 grant (753), Martinez, California, USA
Jan 4, 2004
Dark brown with clinging beige head. Aroma is smoky, gassy, charred wood, vanilla bean and alcohol. Flavor is slightly sweet, milky, and charred to the extreme. WAY overboard on the black patent malt here. Lots of espresso notes here, but lacking the fruity complexity of my favorite imperial stouts. Probably a bit too hoppy, and this combines with the grainy bitterness to create a somewhat unpleasant astringency. Very creamy, almost fatty finish--kind of like a pudding of sorts. The very bitter roasty notes hang around for a LONG time. Quite enjoyable, but not my kind of imperial.
pepperford (79), robbinsdale, Minnesota, USA
Aug 20, 2008 This is a good beer to compare all others. The appearance is a black hole from which no light can escape. The aroma is like sticking your head in a coffee roaster that is in the middle of a chocolate factory. The flavor is smokey, leathery, nicely bitter, cocoa, coffee, allspice, with hint of sweetness. I love the not too sweet aftertaste, and the dry finish. The ABV is well hidden. gooooood stuff
Praetorian (42), Los Angeles, California, USA
Aug 20, 2008 Black in color with a small light brown with minimal lacing. The aroma is of coffee and caramel with a strong alcohol backbne. The flavor is of coffee grounds with a sweet start and a bitter finish. Very mellow. The texture is creamy. A bit timid for an imperial stout, but enjoyable nonetheless.
thickfreakness (53), Austin, Texas, USA
Aug 19, 2008 Pours black with ruby edges when held to the light. 1-inch mocha head that lasts a bit. Coffee, chocolate, burnt/roasted malts and earthy hops on the nose. Taste is a lot of the same with lots of coffee and chocolate and bitter roast/hopped finish. A little on the high side of carbonation and medium bodied. A good, year round RIS.
yumyum (50), barrie, Ontario, Canada
Aug 18, 2008 decent but was outclassed in my opinion by what it was matched up against (victoy storm king and nogne imperialstout) Pours black with a light tan head which persisted longest of the 3. Perhaps the hoppiest of the 3. Aroma was decent but paled to nogne. Flavour was good, chocolatey, roasty coffee. Initial trial reminded me of john by imperial stout. Overal a good beer that I will let age a little since it seemed to be lacking something. Perhaps not as balanced as others? I’m not quite sure.
sstackho (242), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Aug 17, 2008 Four 12oz bottles for $9 from Bauer Wines in Boston. Pours black, with a good head. Very good lacing. Rich nose of malts and hops. First taste is strong and warm, but the main taste is hurt by what feels like too much alcohol, so it goes down hot - and I typically have no problem with big beers. Tangy flavour. Nice lingering hop and malt aftertaste. Overall, I’m not actually enjoying this one too much. I will let its brothers age.
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