Harveys Imperial Extra Double Stout / Imperial Russian Stout

Brewed by Harveys
Style: Imperial Stout
Lewes, England

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle from an off licence in Hove, on Church Road, bought 15th Sept 2012. 275ml. Pitch black. Pours dark brown, thick head, collapsing to a persistent, decent head. Light carbonation. Aroma - Sour yeasty, farmy smell is quite strong (similar to the yeasty aroma of Farmer’s Ales brewery). Some fruity chocolatiness and roast. Spices, oily pine and alcohol. Light, spicy hops. Taste - Fairly sweet, bit fruity-boozy, bit soy/salty, woody, chocolatey and a persistent sourness. A lightly dry, lightly roasted finish. Medium-heavy mouthfeel; quite oily and slick. Overall, a nice, slightly unusual Imperial Stout (bit more savoury, soy/salty and sour than usual), but the sourness and strong yeasty aroma is a bit unpleasant - might be a bad bottle.

2008 version. 9.3 oz. bottle. Perhaps I got lucky. This beer is seriously exceptional. At first I thought it was overcarbonated but it was perfect. Great mouthfeel and smell. Smelled and tasted like chocolate covered cherries.with a touch of char and smoke,. Wow!

Bottle (Imperial Extra Double Stout) at home - 16/09/12. Pours a dark dark brown approaching black with a thin tan head that soon forms a thin pond atop the glass and escapes to the edge. Complex nose comprises of dark fruits, treacle toffee, roast malts, molasses, damp wood, light smoke and a port like alcohol whiff. In the taste - Sweet roast malts, a little coffee, toffee, light chocolate notes, berry fruits, spice. Medium to full bodied with a moderate to low level of cabonation leading to a soured sweet finish with a warming alcohol finale. Well balanced imperial stout with well disguised alcohol flavour, more fruity than most, enjoyable.

Bottle. Inky black pour, very small ring of carbonation and an aroma of chocolate and slightly soured black cherries. Flavor was muted slightly sour cocoa, soy sauce, a little bit of liquid smoke and a bit dry & oaky on the finish. Decent and fairly complex beer. Worth picking up for sure.

Bottle from Sam’s, Durham. Always kinda dug this bottle shape, if that’s worth anything. Nice sludgy pour, with a slight ruddy copper in the middle of the viscous molasses. Nice fluffy head and attractive dark brown lacing everywhere. Complex malt profile in the aroma, with just a hint of blackstrap and dark fruits in an otherwise quite roasty character. Mouthfeel is perhaps just a smidge too sticky but that’s certainly not unheard of in this style. And the flavors come across with the same elegance and complexity suggested in the nose. Pretty good.

11.2oz bottle in a snifter. Pours black with no head. Aroma of roasted malts, chocolate and coffee, and some hops. Flavor strong of roasted malts, but there is not carbonation in this bottle. Smooth. A decent beer, but would be better if there was carbonation.

I think I got a bad bottle. Poured a dark brown black color with no head. Vicious sour sweet malty flavor with lasting terrible aftertaste.

Bottle. Starts off interesting- very dark with generous cocoa head and decent lacing. Smells somewhat like tart cherry plus cellar plus a peppery note and maybe vanilla. Taste starts sweet and roasty fading into tart then bitter- but all on a nice level. Flavors blend nicely, also manages a transition from creamy to tart then dry. Roasty dry bitter finish.

From the bottle poured a lovely midnight black brew with an obsidion head. Sweet, fruity, roasty malt aromas. Medium bodied with sour flavors mixed with sweet and roasty malt with a grapefruity hop finish.

33 cl bottle as ”Harveys Imperial Extra Double Stout” @ Olutravintola Pikkulintu. Rated on 4.12.2010
Aroma is slightly sour with roasted malt, licorice, hints of coffee and alcohol. Flavour has slightly salty licorice, some coffee and herbs. A bit too thin and close to Foreign Stout – although too strong to be one. I liked the aroma here, but flavour does not fit my mouth.