Fish Tale Poseidons Imperial Stout (Batch 5 +)

Brewed by Fish Brewing Company/Leavenworth Beers
Style: Imperial Stout
Olympia, Washington USA

2006 version. Black with a light brown creamy head. Aroma is roasted malt, chocolate, raisin, coffee and liquorish. Flavour is reasted malt, chocolate, coffee and liquorish.

On tap at Stone. Pours pitch black with bubbly beige head. Chocolate chip cookie nose, sweet malt, very inviting, very light smooth taste with chocolate roasted malt and hints of dark red fruit. Very easy to drink and pleasing.

Dark brown almost black with a creamy tan head and lace. Coffee and chocolate on the nose. Chocoffee flavor with medium malt bitter. Full bodied with good carbonation.

Well, holy shit. I’ve been sitting on two bottles of this since the first week it hit the shelves up here waaaaaay back. 2006 Vintage - will it have gone bad? Lets find out. Nope! Wow. I can’t wait to do this review so I can just sit back and enjoy.

Black, good sized cap created - dark brown and quite thick with good retention and some sticky, spotty / ropy, silty lacing. Every swirl creates a new lavish carpet of foamWhat would have this been like fresh? The aroma just waffed everywhere: initial impression is quite strong: oak, red licorice that might lean towards a mellow version of cherry Halls, chocolate, creamy, figs... this is making me drool... I don’t smell the alcohol but it smells like there would be alcohol. I’m trying hard to define the malts, which are there, but they have mellow so much. Sure there is some roasted malts here but... crap... what is this aroma reminding me of? Some sort of orange as well - I think I could come up with scents forever. The taste is just great, even with the straight up bitterness followed by roaming alcohol. The tons of malts that I thought I would find get steamrolled over by the yummy sweet fruit. Ah, there they are... roast and chocolate all at once. Smooth, bitter chocolate, figs, grapefruit hop lingerings, some coffee, more alcohol hotness... well shit, I’m fairly drunk and I’m rambling adequately. Even more very bitter chocolate in the finish, licorice as well along with an aftertaste that can only be described as the worlds most appealing ash tray. ahahahha I just discovered if I pour the second half of this 650ml bottle into my glass from about 6" away that it creates an estimated 4" cap (if I scoop up the overflow back into a much larger glass). Now the appearance is a 10! I gotta remember this.
After letting the last half sit for quite awhile i’ve disovered that i can barely type anytmoer. I like this beer alot aside form the overuse of hops.. still, it makes it wahhat it is. Good tasty fruity front that ends in bitterness and lingering coffee. I need to eat some food

Bottle. Pours opaque black with a lasting beige head. Aroma of intense espresso, dark chocolate, brown sugar, black licorice, and sweet alcohol. Very instense and satisfying. Palate is soft and cream, with mild carbonation. Flavor starts with bitter chocolate and coffee, albeit with some minerally notes. Mid-palate is a bit light in flavor, but what it contributes is a nice pairing of vanilla and roasty bitterness. Finish has a really nice roasty component. Overall, this Impy Stout has some fine qualities, but something “muddy” about the flavors just can’t match the excellence of the nose, putting it a bit below other premiere versions.

06 vintage. 12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass. Darkest possibly shade of brown, nearly black. Some amber highlights when backlit. Nice dark tan head struggles to form through the viscous liquid. Aromas of cocoa powder, graham crackers, iced coffee, and prune/raisin fruitiness. Flavor is loads of roasted barley but not in an acrid way. Lesser notes of caramel, dark chocolate, graham crackers, raisins, figs, and prunes. Slightly acidic, solid roasted bitterness, dry without much astringency. Hugely flavorful but not crushingly thick-bodied. Very easy to drink. Damn good RIS.

12oz bottle, 2006 vintage I believe, courtesy of dave12285 poured into a tulip. Pours dark opaque black with only the faintest hint of light showing through the edges when held up to light. The head is small and tan, fading quickly to a tiny ring and leaving no lacing. The aroma is fairly one-dimensional, with the dark, sweet roasted malts dominating the nose altogether. It’s definitely sweet with some chocolate, licorice and dark fruits. The taste let me down a bit as it seems to be a watered down version of the aroma. The sweetness isn’t nearly as deep, with the chocolate malts and licorice present, but in less amounts. The finish is chalky with a bitterness that lingers through the aftertaste. The mouthfeel is light, almost watery, with low carbonation and much less body than I would expect from an RIS. The nose had me looking up but this stout ended up a little too bland and watery to be great. It’s a decent example of the style but nothing to bring me back for another one.

Nice black color with a lacy tan head. Sweet raisin and smoked wood aroma. Nice roasted malt, raisin and bitter chocolate flavors. Medium carbonation. Palate was a little thin for me. Overall,very nice.