Harveys Imperial Stout

Brewed by Harveys
Style: Imperial Stout
Lewes, England

Brown bottle purchased at Monk’s café, Philadephia, PA. Bottle conditioned. 2001 Vintage. ABV 9%. Black hued having no discernable head. No discernable carbonation. Aroma of sour cherries and roasted malt. Full bodied with mouth-coating oiliness that starts with complex flavors of smoke, dried fruit (prunes and cherries), roasted malt, and light sweet malt. Finishes dry with light bitterness. Very rich, creamy, and delicious. Probably the best imperial stout that I’ve tried so far.

Absolutly delicious. Sweet, spicy, with tones of dried fruit and chocolate. A perfect companion to chocolate or just as a stand alone after a hearty meal.

Bottle At Cock-n-Bull in Sarasota. Poured a black color with an average rocky light brown head that diminished slowly. Complex aroma of port, malt and cask wood. Full body with a sticky texture. Heavy sweet complex flavor with a long sticky finish. Expensive but interesting.

A Mes rate: 2001 Vintage bottle from Selfridges. Yak. Not enjoying this at all. Aroma is certainly intense. Smells like paint stripper to me. Sim said she could smell it from across the room. In fact she said "What IS that smell? Is it your beer???" Looks wise it does not really look like something I should put in my mouth. Looks more like something I would fill up a fountain pen with. Flavour is not as hardcore as the aroma but still a little too much for me. Roasty, lots of malt, bags of fruit and liqourice and strangely salty. Leaves me pulling a funny face after each sip. As soon as I am done with this rate I will try my best to soldier on with it but I am almost sure this one is going to end up going down the sink. Was expensive too. To think I put back a Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen in order to get this. NOT impressed.

9.3oz bottle, 2000 vintage.
Pours an inky reddish black that allows no light to pass through. Next to no carbonation. Highly vinous, malty and alcoholic aroma. Flavor starts out vinous and of dried fruit (raisins, cherries), though not as intense as the aroma would suggest. Most of the fruit tones gradually give way to a growing presence of dark roasted grain. Thick but flat palate. Bitter coffee-like aftertaste lingers long after its welcome is worn. Interesting and rather intense -- hard to finish a bottle. Glad to have tried it and not likely to drink it again soon.

the other reviews don’t seem to be about the same beer I am drinking. First, absolutely no foam or head of any kind. No sourness, no vinegar. It is sweet molasses, pours like kahlua, syrupy texture that coats the mouth and won’t let go. beautiful almost irridescent coffee color. Mild and yet strong. Powerful and benevolent, impressive and unassuming. A beer that doesn’t push you around and yet, lets you know it is there.

had this at brewtopia - In NYC. It was dark in color weak in aroma and bland in flavor, I would avoid this beer at any cost. I’m not a fan of fuggles hops or souts. THe brew is not worth the price in my opinoin

Bottled. Delirium Cafe, Gothenburg, Sweden. Black, no head. Sourish aroma with tar, soysauce, juniper-berries and mint. Extremely salty flavour with licorice and peppery bitterness.