Left Hand Wake Up Dead Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout

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

Serve in Snifter

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Black bodied, creamy tan head. Malty base aroma with proper hop back-up. Toast, figs, butterscotch, cinnamon muffin, toffee and earthy. Refined and without any wood distractions. Sweet taste with Belgian like complexity, but enough hops to keep this going. Long aftertaste. Excellent brew. Much like a quad rather than an impy. Glad they send this over to Europe! (67cl bottle, reasonably priced)

Hoo-ah! What a bold flavor, sort of a licoricey coffeey taste. Pours jet black with a slight purpleness similar to Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron. Slight lacing but little head. Picked this up because the glasses were priced 50% off so it was a no brainer. 10.2% ABV so it hits hard. Tasty but obviously strong so this would be an occasional treat. "A full bodied Russian Imperial Stout" from their website.

Very dark red-brown with miniscule tan head. Aroma not too strong, caramel, dark red fruits, a little chocolate. Medium body and somehow a little thin. Slight carbonation, not much alcohol. Flavors roasted malts, coffee, raisins. Flavors are pretty good but somehow the whole thing not entirely working and as others have noted seems kind of thin and not quite right for an imperial stout.

Appearance: burnt browns and liquid charcoal. Small fizzy tan head fades into a thin collar with nothing in-between. Garnet glints at the bottom. Swirls along the sides with no lace.
Nose: chocolate candies – the kind one is filled with liqueur such as Kahlua. A bit fizzy. Vanilla along the edges – more extract than root. Chocolate cherry vanilla cola. Generic woodsy rusticity. A bit simple.
Palate: creamy and fizzy like cherry vanilla cola. Grabs back of my throat with vanilla extract and Kahlua filled chocolate candies. Raw boozy woods followed by caramel, vanilla, and milk chocolate all melted into one. Hint of tartness and tannins in the back. A bit quick to hit with the flavor and equally quick to fade into nothing. Rustic in the middle and boozy and spicy. Fizzy sweet cola stickiness never really disappears from around the edges – a bit of a distraction.
Final Thoughts: pretty good but a bit muddled and rough around the edges. Flavors were there and they were good but they just didn’t quite meet in harmony.

Nice burnt roasted malts, wood, coffee, and licorice. The body is medium and finishes with a slight black olive smack. I like it.

Pours black with a thin dark tan head that fades fast. Aroma is strong on the booze and bitter coffee, some dark fruits, mainly raisins. Taste is nice with some coffee and chocolate and raisins, a bit of smoke. Palate was kinda thin but this impy stout is all in all still worth trying.

Bad bottle alert!! Anyone else? This just tastes off in every sense. Smells off. A bit of coffee and a funky taste in my mouth.

22 ounce bottle that poured a thin dark brown color with aromas of bourbon, wood, vanilla, cocoa, chocolate, and feint hint of maple syrup. Flavors are the same, the flavors played well with each other, even though it was thin on the palate, this was still a pretty decent beer.

Pours black with a hint of brown with a small tan head and not much lacing. Aroma is chocolate syrup, coffee, and a bit of smokiness. Thick body. Taste is fairly sour, with an unsatisfying finish. I had gread expectations after trying Left Hand’s Milk Stout and seeing the great label. I love Imperial Stouts but doubt if I’ll try this one again.

Pours dark brown with a tan head that dissipates to a ring. Not a lot of lacing. Really nice aroma of chocolate syrup, roasted malts, and coffee. There is something about the taste that is not working for me. It has some earthiness and dark fruit, but it has an odd bitterness. Aftertaste is coffee.