Great Lakes Blackout Stout

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

Pours pitch black with a tiny little light brown head. Smells of dark, thick molasses, mild roast, dark chocolate, and some raisins too. The flavor has great body to it, with a good mix of chocolate, black curant, molasses, and raisins. The roast is very mild, its more dark fruit and chocolate centered. Very thick and rich on the palate. Leaves a light little sweetness on the lips and the tongue in the aftertaste. Just a very solid imperial stout. The alcohol was actually masked quite well and there was nothing overpowering about it. Really good balance and flavor.

Pours suprisingly light but appears black inside the glass. Seriously subtle and lacking aroma of coffee beans, malt (chocolate, roast), strawberry extract, pine, apple and raisins. In terms of flavor, this is equally balanced by the dark malt, burnt fruit and sharp hop characteristics. Front palate begins with a hint of fruit then leads into a nice chocolate, roast, coffee bean flavor and finishes with a reasonable and acceptable hop flavor and bitterness. Lacking in texture. Just not a very good Imperial and I was really hoping to like this.

Pitch black, tannish head of cream and spotty lacing. Roasted malts, mocha, hops and alcohol aromas. Roast, chocolate, mocha, hops, molasses, and brown sugar in the flavors. Oily palate, thick body and a finish of alcohol and hops.

12 oz. bottle, another fine beer courtesy of OhioDad - thanks! Pours black and thick with a small off white head, like liquid ebony with butter cream floating on top. Sweet chocolatey aroma, mellow, roasty malts, dark brown sugar and light herbal notes. Sweet and rich in the flavor, chocolate frosting, roasty caramelized dark fruits, ripe figs and alcohol. Full body, smooth and creamy in the mouthfeel. Yummy, I bet the BA version is just bitchin’!

Thin brown head that reduces quickly. Chocolate, vanilla, sweet malts and some vinuous notes in the aroma. Maybe even some black cherry. Color is black with a little bit of dark port around the edges. Body is a little bit thin for an imperial stout. Kind of lies there dead in the glass. Sweet flavor with lots of roasted grains, dark fruit and some coffee notes late swallow. Noticable alcohol presence that hits you pretty hard up front and then lingers on the palate for quite a while. Quite nasal in intensity. Finishes sweet and malty with some more strong dark fruit flavors. Not one of favorite imperial stouts.

I’m a big fan of this stout. Great consistency of head and weight, but not syrupy, body. Slight chocolate malt in the nose, burnt wood, hops. Great piney hop presence dry this out and makes it very drinkable. Definitely a session Imperial (session of two, perhaps?). It will soften very nicely.

Bottle best before 7-03-07. Purchased at Giant Eagle in Mentor, OH. Pours black with huge brown head, nice lacing. Aroma of dark roast and coffee. Nice medium full texture, with some smooth creaminess. Lots of burnt flavor, with some chocolate and dark roast coffee in the background. Bitter finish with notes of vanilla, and a slight fizziness going down. Not bad. Lots of flavor without being thick or syrupy.

Bottle from Kevin. Opaque body with a very thin beige ring of bubbles. Nose-good rich impy nose that is sweet and "dark". Taste-bready, light alcohol, light honey, sweetness from the alcohol, mild roast. There is something special about the way the honey, sweetness, roastiness, and agressive hops come together that makes this damn special. It isn’t that the flavors used in the beer are particulary unique, it is just that the usual impy flavors ar balanced out and played off of each other so damn well. This is truly a beer to be enjoyed and mulled over. Coats the tongue like velvet with a playful prick of CO2. Thanks Kevin.