Harveys Imperial Stout

Brewed by Harveys
Style: Imperial Stout
Lewes, England

Bottle. Heavy molasses, burnt and strong coffee for the malt, moderate resin and earth for the hops and yeast, with tar, prune and heavy alcohol in the background. Head is non-existent, color is very dark muddy brown with small dark particles. Flavor starts lightly sweet and moderately acidic, then the extra long finishes is lightly sweet and acidic, moderately bitter and a little sour. Palate is medium to full, oily with a finish that is chalky, sticky, astringent and very dry and alcoholic. A very bold, leaning towards harsh, Imperial Stout.

2003 bottle. Pours a very dark black. Absolutely no head to speak of with an aggressive pour. Sweet aroma. Heavy booze nose. Dark fruit. Woa. Funky flavor. Very sour/tart. Extremely chocolate and coffee notes. The more I sip it, the worse it gets. Wow, this is bad. Heavy on palate. A little flat. Ugh, don’t like this at all. Takes the worst parts of several style and combines them.

2000 vintage. Sour, oxidized, aroma with sherry and dark fruit. Flavor of Worcestershire sauce, bitter chocolate, sherry, soy sauce, wood, and sour fruits. Oxidized and quite old. Very sour. Has kept its quality well. Very winey. No carbonation at all.

2003 vintage. Serving date: 2009-06-03. No visual evidence of cork damage. The beer has a pitch black color. The liquid is thick and lifeless. A rather aggressive pour results in just minimal brown head. The head dissipated quickly but swirls result in some lacings, so the beer seems to have some carbonation. The smell is rather special and really weird. Think a mix of decent lambic and a not overly roasty and somewhat sweet stout - and there you have it. Notes of vinegar, funky barnyard and wet hay, and hint of aged cheese. Beneath this lie another set or smells, more common to stouts - sweet chocolate, roasted malts, wood and some fruity aromas. Initially, I find the smell quite interesting but as the beer warms up and gets to breed, the pungent and funky aromas becomes more prominent and after a while it just gets too assertive. The taste is also very weird, and far from good. The beer actually tastes kind of bad. The character of a tart lambic appear here as well, but is not as prominent as in the smell. But still, here are plenty of tart notes that all in all seems rather out of place. In the mouth, there is not much going on, except for some notes of chocolate, coffee and roasted malts. But upon swallowing, things start to happen. A very strong salty taste develops and this does not work well at all with the tartness. Soy sauce, green apples, horse blanket and something that reminds me of pickled fish blend in a devilish concoction. Some sweetness tries to get everything back on track, but fails completely. In the finish there is a strong note of licorice, some wood and a taste of alcohol that doesn’t fit well with the other flavors. Full-bodied with a sticky texture. Almost no carbonation and as a result, the beer is too much to handle after a while. This is a very strange beer. It’s complex and poorly balanced, and frankly it doesn’t taste good. Some parts of it are nice though(some components in the smell and some of the tartness in the taste), but as a whole, it fails to be anything but a disappointment. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

GLASS: Imperial Pint Glass TEMP: Cellared @ Approx. 50 degrees Let me begin by saying that for me personaly, this is almost a perfect beer. I love big, thick, dark, heavy beers and this one definitely falls into that category. The bottle and packaging themselves bring about a very nice (old-style) presentation. Being a package with a cork is also a nice touch. I will also tell you that I am reviewing the 2003 vintage. Now, on to the beer! When poured into a glass the first thing you will notice is the color: Black. This is one of the blackest beers that i’ve ever poured. Secondly, you notice the minimal head it produces (almost none at all). The darkness is just the way I like it. Don’t be afraid of the dark. The smell is good overall but slightly off-putting. Just a bit of alcohol on the nose that turns me away slightly, but I press on. The mouthfeel is silky smooth and almost (unexpectedly) light. Don’t get me wrong here, it is a heavy taste, just not as ’in your face’ as I was expecting. The taste is phenomenal: dark coffee, light notes of chocolate covered cherries, and smoke. Quite a bit of smoke in the taste, but not overbearing. (I think this beer would make excellent beef jerky because of these flavors.) Finally we come to drinkability, and I think this beer is exceptionally drinkable. It only took me four pulls to quaff mine down and that was while trying to savor it’s flavor and prolong it’s life in my pint-glass. While I don’t kid myself into thinking that everyone loves ’dark beers’ or stouts, if you do, I can’t recommend this beer strongly enough. It is truly an experience not to be missed. I look forward to my next one.

2003 bottle, pours black and oily with a thin tan film resting on the very top. Aroma is mildly chocolate with soy sauce and black patent. Powerful! Still with no carbonation. This is hard to swallow. Foul soy sauce and oxidation. Gross drain pour.

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a very thin foamy head with not much head retention or lacing. Aroma of soy-sauce and salty malt makes for a weird and unique experience. Taste is again very unique with some salty notes and weird soy-sauce like finish. Body is full with very light carbonation and no signs of alcohol. Very unique experience but unfortunately not one that is really to my liking.

2001 vintage. Deep black of color with a brown head. An aroma of liqurice, soya, roasted malt and dark fruits. A flavor of liqurice and dark fruits.