Ottos Jolly Roger Imperial Stout

Brewed by Ottos Pub & Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
State College, Pennsylvania USA

To celebrate the return of Rate Beer, I decided to crack this baby for breakfast. Pours an oily looking opague black body with a nice looking foamy medium brown head. The aroma is a nice blend of coffee, milk choclate with some with some mellow sweet smoke. The flavors start off with a sweet creamy coffee taste and some milk chocolate with mild vanilla notes. It gradually becomes it bit stronger with the bitter coffee flavor but the creaminess keeps it very well balanced. Tasty stuff!!

On Cask at Otto’s. Pours a thick oily black with a thick creamy brown head. nice lacing. Aroma of strong malts, black licorice, chocolate with a hint of smoke. Taste is full of roasted malts and black licorice with a nice smoky finish. Excellent.

Super dark brown, but not quite black with a medium tan head that dissipates into a thin coating on top. Thick aroma with lots of chocolate and some hops. Roasted malts up front with a nice chocolaty finish. Really nice mouthfeel with a huge body that perfectly fits this beer. Not hugely complex, but it really doesn’t need to be.

A victory bottle for having bested Ryan at fantasy baseball this past summer...charcoal black body with a brown quarter-inch head in a snifter ...wonderful lacing as it drinks down...toasted malt with coffee and caramel notes...creamy and warm mouthfeel...a hint of alcohol (9.5%!?) and a lot of chocolate or syrup, in a good way...smooth and steady...the burn of alcohol leaves after three sips, replaced by a pleasant warmth...too smooth to be believed...I was pleased by their pilsner on draft (and the burger matched) but this indeed was a beer worth singular sipping...I’ll have to defeat Ryan more often...

On cask, at brewpub. Pours a pitch black body with a dark brown head composed of quite large bubbles for being on cask. Lots of heavy lacing. Served way way too cold, I had to wait till I was mostly done with my lunch till it warmed up to proper temperature. The nose is heavy roast with caramel, smoke, licorice, bakers chocolate, and light alcohol. Some plum and fig fruitiness as well. Great complex malt malt profile, a blend of chocolate, roast, caramel, and smoke with some plum and fig fruitiness. Zero alcohol apparency, dangerously drinkable in big gulps. Mouthfeel is very soft and creamy, not sticky at all, with great soft cask carbonation. Finish is quite mouthcoating and clingy, but not cloying. Overall, just an awesome beer, I put this just a hair better than the BA version. Ottos has really been putting out some great stuff these days.

C-bus 10. Puddintanes bottle. Nice chocolate aroma. Big black body with a brown head. Full palate. Lots of chocolate and heavy malt flavors in this one. Really thick and syrupy.

Bottle from Capones, sampled with Stegosaurus. Black pour with thin tan head. Aromas of roasted malt and dark fruit. The flavor was a cream, chocolate, coffee roast all blended extremely well with a mild bitter finish. The cerimonial humping opf the bottle was done. This was fantastic. Merry Christmas Stegosaurus !!!

How much more black could this get? None. None more black. A thin brown head sits atop blackness. Surprisingly delicate aroma - smoky coffee. Smooth, rich palate. Really nice flavor - dark cocoa, espresso, and some fruitynoes, like blackberry or cherry. Nice earthy finish. Very good stuff, thanks to tronraner for sharing at our tasting.