Harveys Imperial Stout

Brewed by Harveys
Style: Imperial Stout
Lewes, England

Serve in Snifter

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UPDATED: DEC 9, 2006 Deep black color, no head at all indeed. Aroma is heavy licorice, oak wood and some ashes, vinous and port-like. Very sweet and sour stout, quite bitter in palate. Some medicine and unbalance in taste though.

pours opaque black with no head.aroma of soy sauce and port.flavor is flat witha smokey sweetness that is quite unpleasant.finish is long and bitter.no carbonation.this taste like the kind of thing your mother gave you when you were constipated.im sure im making the same face.of all the beers ive had in my 47 years this is truely the worst.

2001 bottle...Pours black with ruby hues and a thin mocha head. Aroma is dark fruity/winey. Flavor is smoky...like jerky...with mild dark fruit and ash. Mouthfeel is medium and finish is smoky...very jerky like.

2008 vintage. Thanks to KyotoLefty. Burnt wood, ash, thick roast malt flavors. Dark with a thick tan head. Wonderful blend of sweet and smokey flavors. Very thick body. Really well integrated and not over the top. 2000 vintage rated in tandem with the above: 6/3/6/2/13 = 2.9. Prune juice and soy sauce aroma. Black-purple, completely flat. Flavors of fermented prunes, salt, and wood. Flat, medium body. Strange, past its prime, but not unpleasant.

11.2 oz bottle pours black with no head. Aroma of roasted malt and coffee. Taste is nice roasted malt, coffee and chocolate. It however is missing something.

UPDATED: APR 6, 2012 What the hell is this? A sour? A stout? Both?Idk. It’s thick and creamy right out of the gate. Nice head, and preminiscent of the beer itself, also thick and creamy. It Dissipates nicely and leaves little legs on the glass. It’s nose is sweet and... Figgy? I take a sip, and raisins? No... Figs... No... Wait, that’s not just a sweet fruit taste, that’s a sour beer flavor! A sour stout?? I can’t figure this beer out, but it’s amazing in all it’s unique attributes. I might cellar a case of this and see how time treats the bottle. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

28cl, as (Harveys) Imperial Extra Double Stout, English brew, from The Bottle Shop Canterbury, very complex Stout, roasted/vinous and slightly woody/fruity, not too heavy, very balanced, hazy, good head, top class!, yet expensive!

2001 bottle. Worst soy sauce since triple bock. Total drain pour. The aroma and appearance gave me high hopes.

2008 vintage. 9.3 oz bottle poured into a snifter. 9% abv. Appearance is pitch black with a decent one finger dark brown head. Decent retention for a beer of this strength. Quite a bit of cherry in the nose along with wood, dark cocoa, and red wine. Almost a slight sour, lambic smell to it. Taste has a lot of cherry at first along with some other dark fruit. This then leads to a sweet, almost milk chocolate flavor along with some roastiness. There is a light tartness on the tip of the tongue along with a strong warmth from the alcohol. Mouthfeel is very slick and finishes quite sticky. I’m sort of torn on this beer. There are many complex flavors but the whole package seems a bit overwhelming. The alcohol is more present than the 9% would lead one to believe and the sweetness comes close to being cloying. Not sure I would get it again but I’m glad I tried it.

2003 bottle purchased at Chuck’s Fine Wines a couple years back. Black pour with nary a head to be seen. Nice aroma of dark chocolate, fig, raisin and red wine. Kinda smells like Sam Triple Bock. Flavor is red wine that’s turning to vinegar. Very tanniny with misplaced sourness. A bit of chocolate character before a bitter finish. Loved the aroma, but didn’t finish the couple ounces I poured.

An interesting beer for my 100th review. I had this from a 9.3oz bottle from 2008. Pours motor oil black with a big dark tan head. The aroma is huge! I smells lots of oak, spice, earth, brandied cherries and chocolate. This is reminding me very much of a well aged red wine, a nice Burgundy maybe. Taste like complex roasted malts, cola, dark red fruits, earth and some undertones of hops in the after taste. Mouth feel is very smooth for such a big tasting beer. The alcohol is quite present and warming, but seems to add to the experience very nicely. This is such a big and interesting beer that it is hard to be neutral about it. I think the three years of aging probably was very useful in taming some of the intense flavors, but I would like to try some other years of this beer to test my hypothesis. I am all for this big unique beer.