Ottos Jolly Roger Imperial Stout

Draft. Deep black pour, with tan head. Aroma of molasses, chocoff, some hops. Tastes chocoffy, with some molasses, roasty malt, and slight hop hints. Dense on the palate, with great complexity. I enjoyed the BA more, but this one was still a marvelous beer!

Draft on the Hand Pump!!! WOW!!! This my be one of the all time best Imperial stouts I’ve ever had! The aroma makes a great first impression. Very mellow scent with a pleasant malt appearance. The look is fanatastic in a snifter. Very gracious head that stays until near the end. Very dark, awesome looking. Flavor is not bursting with flavor but mild and Extremely Pleasant! This is like tranquility in a snifter. Very peaceful with a perfect balance of malt and low bitterness. I think this is the best brew that I’ve had from Charlie at Otto’s. At this rate he will need to bottle these fine brews to rival the other heaveyweights. Triple Cheers!!!

On cask, in a snfter at Otto’s. Oily, thick, brownish-black with a beautiful firm, tan head. Chocolate, coffee, caramel, slight smoke in the nose. Flavor lives up to what the aroma promises, more of the same, chocolate, coffee, caramel, etc. Smooth beer, kind of spoils you once you drink it, cause that’s all I want to drink right now. This is a well made Imperial Stout. Bought some bottles of this while I was there and will rate one in the near future.

On cask. Really nice oaky chocolate arom. Thick rich coffee and chocolate cream Some vanilla and maple. Roasted grains and nice sweetness. Mild alcohol notes and vinuous plums. Dark black oily with thin lacing brown head. Thick oily body, light carbonation. Alcohol warming, creamy and smooth. Starts sweet and thick, with nice chocolatey coffee notes. Dry hops bitterness and roasted grains make for a pleasant finish. Mild molasses sweet tang and smoky notes in after. Overall, it’s just a bit too sweet and could use a bit more body. 9,5,8,5,16

From bottle. Alcohol vapors, chocolate, coffee, smoke, Tootsie Roll, vanilla, oak, plum. Thick black-brown clear body with thin chocolate brown lacing head. Thick oily body with medium carbonation. Taste is phenomenal - I think it’s even better in the bottle, if that’s possible. You can feel the effects when drinking a whole bomber yourself, for sure. But it’s addictive. Starts with sweet chocolate, coffee, and vanilla. Light smoke, bitter tang and rich overripe fruit. Toffee, oak, and Tootsie Roll. Mild to medium nutty sweet bitter finish with rich chocolatey coffee after. Just a damn fine example of the style without being overly dramatic. Tasty, tasty, tasty. 9,5,9,5,18.

Aug 2007 batch
Served from cask in a snifter at the brewery
Deep black body, but of course I’m sitting in a dark bar so everything this side of pale ale looks black, but I’ve had this while sitting on the patio a number of times last fall, and assuming they didn’t change things too much, I can assume it has the same color. The head is still foamy, firm and solid... delicious appearance. Perfect. The nose is a rich cream, toffee, bourbon and vanilla note mixed up in the sweet, malt-forward, sticky dark chocolate and coffee flavors, with just a little touch of roast and smoke. I get more of an astringent smoked grain smell and flavor than before, but still it’s not too bad. It did bump my rating down some, though. Flavors centered on sticky, sweet roasted maple and dark chocolate syrup, with faint hints of amaretto, almond and vanilla, with more of that mildly atringent motor oil smoke flavor. I had this late at night the day it was put on cask (plus more than a few the next weekend, and the next), which was also the same day I got to try Narke Kaggen Stormaktsporter and Mikkeller Black Hole, just a couple of hours before. I figure this would be a good test for the Jolly Roger, and I can honestly say, with little-to-no “homerishness”, that I preferred Jolly Roger over Mikkeller Black Hole. I can’t compare it to the Narke, though, since Kaggen Stormaktsporter is barrel aged and Jolly Roger is not, but the fact that it beat Black Hole head-to-head made me happy enough. Granted, Black Hole was heavy on smoke and soy and char, and I usually prefer more malty, less-smoky imperial stouts, so take that into consideration.

2007 bottled batch - the mild astringency of the cask/firkin is gone - this is what originally brought my rating down from around 4.5 to 4.3 - and instead the amaretto/almond/vanilla notes are turned up slightly. More fruit and liquer notes, especially at room temperature with a only a few ounces in a large snifter - a whiff brings out a huge amount of chocolate almond liquor and a strong alcohol note. Wonderfully smooth, subtle, rich and mellow (see CharlesDarwin’s rating: clean and quiet, that is a great description). This is a stout I want to sit on the front porch with while it’s snowing, and it gets bumped back up by a point. Still slightly below the 2006 version.

Aug 2006 batch
Served from cask in a snifter at the brewery
Large ice cream frothed dark tan head with a deep black body. Toasted black motor oil malts and smoky nuts in the nose with some light fuesal notes. Rich, thick texture for a cask ale, though I doubt it’s true cask, but rather pulled from the real fermenter and then lightly primed. Regardless, the texture is very creamy and properly thick. Flavors of sweet molasses, bourbon, light oak - with some smooth coffee and milk chocolate notes as well. Thick lacing and coating over the entire glass. Wonderfully rich, but lacks a depth of complexity that could take it to another level. Add some depth to this boy and we’re talking top-of-the-charts potential.