Great Lakes Blackout Stout

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

Bottle from a trade with Boutip. Pours black with small tan head. Aromas of roasted malts, chocolate with a little bit of coffee. Nice roasty flavor with milk chocolate and some hops poking through. It has a moderate amount of sweetness. Full body with soft carbonation and a creamy, sticky mouthfeel. Very nice. Thanks Phil.

Poured thick black with a little tan ring of head, aroma is full of chocolate and coffee tones. Taste is right with sweet chocolate and toffee, that leads into a nice coffee and smoky aftertaste that does finish sweet. A great impy stout!

Bottle. Pours black with a thin brown head. Aroma is full roasted malt, coffee, light chocolate and just a slight hint of licorice. Flavor begins with light sweet chocolate and a bit of sweet grain, but coffee and roasted malts lead to a more powerful finish.

12 oz bottle. Pours a beautiful deep black with a thick creamy light tan head. Aroma is super duper chocolate. Very much a meshing off sweet chocolate candy and some dark chocolate and even a little bit of bitter cocoa. Just a light hint of coffee and a lot of roasty toasty. Flavor starts with a chocolate character that is lightly bitter but rich. Gains just a little hoppiness in the finish which is rounded by toffee, of course more chocolate, and a bit of a coffee with cream note. Fairly smooth though. Medium body which is weak for the style and a soft carbonation. I like a lot about this beer but it needs to be heavy bodied and maybe have some more bitterness in the finish.

Pours black with thick head which unfortunately disappears quickly. Sweet caramel, chocolate, coffee aromas. Tastes what it smells like: lots of flavors typical of Imp Stouts, very well balanced. Sticky texture, medium body (I’d like to have a bit more body in this). Overall I enjoyed it a lot.

Tap at Sheffield’s. Dark opaque pour, sticky tan head. bitter chocolate on the nose. Coffee and chocolate on taste. Awesome.

As the name would imply, this one pours black. A two-finger head of espresso colored foam forms, but dissipates quickly. The lacing is foamy and slick, so it doesn’t hang around long. Deep, dark, roasted malts. Mild hints of bittersweet chocolate and coffee beans. Very subtle notes of oak and vanilla, not unlike bourbon. A light presence of dark fruits. Slight touch of a smoke and a hint of brown sugar. Super dark roasted maltiness. Super bold, dark roasted coffee beans. Decent notes of bittersweet chocolate. Mild hints of vanilla and dark fruits. Dark cherries, with figs and dried plums. Very tasty. Definitely has that oily quality, which I love. Sadly, it’s not quite full bodied enough, IMO. Upper-end of medium bodied, which is still enjoyable, just not close enough to perfect. Here’s another great R.I.S. with high drinkability. Super smooth and easy to drink. The 9.0%ABV is all but unnoticed. A slight warming effect is the only thing here to hint at the alcohol contained within. I wish I could get this one, here in Oklahoma.

’08 Bottle. Smells of roasted malt, coffee and chocolate. BIG flavor going on here. Tons of roasted malt, chocolate, expresso and caramel. Smooth as silk mouthfeel. Finishes with a creamy long sweet bitter chocolate. Excellent stout.