Harveys Imperial Stout

Brewed by Harveys
Style: Imperial Stout
Lewes, England

Bottle sample at a tasting. Thanks zvikar! 2003 bottle. Black-colored with a brown head. Roasty & funky aroma of brett, fruits, some oaky notes, barnyard, some chocolate (praline notes). Dry flavor with some bitter chocolate, wild yeast acidity, fruits, wood, some sweet caramel and cocoa notes and a bitter finish with some earthy hops and sourness. Full viscous body. A great unusual beer.

330mL bottle, 2000 vintage listed 9% ABV, poured into a snifter. Pours a viscous, oily black with hardly any head at all. It’s more like a bubbly tan collar that leaves no lacing. The aroma is a cross between an impy stout, barleywine and old ale. There is definitely a big of dark roasted malts hiding in there, but the massive malty sweetness, slight tartness and alcohol are more dominant. It definitely smells higher than a 9% ABV and burns the nostrils slightly. The taste isn’t as good as the aroma and is much, much more sour up front with stronger signs of oxidation than the aroma indicated. The malts taste almost burnt and stale leaving a dry bitterness in the finish. The mouthfeel is super slick with no carbonation to speak of. It’s definitely a little light for the style. This one is definitely past its prime as the oxidation has taken its toll on the taste. The aroma was decent, but this is definitely not one of my favorite stouts with a definitely sourness starting to take over.

Pours a dark brown body with a light tan head. Smells of caramel malt. Flavor is sour, toast, soy.

Thanks Naam, total oily black with a medium chcolate head, wild aromas, sour cherries juice, chocolate, caramel, roasted malt and some olive notes, deep woody flavors, smoked flavores, dark chocolate and espresso, abit of soy sauce and olives, texture is velvety and body is full, nice bitterness at the end. Great and fascinating Imperial Stout.

2003 11.2 FL OZ bottle. A Le Coq Imperial Extra Double Stout. Pours with a minimal head and a soy sauce black body. Coats the glass thickly. Aroma is floral, nearly some sour bugs, soy, plum, chocolate. Taste is oil, burn leaves, cocoa, burnt to a black crisp toast, soy, cork, smoldering ash and leather. Excessively and unpleasantly bitter with harsh astringencies. Not super pleasant. Syrupy, no carbonation. Not drinkable, unless you consider SA Triple Bock chuggable.

4 oz. taster from 2003 bottle at Seattle IBF. Pours pitch black with no head. Aroma is a ton of dark cooked fruits, coffee and a touch of alcohol. Flavor has more dark fruits, a good deal of roast, a little bit tangy. Medium to full bodied with virtually no carbonation.

2003 Bottle - Pours a thick almost black with a slowly forming tan head...aroma is cocoa and coffee, with some charred wood...flavour is completely salty and burnt bitterness, soy and char, with only fleeting chocolate and harsh malt...bleh...

2001 bottle. A deep dark stout with a thin dark moka head. A really interesting aroma of alcohol, licorice, light pine solvents, like an old fashioned cough syrup with loads of herbs. In mouth, black strap molasses with lactic notes, strong coffee, soy sauce, flat chinotto, oily and intense, maybe a bit too much, lingering harshness. Interesting in aroma, a bit too much in mouth. BB 2006.