Harveys Imperial Stout

A. Le Coq IS bottle. No head at all, pours sticky as oil. Fathom black. Very strong roasted & toasted aromas, wood, very ripe red fruits, acidity, malt bitterness. Full bodied, extreme.

A *huge* stout for sipping! Big and rich, with hint of char. Syrupy full-bodied mouth-feel with minimal carbonation. Roasty bitter grains and hops, with notes of sour wood, black licorice, and espresso. For me this is too big and the bitterness is too lingering unless accompanied by a couple of sweet brownies.

Old bottle, 2000 I think? Pours flat black with not a single bubble. Flavor is sour, biting and salty. Might make a good grilled chicken marinade, but it wasn’t drinkable.

2003 bottle poured into a snifter has no carbonation at all and a black color. aroma has dirt, alcohol, and licorice. flavor is terrible like mud in a glass. just wood and malt in a hash way. i cant believe this is what is in this bottle labeled imperial stout. i have tried a few sips and it is not getting any better. from reading the reviews here i can see many agree with me that this is a drain pour and that is where i am heading right now. yuck.

Have had several different vintages from 99, 01 and most recently 03. Several different bottles of each and I have never had a more inconsistent beer from bottle to bottle in my life. I have had so many bad bottles of this, but when you get a good bottle this is absolutely delicious. Pours murky and dark like used oil, has some vinous woody notes on the nose, dark candied fruits and a texture on the palate that is all its own. Lots of chocolate covered cherries, and an appropriate amount of roasted maltiness. Delicious

2003 vintage bottle. Looks like oil in a glass...jet black, no head. Hugely powerful aroma of alcohol, wood, extremely burnt cheap coffee, and motoroil. Tastes like black licorice covered in teriyaki sauce, then boiled for 2 days, but with a lot more alcohol. And less tasty. I’ve had a lot of beers, some great, some really bad, but I don’t remember dumping a beer out in years. Even quite a few beers into the night, I couldn’t choke this one down. Just dreadful stuff all around. I never would have imagined my lowest rating ever would be on an English Imperial Stout.

This is the darkest beer I have ever had – and undoubtedly one of the absolute best. There are a lot of Imperial Stouts out and about these days: some great, some horrid. A. Le Coq stands head and shoulders above most of its contemporaries, carrying with it a certain connoisseur edge and mystique. It carries an almost wine-like quality to it that I really like. It’s definitely one to sip: try it with a high-class contraband cigar (you know, the kind that you can smoke for 90 minutes without re-lighting). If you think you know Stout, but have not tried this one, then you don’t know all there is to know. Truly amazing.

2003 Bottle at home ... Deep Black , looks wonderfull in glass ... Lovely deep meaty vineeous malts ... sweet deep rich meaty tones oily mouth feel ... some woody tones ... some roast malts ...