Great Lakes Blackout Stout

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

Heaven on Earth . Dark Black and smooth . Might be the best ive tried so far . you know the Drill . chocolate and coffe !

Pours a deep, warm, opaque sable that is just a red tomcat whisker above black. Head is thick and dark tan, but disappears quickly - half a point off there. Aroma is rich and fills the nose with smoke, fine coffee, unsweetened chocolate and molasses. Flavor does not disappoint - rich and lip-smacking, it is like fine roast coffee mixed with unsweet chocolate, a hint of charcoal and a touch of molasses. Texture is thick, oily, smooth and lively so it doesn’t just slide down the pipes but fairly dances its way to the tummy. A must for all stouties!

A dark black appearance with a tan head. A roasted coffee and chocolate aroma. A nice alcohol, dark chocolate, coffee, plum, licorice, and tobacco flavor. The aftertaste is bitter and warming. This isn’t as "big" as some imperials but this may be one the top stouts I’ve ever tried. It is certainly the most balanced stout I’ve yet to sample. IMO it’s up there with Alesmith Speedway Stout. This is a mighty fine underrated stout. Emily you know how to provide some awesome beer!

i’m sitting at my uncles watching the chiefs raiders and flipping back to the history channel to watch the barbarians. i set this on the cabinet for about 10 minutes to get to the right temp, hell the label says serve at 45, i’ll see what i can do. both shows are at commercial and i head to the kitchen to try my new brew. holy religious figure batman. i tend to find things when i least expect them, i have found a great beer. pitch black pour with a great brown lasting head. i could spend days on the aroma, plum, cocoa, coffee:espresso, mocha, cafe aulet, you name it iti is there. a great strong powerful roast aroma. but the sweetness is there too, wow, chocolate, buiscuity raisin, and grape. the best aroma i have encountered. alcoholic milk chocolate flavor with a strong roast flavor. i love a strong roast in an impy stout.rich coffe flavor with a great mocha quality. just heard on the tv, they came, they sacked, they plundered, yep that is this beer. a creme brulee taste is in this. it is so damn rich. but it is balanced with a great bitterness that works in with the sweet alcohol and chocolate and a bit of bubblegum. a great beer.

#100 I wanted this to be special so I went down to the brewery cause there drafts taste so much better, This is the best tasting stout i’ve had so far, first thing I said was it like coffee with alcohol, taste was coffee with some slight chocolate to it and this went down smooth and fast, was craving for more but it was a little pricey at $4/ 10 oz., but I think I might go back today for happy hour. Finally update almost 2 1/2years later. Black pour, medium almond head that fades away. Aroma of coffee, and roasted malts mainly. Flavor is coffee with bittersweet chocolate up front, with oats and caramel malts in the background. Pretty sweet but mixed with the bitter chocolate and roasted malts really works and the coffee stays around the whole time. Hops are up there with what seems like northern brewers really fresh and leafy. Almost a smokiness in the finish as well after you taken a break in between sips. I just love everything about this beer, it’s so damn cloying and just addicting I keep feeling the need to sip more. Warming alcohol is perfect for the winter or sitting inside with the a/c on full blast when its 90 outside. Maybe it’s because I’m from Cleveland, maybe it’s because this was the first Imperial Stout I had and maybe it’s because I actually lived through the Blackout of 2003, but this will always be one of my favorites and I’m not changing a thing from my first rating.

poured a dark brown to black with a good size tan head with a descent lacing. aroma this is another one of my wows sweet malts, hops and dark fruits and raisin and coffee. flavor bitter sweet choc. plums, a nice sweetness with a bit of bitterness. as I kept the beer in my mouth because of the smoothness a taste of honey came out and more fruits flavors. I just wish this beer was warm when I bought it so I can let it age for a while to see if it can get better. all I can say is a very good beer I think it is my 2nd favorite beer

186 beers drinken and rated. Some good, some bad. Some hard to obtain brews, some swill. A range of 4.9 to .5. Lots of beer, lots of flavors, but never a 5.0. Until last night, when on beer search to finish off my trade with Footbalm, I came across a ’new arrival’ beer at Binny’s Glen Ellyn, a Imperial Stout from Great Lakes. A company I have never tried a beer from, even though my 3 local suppliers have more than plenty of it laying around. Got home, popped one in the fridge in case I got thirsty later on in the evening. Sure enough I did get thirsty and poured this big black brew into my glass, very dark, nice light off white head. Aroma full of a bunch of goodies, alcohol somewhat present at first, chocolate, small hints of coffee, some small notes of dark fruit. Consumption of this beer is best described as a wonderfully made chocolate cake with a few cherries baked into it, with a nice hot cup of coffee to wash it down. Once in awhile a small hop flavor pops its head into play, but for the most part its a thick chocolaty cake through and through. I will have another of these tonite to confirm my 5.0 rating or give me reason to lower it, but I have to have another to double check. But at least for today this is my favorite beer consumed to date. rerate: 4/22-Still a personal favorite, but the 5.0 has to go. After going through nearly a 6pk of this great brew, I found some inconsitencies, not that a 5.0 has to be PERFECT everytime you drink it, but I had a few 4.0 bottles in the 6 pack.

This is a very nice beer. With an excellent dark color, and a nice full head. The body of the beer is very thick like a stout should be. The aroma and flavor are very strong with malt, hops, and some chocolate, and maybe coffee. The aftertaste is slightly bitter,strong and lingering with malt and coffee.