Moylans Ryan OSullivans Imperial Stout

Brewed by Moylans Brewery & Restaurant
Style: Imperial Stout
Novato, California USA

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Rich, luxurious, just missing that complexity of other classics in the style. All the classic flavours though. Solid Impy.

Bomber from Ottos in Brookfield aged for 9 months, shared with ck1. Pours an opaque black with a tan head leaving nice lacing. Aroma has chocolate, caramel and oatmeal. Really nice! Taste is of smooth sweet chocolate, cocoa and caramel, with oatmeal. Some roast. Slightly rough, with a nice sweet bitterness. This was a good one! ck1 a 15 also.

Tasted in 2010 (backlog). Black with a decent sized tan head. Aroma is roasty with coffee and toast. Taste is of roasted malts and coffee.

Black in color with possibly one of the coolest-looking medium-brown, billowy, cavernous head I’ve ever seen. Over time, that beautiful head settles to a thin film, leaving behind a gorgeous, light brown lacing that’s reddish brown in the more concentrated areas. The aroma is quite unique, with a nice, soft blend of cocoa and currants. Moylan’s hit the nail on the head with the chocolate truffle description, because it’s almost spot on in the nose. It’s just as soft in the mouth, with more roasted malts showing through up front, followed by a soft chocolate flavor, then a somewhat harsh roasted malt finish that exhibits more of that burnt currant flavor. Something about its booziness reminds me of a weak sherry (man, Moylan’s really did do a great job of describing the beer), but the dense, soft, silky, almost chewy roasted malt and chocolate richness takes the edge off and rounds the beer out very well. There’s just the right level of alcohol in this to be exhibited as well as it is. Minutes after my last sip I can still taste a boozy fruitiness in the roof of my mouth that almost reminds me of a red wine. Soy sauce also comes to mind when the beer first enters the mouth, but I’m not sure how legit that is since my wife is in the kitchen cooking right now. Overall, this is a wonderful imperial stout that has some great, unique qualities. If you like your imperial stout to taste like it has alcohol in it, and if you like it to taste like something other than roasted malts or just chocolate, this is well worth it.

Bottle. Pours a near-black color with a moderate tan head. Nose has some dark fruit elements in there and some roasting underneath. Taste has some coffee notes in there and just a tad bitter.

65 cl bottle @ Olutravintola Konttori, Tampere.
Originally rated on 20090927.
Pours pitch black color with a small beige head. Aroma of dark roasted malts, licorice notes, cocoa, dark chocolate, some tar and mild fruity hops. Flavor of dark chocolate, licorice, syrup notes, roasted malts and some caramel. Thick oily palate. Excellent.

Cask at ACAT. Pours black with a dark brown head that dissipates slowly to the edges. Aroma has a strong chocolate malt with roasted malts and backing coffee. Flavor has a strong chocolate note up front supported by roasted malts and a touch of coffee in the finish.

22 oz from brewery via beer jobber. pretty hard not to give this one a thumb’s up. this is not for the faint of heart. big big big, chewy, chocolate coffee, oak, a few big hops thrown in - but wish it had more. you name it, this stout has it. great stuff for a winter snowy night. wish i had a fire going.

Black and thick. Big hop character with coffee malts. Very strong, somewhat bitter.

This beer pours beautifull with a nice dark colored head. The aroma comes out at you with a wonderful malty aroma. The color is as black as they come. The taste is relatively good, but has too much residual sweetness to my palate. The perceived sweetness could be associated with a bitterness. However, this perception detracts from the beer, making this a beer that I would only drink one of, as opposed to having a second. Without the perceived residual sweetness, this beer would be ranked much higher for me.