Harveys Imperial Stout

Brewed by Harveys
Style: Imperial Stout
Lewes, England

Original Rating 6/23/04: Glass of tar, anyone? Good crikey... "complex flavor"? Yeah, no kidding! Aroma and taste are full of various earthy tones, chocolate, coffee, roasted everything... Tasty, but not for the faint of heart. 7/4/6/3/15 Re-Rate 1/24/08; 2003 Vintage: Wow... been a long time! Pitch black color with no head and no carbonation. Strong aroma of cherry, chocolate and port. More of the same in the flavor, along with a very slight roasted malt hit. Quite oxidized and almost a touch sour.

First rating
(Bottle at a beer tasting in Göteborg on July 4, 2008)
2003 version as "A. Le Coq Imperial Extra Double Stout"
Black color, light brown head. Mostly sour scent. Salty, sour, dry cocoa taste. Alcohol aftertaste. Warming alcohol. Smooth mouthfeel, medium bitterness.
3/3/4/4/8=2.2

Rerate
As "Harvey Imperial Double Extra Stout"
33 cl bottle at Bishops Arms Järntorget, Göteborg. On Ocotber 20, 2009 - during the porter week.
Marked 2003
Black color, no head. Vinous, raissin, alcohol, acidic, vanilla scent. Salty, wood like, alcohol, soy sauce taste. Some wood but mostly salty aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel, low bitterness.
5/2/4/4/9=2.3

2000 bottle consumed February 29 2004.
Finally decided to break this one out. Thick, viscous, oily deep dark black, could not get any head out of mine. Opaque, bottle conditioned. Aroma that you can almost drink; french roast coffee, rich dark chocolate, heavily roasted barley, light hints of maple and soy. Incredible. Flavor is immediately very salty and in your face, and makes a quick transition in to black roasted malt. Flavor deepens and adds some bitter chocolate, and plenty of vinous alcohol notes. Oak barrel flavor is subtle and combines well with the deep roast. Bitter, dark coffee on the finish and some more woodiness with a hint of anise and hazelnuts. Incredibly complex, delicious and full-bodied, supremely well-balanced. Sure, it has some preliminary signs of oxidation; there is some thinning on the finish, but it adds a vintage feel to this and stretches out the flavors. 9/4/8/4/18
2001 bottle Drunk on 11/02/05 at Sunset Grille
Completely flat pour. Even vigorously pouring it results in no head. Aroma of deep black chocolate and espresso, with a thick, pervasive dusty, cardboardy-like yeast. Prunes and lots of vinousness. Not too shabby in the nose, were it not for the thick, dulling yeast. Flavor really has suffered, unfortunately. Thick, dull, dirty yeast remeniscent of bacterial infections I’ve tasted in T. Hardys. Flat, oxidized mouthfeel. The strong black bitterness and sourish vinousness go nowhere when the beer is in this condition. A pity, really and I’m torn as to whether to lower the score. But having had this only twice now and seeing the other poor ratings, I think I will. If future samples prove that this is just an anomaly, I doubt I will count this sample. 8/2/5/2/9
1999 bottle drunk on 2/17/07
This was a strange experience to say the least. Decork it and….nothing, no carbonation escaping. The pour is completely flat and lifeless. Hmmm, this dosent bode well…But, one smell of the aroma and I’m shocked. Smells divine! All the prunes, vanilla, tar, roast and delicious chocolate you could want, without any oxidation. Flavor took some breathing, much like an old wine, but after about 25 minutes or so, it really made a huge improvement and the flavors lightened/softened and it was actually pretty enjoyable drinking. Mouthfeel/texture was very similar to wine, but the flavor had a profound and very enjoyable smokiness, with lots of char, oil and crunchy coffee. Some bitter chocolate notes on the finish, with moderate saltiness and a hint of sweet vanilla running through it. Light suggestions of brandy in the nose, upon breathing. Really phenomenal stuff. I’m going to discount my previous bad example and chalk it up to problems with shipping/storage. I really think if you get this stuff from the source and cellar it properly, it will rarely (if ever) disappoint.

330ml bottle - - Royal Oak, London - - 2005 vintage, drunk 2007
8-5-8-4-13=3.8
Black and treacly. Smells of raisins and port-wine. Sticky sweet and savoury too - meat stock and bovril. Huge burnt malt component.
330ml bottle - - Pikkulintu, Helsinki - - 2001 vintage, drunk 2008
7-4-8-4-15=3.8
Red wine, cork, and slight snatch aroma. Sherbetty. Rich roasty taste, also some snatch. Absolutely lovely, very serious brew.

Bottle picked this up from Beers of Europe late April. Mmmhh maybe I shoulda’ had this for the 1000th, what an incredible beer. This beer poured like a slightly watered down treacle with only a small tan head, the aroma was quite strange that I can only describe as being a bit fishlike. As a child I always loved the smell of creosote and always wondered what it would be ike to lick it off the fence, how strange then at 38 I finally get to try a beer that on first taste made me think I was sucking a creosoted fence panel, guess what? It tasted great, the neighbours better watch out for a strange man with splinters in on black tongue, creeping around their fencing panels. The second taste released bitter chocolate that morphed into a creamy chocolate finish, such an intense and complicated flavour the roof of my mouth now feeling that it was coated with a layer of pitch. Another sip revealed a sour tang with chocolate and roasted flavours. I took 45mins to an hour to drink this it just demanded to be savoured, such an amazing beer that shouldn’t really work and yet it does, it’s fantastic, great accompnement to Craig Charles funk and soul show on Radio 6 on a Saturday night.

(Bottle) Sampled at The Stumbling Monk in Seattle on October 20, 2007. Very interesting - somewhat a flat flemish sour ale. Oak, woody, burnt brown sugar and red wine. I like!

Blackish colour with a small creamy brownish head. Notes of licorice and port. Complex taste of spices, licorice, malts and port.

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.