Pike XXXXX Stout

Brewed by Pike Pub & Brewery
Style: Stout
Seattle, Washington USA

Serve in English pint

UPDATED: FEB 16, 2004 Very Black, with a thin brown head. Aroma of coffee and burnt toast. Intense coffee flavors, with a hint of chocolate, but the palate is the real attention getter. This is rich and smooth, with a mellow hop bite. Very drinkable, especially for a beer this rich.

Appearance: Pours an opaque black body with a medium-sized, beige head. Smell: Aroma of rich, roasted dark malts with plenty of dark chocolate and licorice. Faint hint of soy. Taste: Dark maltiness with an airy sweetness to it. Some licorice. Full roasted grain flavor. Super soft touch of floral hops near the roasty, dry finish. The taste, overall, has a little sourness to it. Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Moderate carbonation. Drinkability: Best beer in history? No, but it’s a tasty, nicely drinkable stout.

Draught pints at Redbones, 11/7/06 and 12/10/06
Deep, deep raven-black beer is opaque through the middle, but upon settling, and against the light, shows garnet-auburn tints on the edges, with some clarity at the sides. Creamy, beige/light-tan head sits atop the beer, not very much of it, but quite well-retained, providing moderate lacing.
Very interesting bittersweet nose has a cohesive mix of cola, prunes, raisins, brandy, dates, maraschino cherries and moderate roast. It smells fluffy....with vanilla cream notes lingering long on the finish and medium sweet cherry notes really adding a great strength of aroma. Not sure what’s creating the cherry vanilla-like nose, but it’s tastefully done. Some light milk chocolate and very light bakers chocolate give additional balance, while a light, fruity hoppiness emerges with warming. Probably the responsible party for the cherry notes, and sure enough, some light citrus notes emerge as well, over time. But aromatic and juicy are the hops, only lightly done and not bitter in the least. Promising is the aroma.
A combination of chewy, almost caramel-molasses-like consistency, well-placed jabs of dry roast and then a softly sweet cherry vanilla flavor certainly pleases. Very well balanced, though tending somewhat sweet, the initial chocolate-caramel-vanilla flavors evolve in to a vast sea of dark fruits. Raisins, prunes, dates, cherries...A faint bit of tartness, be it dark malt or lacto induced helps nip the sweetness and the finish ends with a toned-down roastiness, that incorporates more light chocolate and a touch of leafy, juicy hops. This beer is all about warming. Though it’s good cool, the complexities that emerge as it breathes/warms are just plain impressive. All the interesting, unique flavors of a foreign stout, even something like De Dolle’s, but with plenty more chocolate, light hops and vanilla creaminess bringing back in to the American realm. None of the sugary sweetness of a foreign stout and more complexity than your usual oatmeal or standard brewpub stout. No alcohol noted in aroma or flavor. Fairly engaging carbonation is low to moderate, fitting the bill aptly.

1/15/12. 22oz bottle. Opaque black pour with a small brown head that fades fast and laces a little in small rings. Sweet chocolate aroma with touches of char and ash. Slightly sweet chocolate entry that transitions to char, roasted coffee, and lingering dryness with a touch of tartness. Not too shabby.

black pour with a deep caramel head. deep notes of coffee with roasted malts and a big hint of chocolate. wow that’s quite smooth and the flavors are mostly coffee with a finish of chocolate. very impressive stuff right here. glad to have a stout like this available in TX now.

Draft at the brewpub. poured an opaque black color. Head was tan with good retention and lacing. Aroma was of milk chocolate and vanilla. Tasted of coffee with big roasty bitterness.

UPDATED: MAR 4, 2008 Bomber. Pours a deep black with a thin light-brown head. The aroma is really smoky, also some roasted malt and fruits. The taste is mostly dominated by a bitter/sweet mix, with the sweet brown sugar and malt dominating. There is also a strong smoke and fruity aspect. Really nice.

A rich dark chocolate aroma. Flavor is almost oatmeal stout thick. Chewy chocolate. Roasty but quite good in small amounts.