Great Lakes Blackout Stout

Huge thanks to shigadeyo for this beaut. Pours black with a darkish tan head and nice tan lacing. Wonderful aroma of rich malts and touches of coffee, chocolate and hops. Flavor is soooo damn smooth. Sort of creamy to the palate. A light touch of smoke along with a slight bitter hop finish. Top notch!!

Great beer to finish my night with the Great Lakes...Bottle with a vigorous pour gave a medium tan fluffy head. Hits all the drum beats a Imperial Stout should- chocolate, malt, coffee, etc. Great beer that made me happy...wishing it came in a bomber, but alas the 12oz trade was fan-freaking-tastic. Great beer to drink while watching an Evening with Kevin Smith to warm you up to enjoy the humor just a bit more....

Bottle, at Kookfest, September 2006. Deep reddish brown colour. Lots of roasty burnt malt in the aroma. Chocolate comes through on the palate, with some light bitterness in the background. Not as big or rich as many US Imperial Stouts, but that’s not really a criticism. Pretty good, but lacked the "wow" factor for me.

12oz bottle. Dark and opaque. Toasty malt and coffee aromas. Full bodied with a nice burn. Spicy and zesty. Full dark malt roast. Heavy chocolate and coffee flavors, but well rounded and integrated. More lively than the others. Caramel undertone. Great burn. Bitter with more of a hop profile. More complex flavor profile. Very nice.

12oz bottle from 05, i believe about 18months old now. pours a pitch black black with tan head. aroma seems to have faded since fresh with mild sweet chocolate notes. flavor is very balanced for an impy, hops take a back seat with age, but chocolate and coffee notes seem to have faded instead of come more forward. i liked this at 12 months but it seems to only go downhill from there. will rerate a fresh bottle.6/4/6/3/14=3.3..

7/27/07, fresher bottle, pours black with khaki head. nose very roasty and coffee with milk aroma. flavor is roasty, coffee, slightly soured, grainy, some dark fruits. lacks a real chocolate presence. carb is almost fizzy, body a tad thin. tasty but over rated and really a run of the mill impy.3.6.

3/9/08, on tap at the maproom, its been awhile since i’ve had this and i’ve never had it on tap so why not. i re-discovered why this is a run of the mill imperial stout, okay, perhaps above average comparatively, but really nothing special. the nose offered nothing of interested, flavor rather roasty with mild chocolate and dark fruit notes. i think this is one of those beers that was always pretty good but nowadays struggles against stiffer competition. 6/4/7/4/14=3.5.

Very good but not as good as the barrel aged blackout stout. To me it was like a whole different beer. I wish I had tried this one first.

Bottled. BB Aug 10/06. Beer is very dark warm brown; nearly opaque. The head is small, light brown, frothy and diminishing.<P> First impression is warm, sweet and a little spikey. The aroma is malty with light notes of roasted grain, chocolate, espresso, trace of toasted nut; Hoppy with a light-to-moderate note of resin/pine, dried thyme; Yeasty with light notes of dough and basement; Miscellaney include a moderate amount of dried stonefruit and current, alcohol, trace of damp firewood and underripe banana.<P> The flavor is moderately-to-heavily sweet, moderately bitter, lightly acidic with a long, warm, moderately sweet, lightly bitter finish.<P> The body is full, the texture is velvety and the carbonation is lively.

12 oz bottle, via trade with several people. Thanks to those that sent me this. Nice malty smell. Pours a dark color, seems kind of watery. Taste is malty, with some chocolate and coffee flavors going on as well. Overall, this is a nice stout, but the mouthfeel is too watery for this style.