Harveys Imperial Stout

Brewed by Harveys
Style: Imperial Stout
Lewes, England

Brown bottle purchased at Monk’s café, Philadephia, PA. Bottle conditioned. 2001 Vintage. ABV 9%. Black hued having no discernable head. No discernable carbonation. Aroma of sour cherries and roasted malt. Full bodied with mouth-coating oiliness that starts with complex flavors of smoke, dried fruit (prunes and cherries), roasted malt, and light sweet malt. Finishes dry with light bitterness. Very rich, creamy, and delicious. Probably the best imperial stout that I’ve tried so far.

11.2oz brown bottle corked - 1999 vintage. Completely opaque black body with a thin film of brown head. Smells sweet and roasty, with hints of licorice and wood (smoke?). Tastes sweet with burnt malt and suggestions of licorice and alcohol. Alcohol is very well-hidden though, and the rest of the flavors, while prominent, are rather mellow (presumably due to the aging). Nice and full-bodied, though not syrupy or sticky in any way. Very drinkable considering the strength/abv... This beer is fantastic. Not something I’d have every day, but this beer is great. Aged really well.

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. 2001 Vintage. Shared with Grovlam. Pours absolutely pitch black with no head whatsoever. Not even a slight film - nothing! Feels like tar, when you pour and when you look at it. Great aroma - roasted, vinious, sherry, cognac and a touch of berries! Extremely low carbonated making drinking it like downing tar (not that I’ve tried!). Flavour is dominated by a clear and very present roastiness, balanced out well by some sweet berries again. Very complex in its taste.

the other reviews don’t seem to be about the same beer I am drinking. First, absolutely no foam or head of any kind. No sourness, no vinegar. It is sweet molasses, pours like kahlua, syrupy texture that coats the mouth and won’t let go. beautiful almost irridescent coffee color. Mild and yet strong. Powerful and benevolent, impressive and unassuming. A beer that doesn’t push you around and yet, lets you know it is there.

This is 2000 vintage in a wrapped cork bottle. Pours dark and thick with no head. Just a brown fringe around the edge. Totally opaque Dark brown glass of history. The first impression is of a fine dark red wine. Alcohol and dark fruits in the nose. But more. Barnyard smells. The beer flows down the tongue with a thick feel. And the flavor echoes the nose. It is easy to see why people in the 1800’s compared this style of beer to wine. And thumbed their nose to the wine snobs, because beer is better.

Bottle, 2001 on the label,but obviously younger.Almost black and almost no head at all. Very promising on the nose, boasting intense dark fruitiness. Flavours are filled with bitter chocolate, plum and rum. Bitter, dry and vinous. Oaky finish. Soft and full-bodied. A world-class beer, that just needs a little softening (age?) to compete with the no 1.

Bottle, 2001 vintage. It pours a black, at least almost black, body looking clear, and without any head, except for a few bubbles disappearing quickly. Quite oily pour. Sourish, slightly vinegary aroma, almost cherry-like, with oak, cellar, roasted and burnt malt. Oxidized. Sweet, some soy-sauce and salt, with some caramel. Coffee and roasted malt too. And of course, there’s oxidation. No carbonation at all, full-bodied and oily, with a long sourish stout-finish. It’s a lovely beer in a special way, I guess it’s a beer you either love or hate (yes, I know there’s lots of ratings at the middle of the scale) and it sure takes some time to finish. One hour for a small bottle would probably be quite fast. Rating: 8-5-8-4-17-4.2.

Bottle, 2001 vintage, at Københavnske Øldage. Black, with some brown bubbles on top. Smoked, port-like aroma, with tar and some dried figs, raisins and fruits. Tar, smokenotes, bitterness, coffee, port and some chocolate and hops. Full body, drying coffee-bitter finish. Wonderful. (070512)