Indigo Imp 26° Tropical Stout

Brewed by Indigo Imp
Style: Stout
Cleveland, Ohio USA

Serve in English pint

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This pours pitch black, a medium ring of nice brown small suds builds then fades fairly quickly. The aroma is sweet, but not caramel sweet, this is different. The aroma also has nice roast to it. The flavour is touched with a pretty true to the aroma, the roast is bold, the touch of sweetness it out of place... But it is not bad due to a sour note that took me by surprise. This is probably one of my favorite imps so far.

12oz bottle. Poured medium-deep brown with a short tan head. The aroma picked up an odd blend of blueberry and pineapple over very sweet chocolates and some vanilla.. some metallic and citrus sour undertones.. odd. The flavor found overwhelming sour "tropical" fruits throughout.. some roasty sweet chocolates and other black malt beneath, but it didn’t do much.. tacky, metallic finish. Medium-bodied with a lot of carbonation on the palate.. sour and hopefully infected.. not good.

Courtesy of northernbrews

Bottle: The aroma has a lot of cocoa, plum, light alcohol, and roast. It pours a dark brown with no transparency and a small beige head that quickly fades to a thin ring around the edges of the glass. The flavor starts with a quick dose of chocolate before quickly turning sour. The finish has a touch of roast. Medium bodied with mild carbonation. Overall, it’s clearly infected and a drain pour.

This starts with a thin roasty aroma, with hints of chocolate. It pours an opaque black, with a ring of light tan head around the edge of the glass. There’s a bit of sourness, and just a hint of roast in the finish. Thin mouthfeel, and the alcohol is well hidden. Not a bad beer, but not much going on here.

Bottle. Pour is a reddish brown that looks dark in the glass, but lets just a hint of red filter in when held up to the light. Head is a little under a finger of dense tan foam and aromas are typical for Indigo Imp... a bit of leather and chocolate that then give way to a sourish funk... cherries and malt vinegar, in this case. Flavor is pretty good, and this comes off as a pretty nice dark sour... nothing like the "stout" on the label. The start is all dark... nice leather and dusty grain, but then it quickly turns direction and head off down "Pie Cherry Lane," finishing in a slight funky sour place as a bit of coffee and chocolate whirl around. I’m not totally sold on the Imp, but this one is fairly interesting and pretty well done.

Bottle @ home, courtesy of Brigadier. Black appearance with a creamy brown head. Roasty, slightly nutty, dark malty nose. Slightly tart, burnt, roasty chocolate malty flavor. Burnt rubber flavor.

Looks thick and black like used motor oil. Somewhat metallic aroma. Stronger wild stout feel with its littlebit of tartness. Borders on sour imp stout but never really quite gets there. You know this stuff is dark, even if you never saw it. Does have a sizzly palate at times. A little too much, even with its tartness, for this lager lover.

12 oz bottle
Giving Indigo Imp the benefit of the doubt I purchased the sampler which contained four bottles of this and two other seasonal releases. Shockingly this was good enough that I might actually finish the rest rather than give them away. Rather than mailing it in like with some of their beers Indigo Imp has put some effort into this. I’m not too optimistic that this is a trend but here’s to hoping.

Aroma / Appearance - The inky body was reddish black as if someone had poured the contents of a couple black fountain pens and then watered it down. Mango definitely gave it a tropical flair that contrasted nicely with the stout base (smokiness, chocolate, and light black coffee).

Flavor / Palate - Smoky chocolate, mango slices, and malt coat the tongue. Lingering in the palate with a dry touch it fades gently. Approachable with good balance this does a nice job of pushing the boundaries without trying to do too much. By showing some restraint rather than going wild the end result is a beer that is their best by far.

pitch black with mlld tan head. nose of roasted malt and sourness from house yeast. little bitterness before some sweetness and a lingering tartness from the house yeast. overall the roasted stout components are muted and the house yeast become predominant. an interesting idea, but the end product is less than desirable