Harveys Imperial Stout

Brewed by Harveys
Style: Imperial Stout
Lewes, England

Very thick creamy malty Imperial Stout. Surprisingly low in hop bitterness, flavor, and aroma. More chocolate than roasted flavors. Not like any Imperial Stout I’ve had before but very tasty nonetheless.

2000 bottle - very watery pour , little head. the sweet aroma hides the dark flavor. heavy malts and chocalate match the fruit and raisin flavors. it is definatly and sweet and sour flavor

[Vintage 2001, sampled January 28th, 2004] A pithc black beer with a chocolate brown head, though disappearing. The aroma is light though complex containing notes of wood, burnt caramel, prunes, raisins, and chocolate both sweet and bitter. The flavor is very complex too; at first it is very woody, in the middle: fruity, combined with hops, oil, soya, spices, licorice and chocolate. To end on a dry woody finish combined with notes of licorice and chocolate. The palate is great and all in all this beer is great!

(2000 vintage) Pours jet-black with just a few black-brown bubbles; nearly viscous; and the cork, of abysmal quality, has expanded little corkfluff all over the surface. Dried plums, vinous, nearly acetic or balsamico; also very remarkedly dried figs. Somewhere something smoked is suggested. Again extremely vinous in the taste, tart, over-woody character; walnut and its green husk - even ink-like. Bitter, but the vinous character makes it more as tannines, or tuber-like, than hoppy. Tobacco and vanilla retronasal. Very viscous (pouring is affirmed), syrupy. Velvety is too mild - its like drinking compressed cotton or gauze. Very bitter aftertaste, tobacco-like. This is BIG and complex - nothing subtle and layered about it - just an enormous punch. And not to be missed, IMO.

1999 Bottle. Opaque black body, with a dark brown head. Aroma is vinous, and chocolate. Dry roastiness, very smooth, slight chocolate flavors, good balance of hops. Well concealed 9% abv.

2001 Edition Deepest, darkest, blackest color you can have, with a head that doesn’t foam, just exists as a slight toasted brown ring, that swiftly diminishes away. Aroma: incredible! Dark as possible, whiskeyish, licorice, cherries, chocolatey, dark rum, mollasses, every sensation that ever wafted from an Imperial Stout is here in ample supply, more twisted and viscous and damnable as ever. Taste: small, if even, evidence of hops, but a vast buttress of dark, tangible malt is fully in command of this entry, here. Rich, thick, sticky sweet, with a mouthfeel that doesn’t get quite as full as I like...a bit too slick, with a finish that clings for a time, but not long enough. I like the idea behind this ale, and the historical connotations, but it’s not as well-balanced as it could be. The strength, somehow, didn’t stick out..wait, no, here it comes...the missing IS qualities had me reaching for the Old Rasputin bottle waiting for me, but might that be tempting a sadder fate than my evening deserves... This is quite an interesting, and a good, stout, but isn’t going to vault to the top of list of favorites any time soon. Save for special occasions only. Not an everday drinking IS in the least.

2001 bottle, thanks Sham. Well guess what, it is 4 years old, has been sitting in my glass for almost an hour and I have a decent sheet of dark brown foam over it to remind me of the louder than most pop upon opening, call me lucky:) Nevertheless, few imperials score such a head and this one is as black as it gets, the kind of black that acts like a mirror, you can’t see 1mm through it. An easy 5. Aroma is highly vinous, interestingly balsamic and feels original in that aspect. I’ve had a few poor excuses of impies that had a lot of citric acidity, but this is tannic, fruity and corky like a fine red wine. Meaty molasses maltiness abund surrounding a slight milk chocolate sweetness. Alcohol appears more and more as it warms, through aniseseed and bubblegum flavors that remind of the finest liqueurs. I have no idea how those spicy cork notes manage to work well with the roastiness, but you have to taste it to believe it. Very complex. Oily palate proposes mostly low though well spread out carbonation and is probably the weakest link to me though I guess it would lose a lot of its charm with a belgian carbonation of a dark lord syrupyness. Delicious... Classic characteristics of imperial stouts meeting with a bière de garde.

1999 Vintage (at the time i had it aged around 7 years). Pours a dark opaque black with small tan head. The smell really hits you hard right off with oak, cork, malt, and chocolate. Flavor is resonably complex and very powerful. You can certainly taste the alcohol in this one. This beer is thick, very malty, and very unique. This is one you’ve gotta try if you ever see it, becuase really it’s not like any other.