Harveys Imperial Stout

2000 bottle, sampled April 2005. Pours thick and dark... like blood or grape juice mixed with slightly used motor oil. No head. Roasted vinous aroma... chocolately cabernet / tannic acid, wet wood, drug store mens cologne/aftershave, anise candy as it warms. Thick mouthfeel, that goes nowhere. Slightly sweet and dry chocolately bitter coffee that finishes fast into a acidic coffee linger. Its different and okay... could be, and perhaps was better. Actually, after a while it is better. I was initially disappointed by the perceived lack of depth or richness in flavor. But it is still well put together.

Very strange Impy stout imo. Big chocolate and malt notes. Dark pour with a thick creamy head. Not quite like the other stouts out there, but ok none the less.

2001 British Vintage, bottled. Wow! This is truly an intense beer. I have never sampled a beer with such heavy notes of roast. Moreover, it was quite dry (woody) and had a nice thick & oily palate. Unfortunately, the roast was just too overwhelming for me. The other characteristics - chocolate, coffee, licorice etc. - were hard to pick up on. Nonetheless, an interesting and intense stout!

Technically good, but I didn’t find this particularly enjoyable. Worchestershire and vinous nose. Salty, dry, roasty, a bit nutty. Thinnish body. Medium coffee finish.

2000 bottle. Nah, I’m not buying it, the soy sauce comes on too strong and overpowers the rest of the flavors. There is a lot going on here but it all gets pushed into the background by an oily slick mouthfeel, and an overpowering initial aroma and taste of soy sauce, which I like but I don’t drink. This is what I would expect drinking marinade to be like. Come to think of it, this would make a good marinade.

A tough, challenging beer, an appropriate #200. There is lots of non-traditional-beer character to this one. Aroma is perhaps vinous, perhaps sherry, perhaps port, perhaps brandy. I wouldn’t know for sure, as I don’t drink those liquors. Pours hard black with no hope of translucence. Brown tinges around the edges. No head. Flavor is not especially out of left field for an Impy, but mouthfeel is slick alcohol without the sting in the throat. Smooth. Date on the bottle is 2000. Worth sitting through, as this offers a most unique drinking experience. This one demands your careful attention.

black oil slick. No carbonation. Aroma of cherries and soy sauce. Flavor initially is harsh with soy sauce dominant, some worcester sauce..then rolls over tongue and changes to dark cherries, malt, and then disapears into a bitter, alc. finish. I like it though i keep thinking i shouldnt.

2001 vintage - my liquor merchant told me this was very hard to procure. Whether outwardly perceived as positive or negative aspects, "intense" is indeed the best word to describe the overall nature of this beer. Interesting pour - little head with just a few large bubbles on one side - yet it seems as if that could be a trait of a bottle conditioned stout; also specifically lacking in lacing, again not a detriment for this style. Aroma is smooth, containing elements of hops, clove and coriander; maybe a bit of less pleasant alcohol present in the aroma as well. Flavor is to be savored, with wild cherry, clove, maple leaf (not maple syrup) and roasted black malt, followed by a rush of hops and warm, inert alcohol. Finish is pleasantly bitter and warmly toasty, evident of high-grade hops and malt (comparatively in that order). I have had the privilege to drink antique beer from the 1800’s and this represents pretty much something that could have come out of one of those bottles. Especially with regards to the creamy texture and micronized carbonation -- a true classic in modern times.