Nils Oscar Imperial Stout

Bottle. Labeled at 7%. Pours a deep black body with thin head. Aroma is roast, bitterness, chocolate, light yeast. Flavor is chocolate, bitterness, thin with a nice roast quality. Very drinkable. Nice mouthfeel, makes it a rich Imperial Stout without the heavy alcohol burn that is plagued by so many I.S.

Pours a very dark brown with a fairly mediocre tan head. Nose is roasty, chocolate and coffee, with hints of vanilla...but mostly coffee. Flavor is similar, with the roast taking on a larger role than in the nose. Finish is medium in length and fullness. Overall, this beer is a bit of a disappointment, and my second such disappointment in as many beers from Nils Oscar. Flavor and nose do improve considerably with warming, though they’re still a tad thin. This obviously rates well, so maybe this beer’s a hit-or-miss/year-to-year type brew that lacks consistency. I don’t know. But it just doesn’t cut it with the best imperial stouts, or even the second tier (very good) imperials. And considering that I can get four Old Rasputins for a little more than one bottle of this...well, that’s just too easy a choice to make!

Bottle from Capones, sampled with Stegosaurus. Dark pour with the typical roast\ coffee aroma same in the taste but I got to tell you that Stegosaurus and I found this to be a little thin and watery. We were a little dissapointed.

11.2oz bottle (mine says 7%). Poured a dark, dark brown color with an averaged sized tan head. Aromas of roast, coffee, chocolate, and a trace of dark fruits. Tastes of roast, chocolate, vanilla, and some dark fruits.

My bottle shows this at being 7% ABV rather than the 6.5% on the beer’s page. No matter. It pours a dark mahogany body, nearly black, with a short lived brown head. It has an aroma of dark roasted malt, aniseed, chocolate syrup, and a touch of charred wood. Seems a bit thin for an Imperial Stout, but still with a smooth mouthfeel. The flavor has all of the above and the addition of dark dried fruits and a nutty, woody bitterness. Very nice.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp?PlaceID=7469>West Lakeview Liquors, Chicago, IL<font size=-1>

50cl bottle, with thanks to sunevdj. Pours a dark black with a towering bubbly tan head, good lacing. Aroma is a bit thin, but presence of roasted malts, light smoke, and powdered cocoa. Flavor is thinner, but nice and roasty/burnt, with some chocolate, coffee, and a gentle hoppy bitterness. Not a butt kicking powerful Imperial Stout, but solid and enjoyable.

Bottle. The color is near black and the head is brown and short lasting. Aroma of heavily rosted malt with notes of salted liquorice, coffee, raisins/dried fruit, cocoa, smoke and fruity hops. Taste of roasted malt, coffee, salted liquorice, raisins, smoke, caramel and bitter hops. Great and well balanced Imperial Stout. 7% alcohol.

Bottle from Capone’s. Deep blackish pour with 2-finger tan head and good lacing. Aroma is roasty dark malt, chocoff, some molasses, and some PVC wafts. The taste is roasty dark malty, with some brown sugar, coffee, tart cherry, and chocolate notes. Not a terribly dense palate, and the parts just don’t seem to meld together for me. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by the huge Impy Stouts, but this one fails to wow me.