Harveys Imperial Stout

Brewed by Harveys
Style: Imperial Stout
Lewes, England

Bottle, 2001 on the label,but obviously younger.Almost black and almost no head at all. Very promising on the nose, boasting intense dark fruitiness. Flavours are filled with bitter chocolate, plum and rum. Bitter, dry and vinous. Oaky finish. Soft and full-bodied. A world-class beer, that just needs a little softening (age?) to compete with the no 1.

Rather confused by a bottle that is corked at 330 cL. Cork was so dry that it literally fell apart as it came out, the bottom of the cork wasn’t even moist. Poured a thick black like used motor oil with absolutely no head.... the only thing on top are a few bits of the crumbling, dry cork that I just pulled out. Very confused at this point... where’s the head, is it carbonated? And that smell is so intense that I might be drinking a mix of wine and ink. Aroma is filled with alcohol, dark fruits, red-wine, and rum. Taste isn’t quite as powerful as the aroma leads you to think. Not carbonated.... is this a fluke or is this beer as unusual as it is described above? Highly complex, it’s an all-out attack on your taste buds from all different angles. Very intense..... not roasty, not really chocolatey, not carbonated, and as far as I’m concerned, not a stout. This is much closer to wine than beer and it’s certainly not a very good example of either if you ask me.

11.2oz bottle, 2001. Pours black with a couple bubbles of head--kinda like Sam Adams triple bock--smells better though. Aroma of alcohol, soy, charred wood, and though I haven’t ever had any, what I would imagine port wine to smell like. Taste isn’t quite as big as the aroma lets on. There is some dark chocolate and tang along some wine-like qualities. There is also some earthiness. Has a soy and chalky finish. Alcohol is apparent. Full bodied, practically no discernible carbonation whatsoever. I can see how some people would love this, but I don’t. Side note--I had this back around Valentine’s Day @ a beer and dessert pairing, and I believe this was with some Breyer’s vanilla bean ice cream, and did go quite well. That was the main reason I got this again, but am disappointed.

(Bottle from 2001 at Plan B, Copehagen) Pours brown to black. The head consists of three brown bubbles - soon to be gone. Smells rum, raisins, madeira and salty soy. Chocolate. Well balanced. Wet tobacco. The taste is dry cocoa. Heavy salty liquorice. Burtned taste. A good palate feeling. In the begining it is warm and peppery. Then dry. Finishes with sour and dry bitterness. som hints of black coffe. Ok body.

2001 bottle sampled August 2006.

Cork comes out with a soft pop; the beer pours thick, almost oily, and black with no head. The aroma is richly vinous, woody, and full of roast-coffee malts. The previous reviewer’s comparison to a Bordeaux is apt. The flavor is powerful and complex, again heavy and sour red wine flavors lay atop a rich dark-roast base, woody tannins drifting across the flavor profile, alcohol making itself apparent, spicy throug the mid-sip tendrils of sweet roast extending through the dominant flavors causing the beer to swing from sweet to sour several times in the course of a single sip. At five years, the hops have little bite left; the late finish spicy is more salty -- think salt licorice -- than truly bitter. The mouthfeel is rich but also somewhat hot.

This is a complex and tasty beer, with a tremendous amount going on within the span of every single sip (just think, we hit sweet, sour, salty, bitter). Still, I prefer a number of the better made US imperial stouts to this one, and at this price point there is little to draw me back to it.

Bottled 2001: Beer pour fourth from the bottle black in color and totally headless even with a vigerous pour. Aroma is extremely wine like reminding me somewhat of a nice Bordeux I had the other day. Notes of dark fruit, tobacco, earth, and vinegar. Flavor is quite sour with flavors of dark unsweetned chocolate, heavy roastiness, as well as matured ripened grapes and lots of chalk. A very intesting brew, more like wine to me than a beer though.

Bottle sampled with Stegosaurus. Pours dark without a head. Aroma of fruit, roast, and vanilla. The flavor is roast, fruit, syrup, vanilla, and a little wine like. Great beer.

2001 bottel. Beautiful aroma showing chocolatey vinious notes with touches of sourness and hints of vinegar. Carbination almost gone. Thick, extremely oily mouthfeel, sour chocolate flavors with warming notes of wine and cork and a finish of somewhat astringent chalky bitterness.