Olde Hickory Imperial Stout

Brewed by Olde Hickory Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Hickory, North Carolina USA

Serve in Snifter

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Waxed bomber pours up less than (label stated) darker than night with a tan head. The aroma is sweet with malts, molasses and sweet pine hop infused wort followed by some chocolate and alcohol heat. The taste is bright with carbonation enhanced malts, roasted malts and then mildly burnt malts just before molasses and chocolate join in. By midway it stays sweet with some pine hops and a wort sensation. It ends with lingering sweetness and modest burnt maltiness.

Tap at Olde Hickory. Pours a nice rich deep dark black with a thin lasting head- some lace. Aroma is nutty big black chocolate malts, good big acrid and burnt roasted barley, some char light smoke, decent ester profile- lightly fruity and some caramel sweetness as it warms. Flavor is oily- licorice and tar, big black malts, chocolate and roast, light coffee, some green grassy notes, perhaps a hint of apple acetaldehyde, as it warms more fruit tones and nutty malts come through- medium sweetness some molasses and honey- decent roasty bitter finish. Nice.

Thanks to whoever brought this to Pre-Sex, and here’s hoping that OH bottles start making the rounds because this was damn good. Fairly average appearance but a very nice aroma, with roasted malts and grains blending quite well with the honey addition. Silky, oily mouthfeel, the kind of thing you want to linger on for a while. Some tasty coffee and dry chocolate are there in the flavors, but the soft sweetness of the honey gives it a distinctive taste and impressive balance.

Tthanks to Jay for sharing! Dark viscous pour with a thin tan head. Aroma is roast and alcohol. Flavor is bittersweet chocolate, roasted grains, and espresso. Long bitter finish

Pours a dark black allowing some light with a tan head. Nose is sweet, bakers chocolate, coffee roast, some grain, big hop profile. Flavor is hoppy, some alcohol, grain, mild astringency, roasty, mild chocolate/coffee on the end. Thick/viscous mouthfeel.

Bomber from Bruisin’. This is a very dark beer. It looks near black. However, there is no head of which to speak and the carbonation and density look very low considering the color. The aroma is pretty nice, spot on for the style. It is very roasty and sharp with lots of espresso and baking chocolate. I honestly didn’t notice any honey in the aroma until I saw it on the label and tried to detect it myself. The honey qualities are understated, which may be for the better. The palate is very slick with barely any carbonation to speak of and it is a little thin in proportion to the type of flavor. I guess I’m just conditioned to having a fairly heavy palate on a beer that has so much roasty, coffee-like imperial stout goodness. The finish is where the honey is most noted, but it never steals the spotlight. I’m very happy drinking this one down, but it doesn’t quite compare to the Blue Ridge honey imperial stout. To sum up: great aroma, great flavor, needs more body and needs more roast.

UPDATED: FEB 25, 2012
Name: Imperial Stout, BA
Date: December 12, 2009
Mode: Draft
Source: Foothills
Appearance: black, fine tan head, drippy lace
Aroma: sweet bourbon and dark chocolate aroma
Flavor: big roasted flavor, bourbon and vanilla sweetness, bitter dark chocolate, touch of oak, long bitter finish

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: *** /4

Date: May 08, 2010
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Simpson Satisifier
Appearance: black, fine tan head, drippy lace
Aroma: big roasty and hoppy aroma
Flavor: rich roasty flavor, plenty of hops, touch of caramel sweetness, dark chocolate bitterness

Date: January 05, 2012
Mode: bottle
Source: Ale Atlanta
hops have died down letting the caramel sweetness pull out more of a chocolate character,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *** /4