Great Lakes Blackout Stout

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Cleveland, Ohio USA

This was a sub-par imperial stout. Pour is black with a small amount of light getting through the glass. The standard imp stout flavors: sweet chocolate, coffee, roasted malt, and fruit. The mouthfeel was certainly weak for the style.

bottle. pours a completely opaque black, with a relatively thin tan head that fades to a film and fades no more, leaving bits of lacing as the beer beneath disappears. i can smell this one from a foot away. roasted malt and cocoa dominate the smell, with a fairly strong molasses note, flecks of blackberry, and a pretty strong floral/citrus hop note. great roasted malt flavor dominates all the lesser inferior notes (i love roasty stouts). the molasses note is all but gone, and the cocoa is more subdued, but there is a hop spiciness here now, mingling well with the citrus/floral notes that also fade into the background some, leaving a sort of earthy woodiness as the initial flavors fade. this beer smells a lot fruitier and sweeter than it turns out tasting, and it works well. moderate bitter finish, with a perfect sweetness to balance. sticky, oily mouthfeel, perfect carbonation, and a body that’s more full than one thinks for how easily this seems to want to go away. i have a new favorite beer from this brewery. the strength of the hops’ role is surprising, but not unwelcome. it blends really well with the dominating dark malts. it tastes like a west coast impy. really good.

Wow, this one was certainly an experience!! This beer is simply all over the map. Looks very very nice, inky black with a slight lacing...but man does this beer smell horrible! It flat out smells bad. Like dirt and manure. Just bad. Seriously. Flavor is a lot better than the smell though, but still not exceptional. The alcohol is really strong, especially for a 9%er. The alcohol is the main flavor, with some nice roasted barley and oats on the backend. Also some nice notes of chocolate and even some apple-like flavor every now and then. No two sips are the same, which makes pinning this beer down a hard thing to do. The palate is ever changing, sometimes it is stinky and bad, sometimes it is chocolate and good. Bad aftertaste as well. Just not what I had hoped for.

black with a medium sized tan head. Roasted malt and caramel aroma. Flavor was chocolate, coffee, more roasted malt, coffee grounds, and just a bit of hops. Finishes bittersweet with a good amount of carbonation and a bit of alcohol. Nice

Bottle at hame yir maw ya scallywag tasting. Alrough rating: Coco, slight roastyness, sweet and balanced, quite a decent swee stout we have here, sweet and chocolaty.

12oz bottle from Drewbeerme. Pours a not too thick looking dark brown/black color with a thin tan head with just a touch of lace. Smells dark and roasty fruity. The fruity sweetness on the nose was a bit of a surprise but was very good. Tastes awesome, a great blend of the thick fruity sweetness and the roasty toasty grainy malty flavors. Sweet up front and then biting and bitter toasty through the middle to the finish. Full bodied, light syrupy with good carbonation. Best stout I’ve had in a long time.

Bottle at Magic_dave6’s disco dance tasting. Black, thin beige head. Stock cube and malty, some watery. Mouth is slightly meaty malty, sweet rounded. Full bodied. Sweet and long taste with some hops at the end. Good.

Lots of coffee and roasted barley in the aroma with some subtle molasses and brown sugar. Licorice and hints of toffee followed by some big roast/coffee flavors. Hints of dark chocolate and hops find their way into the finish.