Left Hand Wake Up Dead Imperial Stout

Brewed by Left Hand Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Longmont, Colorado USA

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Perfectly black with a big, oatmeal/cardboard colored head with varying sizes of bubbles. Smell is very light of fresh vegetable hops, malt, butterscotch, sugars. Taste is very flavorful, smooth chocolate then roasted espresso beans. As it sits on the tongue grapes, butterscotch, brown sugar and raisins ooze into your taste buds. Very good, smooth palate. Aftertaste is complete roastiness, reminds me of a fireplace or BBQing outside. Excellent beer for a cold, crisp fall night. And the 10% alcohol will keep you warm to boot!

Bottle. Deep brown with red hints against light. No head to speak of. Medium bodied. Lots of roast malts. Some coffee notes. Decent but not overwhelming.

UPDATED: JAN 16, 2006 The bottle I had was WAY overcarbonated it foamed up to be half head half beer in the glass on a good slow pour. Coffe Ground (stale) flavors and aromas as well as mild choclate. Bitter and syrupy rather than thick.

Pours dark, with very little head. Smells bitter, winey. Taste impressions: Dark roasted malt. Alcohol. Little hoppiness - indirectly you notice the hops though - as the malt isn’t super sweet, there’s some balance. If you swish around the beer over your tongue, winey characteristics present themselves. Almost starts feeling like a barleywine. The beer feels a tad bit more porter-ish than a dark stout such as the Great Divide Yeti. But that not-withstanding, it’s the Left Hand Imperial Stout is a fine beer with some complex characteristics that shine through upon longer examination.

This was the first sample of an Imperial Stout tasting that I had a few days ago. It was followed by Stone Imperial Russian Stout, Great Divide Yeti and Bell’s Expedition. It was by far the worst of the four. Dark Brown. The nose was dry, with a prominent cocoa base and other notes of chocolate, coffee and black currants. Front is light and airy with dark fruits (blackberries and plums). Mid palate is mainly coffee and chocolate. Finish is rich and lingering with notes of cinnamon, toffee and hop resins. Slighty astringent and moderate sourness. Cloying. Too hoppy for the style.

Dark, but not completely black appearance with a rocky, off white head. Aroma had a smoky, peat-like quality. Sweet, malty flavors emerged from the full bodied taste. There was a hint of butterscotch in the finish but it was quickly overwhelmed by the bitterness that sometimes comes from roasted malts. Hops stayed in the background.

Pours black with smallish tan head. Nose is somewhat sweet and of roasted malt. Not much noticable hops. Flavor is coffeeish, chocolatey with licorice and plumby. There is a thickness to the mouthfeel. Very smooth though. Nice lingering finish.

Pours thick black. Small amount of fine head the color of espresso crema. Aroma predominately of the heavily roasted malt. I get a bit of pine and plums in there too. "Aggressive use of hops", huh? I don’t taste ’em. The roasted malt is there in a big way. Some espresso and port there too. A pretty good imperial stout that could use some more balance. Maybe a year or two of aging would help.

Bottled. Looks like a Brown Ale, sweet overtones with no other real flavorful depth. Disappointing.

Black, but light passes all the way through upon inspection, reddish tint, rapidly fading head. Aroma resembles burnt wood. Flavor is focused on roasted notes, with a bit of vague pine hops at the end. Almost thin on the palate. One dimensional. Didn’t do much for me.