Harveys Imperial Stout

(on bottle 2001 edit.) A truely remakrkable beer., as winelike as they come, I would think. Pours a pitchblack, reddish fluidum, with no head. Aroma of port, raisins and amarone-wine. The mouthfeel is very oily and slick. My dad had a sip and called the texture "fat as agustura". Allthough never barelaged, the impressions of wine continiues with barrel-like flavours,bitter chocolate and a potent lash of alcohol. Very full and a real timetaking drink, with the amarone-flavours rushing through the finish. Would be a treat to serve for wine-fanatics.

1999 vintage. Bought off the liquor store, not sure how long it sat on the shelf. 11.2oz bottle. Tasted in New Belgium worthy glass @ 48 degrees. No head, just a bit of foam. Oily black color. Smells like "old," I don’t know what that means, but that is what it smells like. It also smells kind of sour and has hints of a dark red wine like Zinfandel. The taste is surprisingly fruity initially and sweet too. The sweetness turns sour (not bad) and salty? The flavor seems a bit vinegary. I can taste dark berries. It tastes reminiscent of port. I would like to see what this tastes like new. This is an intense beer, I would actually like a cigar to smoke with it, it certainly wouldn’t get overwhelmed by one. I don’t know what to make of this beer. It has redeeming qualities, but it is just too much for me. It is possible that the beer is "over the hill," but as I read through the other reviews, this seems to be a similar experience as others are having. Plain and simple, it is like drinking history. ADDITIONAL NOTES: after fighting the urge to dump 1/2 of this down the drain, I sat here and sipped it occasionally and appreciated it more. It is very complex and unlike any imperial stout (or beer for that matter) that I have ever had. The nose is really pretty nice, I don’t know if it needed to sit and grab some air after 5 years in the bottle, warm up, or me warm up to it, but it does smell nice. I also get a lot more of the fruit and seems less sour (once again, maybe just me). The finish is akin to bitter chocolate covered underipe raspberries. The mouthfeel is still oily. I’m sorry for the long review, but this is one of the most unusual beers I have ever had and I have a bit of a mind to pen writing style, I just write whatever I think. I rated it 7/3/6/3/10 at first, I will bump up my ratings to reflect what it tastes like now. There is no way that I could ever drink more than 1 of these in a setting.

(2000 Vintage) Essentially no head or carbonation. Large wine bubbles line the edge of the glass. Rich aroma of raisins, dates, grapes and a hint of wet wood. Color is essentially black but leaves a very dark brown film on the glass as it is swirled. Wow, amazingly thin mouthfeel for a beer that appears to be thick and syrupy. Burnt, carbon flavor with a good alcohol warming. Makes the mouth tingle. Goes down very easy. Slight tart finish and aftertaste. A decent imperial stout but is missing some body and is lax in the flavor department. Seems to be past its prime.

2001 Vintage. Served at room temperature (when I ordered this from the bar, the bartender pulled this bottle from one off of one the shelves). Poured a dark black with a smaller brown head. Aromas and tastes of chocolates, dark fruits and coffee. Some licorice. Medium alcohol in the aroma and taste as well. Almost has a whiskey quality to it.

2001 vintage. Pours black with no head or carbonation. Strong scents of berries and a hint of chocolate is present nice nutmeggy finish. Not what I was expecting, but a great beer nonetheless.

2000 Vintage: HUGE black currant, syrah, blackberry and raspberry aromas accompanied by mild sourness. Blacker than black with absolutely no head. Very, very low carbonation. Mildly sour flavor up front with big, spicy blackberry/black currant flavors giving way to extremely bitter chocolate and a touch of coffee. Heavy bodied, complex sweetness. This is big, bold, heavy, VERY complex and absolutely wonderful.

Bottled 2000. Pours pitch black with no head or carbonation. Aroma is somewhat fruity but dominated by vinegar. I thought maybe the bottle had gone bad until I read some of the other comments. Tastes include dark fruits and wine as well as the vinegar. Also as someone else wrote; Worcestershire sauce. It’s there! I really don’t know what to think about this beer. I love sour ales but this may be a little too out there for me. Perhaps I’ll try a second bottle. Definitely could use carbonation of some sort.

Bottled 2001. Poured dark black with a short tan head. Raisins, spice and slight sour/tart in aroma. Sweet chocolate start with roast spicy finish. Weird sour aftertaste that totally clashed with the other flavours. Not quite sure if I liked this one, maybe I got a bad bottle (cork looked a little dodgy).