Harveys Imperial Stout

Motor-oil black with absolutely no carbonation. Smells fruity, like cherries, plums, apples. Has also a red wine and vinegar character. Roasted barley comes through well. Aroma is mostly determined by yeast and not the malt bill. Has a very thick mouthfeel, like syrup, which is unpleasant. Tastes sweet like syrup too, with an awful bitter aftertaste. Some semi-seet chocolate is evident, as well as burnt caramel, and a big yeast bite, which tastes like sweat and cardboard. Altogether, not a pleasing drink.

Vintage 2000. Pours an inky black, thick with no head. Big roasted grain, soy sauce, dark fruit and sherry aroma. Slightly bitter soy, roasted grain, chocolate, caramel taste, very thick and oily with no carbonation to speak of. Lots of complexity in this and can seem almost not really a beer, but if you think of it like sipping a sherry or port its pretty cool. I think this is what Sam Adams triple bock was trying to be.

2003 bottle. Pours a very dark brown almost black with a medium frothy tan head that quickly diminishes leaving behind good sticky lacing. The aroma is a sweet malt with alcohol and dark chocolate. The taste is a burnt malt and a bit sour with the alcohol very present. A very complex imperial stout from Harveys.

This beer is extremely bizarre. It poured with absolutely no head, but apparently it is supposed to do that. The aroma is honestly more like a port wine than a beer. The flavor is very vinuous and honestly a little sour with a little tart fruit in the mix. I keep drinking this and am shocked that it is a beer, it honestly seems like it should be a dark, oloroso sherry or tart port. I would have this beer again just because it is so odd.

2001 vintage. Smell of dark flavors with fruit. Taste of some fruit, alcohol sits on middle of my tongue while getting tannins on the side, very interesting flavor complex going on. Would have again.

Bottle, 2001. Aroma of tart cherry, other tart medium-dark fruits, sweet malt. Flavor rather tart as well with touches of chocolate. Roastiness only shows up at all in the finish which is also quite dry. Feels complex underneath it all, but I can’t get much past the cherry notes. Certainly a unique one!

2000 bottle shared by Crosling. Poured a deep brown/black color with no head. Aroma of tart fruit (cherry and grape), faint chocolate, anise, raisin, and some cardboard oxidization. Smooth, lightly sweet entry with hints of raisin leading into a chewy chocolatiness followed by some dark fruits, and faint anise that finishes with a light chalkiness and some oxidization. No carbonation and a bit thin on the palate. Overall, time certianly seems to have taken its toll on this beer. It is thin, a bit tart, and off in a number of ways. I will need to retry a fresher bottle.

I bought a bottle of this in 2005 that was a 2001 vintage. Since it was purchased it was cellared properly. Needed a cork screw to open it, which was kinda fun. That’s where the fun ended. The aroma from the bottle is very fusel, which puts you on edge. Pours an oily, slightly watery, opaque black with no head. Had legs like a scotch. Nose now opens into even more harsh aromas, soy sauce, burnt toast, metal, this strange industrial smell. Yuck. Decided to try it anyway, motor oil, metal, soy sauce, charcoal, burnt toast, nothing redeemable. Finish is oily and hot and sorta sour. Gross, all around. Went right down the drain, a complete disappointment.