brewing Company/Leavenworth Beers
Style: Imperial Stout
Olympia, Washington USA

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle shared at JW77’s. I really like the Fish Tale BA beers. This one is black with a brown head. Aroma is chocolate, grapes, cherries and some woody notes. Flavor is like chocolate covered wood aged cherries. The wine does wonderful things with this beer!

UPDATED: MAR 20, 2007 Batch 4, rerate on 8/26/06: Pours a dark black opaque with a dark tan/brownish frothy head. Sweet dark malty and fruity grapey aroma has nice oaky complexity. Body starts with a smooth, full chocolatey and slightly tart oaky fruity flavor toward a nicely balanced, bittersweet finish. Mildly oxidized, but otherwise has aged well.

Batch 4 rated on 7/2/2003: Rich dark black with a good tan head. Thick, lightly roasted bourbon wine aroma. Sweet, dark, fruity alcoholic flavor with some light sourness. Good complexity throughout and a warming finish. A good imperial stout, but I think there’s too much bourbon flavor. Unique nonetheless.

A: The beer pours black in color with a big, tan head on it. S: The wine notes really come through quite strongly on this beer. Lots of red fruits and grape aromas along with the expected roasted malts and chocolate. There is a touch of vanilla as well as some oak. T: A light booziness to the flavor, but otherwise quite good. Lots of roasted malt and chocolate flavors along with tons of wine, berries, and a bit of molasses. Some lightly charred oak with a light tannic feel to it. M: A really sticky feel on the tongue with a very long finish. Quite nice. O: Much better than the regular Poseidon, and better than the BA Leviathan I tried previously.

UPDATED: MAR 31, 2009 Re-rating a bottle of 2002. The wine flavors completely mask anything that would resemble an imperial stout... no burnt malts, no licorice or smoke, just a small hint of chocolate. The sweetness of the oak wine casks is a pain.

Munificent grapes and their alcohol find warm residence in the thick roastiness of the malts and their oily dark chocolate...Yeasty fruitiness is grounded by a few marshmallows and the vinous personality elevates it to near-decadence...If not for the pinch of saltiness in the end, the barrel-aging is very well-done and personable...A somber elixir to christen the most devilish winter evenings...

Big thanks to footbalm for this. Pours jet black with 2-finger khaki head. Aroma of malt, chocolate, dark fruit (cherries), licorice, prunes, cognac. Tastes roasty malty, extremely dark fruity, with a big cherry element at the finish, along with hcocolate and some soy sauce. Smooth, dense palate. Well hidden alcohol. To me, this one is 1 part GD Yeti, 1 part Weyerbacher Raspy Impy, and 1 part Stone RIS. All parts are delicious.

Bottle, Batch 4 (Nov. 2002), kindly shared by David! Poured black with a tall, deep, well-retained dark brown head.. just lovely!, with intricate lacing following it down. The aroma was of rich dark chocolates delicately intertwined with darker grapes.. some sherry was also present, and the oak made itself known.. the vinous presence was greater than anticipated, but was fantastic!

The flavor was also rich, with well-roasted darker chocolates and heavy vinous notes at the core.. sherry and increasing vinous notes ride out the roasty finish with drier chocolates and cocoa.. this was like candy to me! The body was not much heftier than medium-bodied, but filled out a bit as the drink progressed.. great roast and barrel influence!.. creamy middle balanced well with sour oaky accents. Brilliant!

Bottle with friends, courtesy of ratman197. Thanks Ratman! Black appearance with a dark brown head. Tart, red fruity, vinous, tangy, dark roasty aroma. Sour, cherry, blackberry, vinous, charred, roasty malty flavor.

Black, opaque, reddish hints. Low light brown head. Extremely vinous aroma among explosive red wine character. Complex fruitiness (blackberries, berries, grapes) expressed over a leafy/branches tray. Bourbon undertones peaking through a toasted pumpernickel bread and blueberry jam breakfast. This smells terrific. But, upon tasting, I don’t know how well the barrel blends with the beer itself. I get more and more envy to try the base beer as this one may be a bit overly sweet, vinous and balsamic tart, almost like a red wine. This may be a bit too much combined with the roastiness, tobacco and herbal finish. Acidity just doesn’t mix very well in the end. Rather high carbonation, liquorous mouthfeel, medium body. Still very good and challenging. Thanks Sham!

Dark brown, almost black, got some head, nothing great here. Low acidic content, coffee certainly present but not overly exposed, not that bad in aftertaste. I liked yes, but what’s the fuss about ? Am I the only one?