Harveys Imperial Stout

Brewed by Harveys
Style: Imperial Stout
Lewes, England

Pours a motor oil black brew with a nonexistent head. The aroma was sweet, salty, shows soy sauce, alcohol, sour. The flavor is moderate, weird, kind of bad tasting, interesting for an imperial but just not up my alley.

Bottle marked 2003. Poured out like used motor oil with almost no head. This stuff was seriously opaque. The aroma was strongly oaky and smokey with baking coco and roasted malt there, too. The flavour was HUGE. Powerful oak and smokehouse flavours that are reminiscent of smoked jerky, with a decent hop prescence. The salty character of the beer reminds me of soy sauce. There are also notes of vinegar and bitter baking coco. Overall, this is some funky stuff and the flavour profile is pretty mix matched. The palate was a bit under carbonated, dead actually. This is one of those beers that let you know that beer CAN be made too intense. Not for the faint of heart.

2001 Bottle via Maria: This one has been lurking in my basement....it finaly trapped me into consuming it. "First of the day and the buggers got a damn cork!" Rumaged for corkscrew. Yeilds a used motor oil pour. No head...No carbonation..... "What have I done?"...."Triple Bock for Breakfast?" I thought as the strong nose of oak, sherry and sweet dark malts wafted accross the basement workbench on this hot, sticky humid Sunday Morning. I continued with my thought process....."This is going to leave it’s own mark upon my liver....I just know it." In the name of science, I continued the experiment. This baby is big....Godzilla big, Sweet malty with a touch of the smokehouse mixed about. Coffee appears after the intial shock of it all and leads you to a salty acidic coffee sitting in the pot for two day s and re-warmed finish. Glad that I was able to try it. Yet too much for the Dude. I’ll stick to oat sodas.

Pours black with an infinitesimal brown head. Aroma of fruit and coffee. Flavor shows a bit more alcohol than I prefer but the accompanying sweetish fruity coffee flavor is pleasant. Not so much syrupy as oily on the palate. Slightly bitter aftertaste.

Bottled. Dark brown colour with small brown head. Aroma is roasted malts, sweet sugary notes, raisins and some fruity hops. Flavour is acidic and sour coffee along with some roasted malts and caramel. Not too exciting, but still a pleasant impy stout.

this beer is strange. mine was a 2001 and i think it may have sat too long. the beer poured a slick, black oil with no head. alas, the few bubbles that materialized were of the darkest, deepest brown i’ve seen in many imperial stouts. the nose is exceptional, with a fruity pomengrnate, sugary liquorice aroma, quite unexpected for the style. the flavor plays nicely on the palate. it starts with a wild smoky, roast feeling but finishes sour, seems strange, but it works. it isnt my favorite, but definately worth the experience.

Bottle, Chris_o shindig. Black, just a tan bubble or two. Yeasty, oily, sour aroma, a bit of chocolate down there somewhere. Tart flavor, mouth-coating marmite. Thick viscous palate. Very full flavored and unique. Apart from that, it hurts my stomach and is just a little too much muchness.

Bottle. Pours bubbly oily black with thin head. Interesting hoppy spice flavors....almost like salty mustard? Deep roasted coffee flavors seep in towards the back, and leaving a drying bitter quality in the mouth. Decent mouthfeel. I cant remember ever having to use a corkscrew for a beer.....overall this beer isn’t up my alley and I won’t try again, that said, I am glad I tried it.