Harveys Imperial Stout

2003 Vintage, labeled as Imp. Extra Double Stout. Pour is not totally opaque but almost. Brown-black and deeply hued. Both the aromas and the flavors are a joyful surprise: a panoply of blackberry and malt like a rich layered cake. A delightful, fun melange with a surprising sourness that makes this an interesting one to try.
Nighttime black, no head. Aromas of mashed cherries, blueberries, blackberries. Sour and fun with lots of cherry pit. Very little carbonation, nice. Not thick or viscous. Cherry, cherry pits, some oak. Mellow yet assertive. Killer sour fun. Lots to think about here! Like conceptual art in a glass, like a Jackson Pollack painting, full of color and abstraction.

Bottle conditioned; 2001 vintage; corked. Aroma is suggestive of burnt malt/rubber/organic something. Brown/black color with no head. Medium to full bodied with essentially no carbonation. Like a Gales ale. Flavor is dark toast; vinous; coffee; wood; espresso. Malt seems balanced with light sour. It’s complicated. Finish is about the same. Very smooth. A good sipper.

Rich and warming, and mercifully free of discordant c-hops that so many American impy stouts seem to use for some reason. This 2004 bottle pours an inky, oily, syrupy black with a thin and short-lived brown head. Nose is espresso, dark chocolate, woodsmoke, red wine. Tastes roasty-bitter and burnt at first, giving way with warmth to an unmistakable vinous character, dry wood tannins. Espresso and smoky notes in the backdrop. Intense and contemplative.

Bottle. "Harveys Imperial Extra Double Stout 2003". Pours a pitch black colour with hardly any head. Aroma of very roasted malt, dark fruits, alcohol, chocolate and coffee. Thick sticky mouthfeel. The flavour is quite sweet with lots of plums and raisins. lots of roasted malt, chocolate, roasted caramel, bitter hops alcohol, bit of smoke. Long lasting sweet roasty and bitter finish.

330 ml bottle from Holiday Wine Cellar. Pours black and opaque with a small beige head taht leaves a thin curtin of lace. Roasty aroma with sour raisins, alcohol, bitter chocolate, charcoal, blackberry notes. Flavor is extremely roasty and bitter, herbal and sour, quite astringent with glimpses of sweetness, italian roast coffee, raw cocoa beans and an alcohol burn in the finish. Medium to full body and gentle carbonation.

Pours as dark as midnight with almost no head. Aroma of licqurice, fruit, hints of a brandy or of a red wine. Taste is dry, roasty, a very heavy flavor.

Bottle: Extremely dark-amber coloured with a quite stable, but small brownish foamy layer, quite complex nose: vinous fruits, liquorice, roasted malt, leather and bittering hops; full bodied, dry salty(!) bitter flavour; long lasting, warming finish with traces of roasted malt, leather, tobacco and hops. Complex, maybe a bit too complex.........

This one pours black with no head whatsoever. The nose comes across with little chocolatiness or burntness with no noticeable coffee smell. It is very flat with a massive maltiness that I usually only get in English barley wines. There is burnt-coffee-choco taste to it but it is overwhelmed by a saltiness that I don’t know if I have ever experienced in any kind of beer before. It actually overwhelms the sweetness of the beer, and makes this beer very underwhelming. I don’t get it.