Pike XXXXX Stout

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

Serve in English pint

bomber from a trade with hobbersr. pour black with a mid sized tan head. laces beautifully. aroma of roasted malts, caramel, chocolate and hops. the flavour is roasted malt upfront, bakers chocolate, and hoppy finish. very dry for the weight. a touch thin but overall very good. a nice hoppy stout. i enjoyed the dryness.

Pours black, with a small brown head. Aromas are roasted malt, coffee, with some chocolate and alcohol. Flavor is a little sour, with roasted malt, coffee, and some red wine. It ends a bit sour and bitter.

Blacker than sin, with a lovely thick cafe au lait coloured head. Aroma of malt, chocolate and smoke. Malty flavour with notes of chocolate, coffee and hops. Nice dry finish that still lasted. It had the complexity of imperial stout without the alcohol befuddling power. This may be the best stout I have ever tasted in my life. It certaily is my first 5.

Bottle and on tap at Pike: Pours deep black with a light brown head. Mocha, smoke, chocolate and roast in the nose. Full roasty flavor, dark cocoa, espresso, coffee, chocolate and a slightly charred finish - which isn’t ashy. Light caramel sweetness. Full, round and creamy with moderate carbonation. My favorite Pike beer.

Courtesy ChzMan. Dark brown, tan head. Typical, but mild, stout flavors and aromas- roasted malt, cocoa, coffee. All rather muted. Medium/full body, balanced, very drinkable. Too strong to session, not enough going on to sip. Meh. From notes.

Bottle. Moderate to heavy malt aromas of burnt, dark chocolate and strong coffee, moderate herbs and resin for the hops, moderate earth for the yeast with hints of tar, prune and faint vinegar. Head is small, frothy with bigger bubbles, brown with good slippery lacing and good legs, and is mostly diminishing. flavor starts lightly sweet and acidic, then finishes lightly acidic and heavily bitter. Palate is medium, creamy with a soft to lively carbonation and a chalky finish. Bold, potent aromas followed by full strength flavors makes this an exceptional Stout.

2009 Bottle - Pours almost black with a medium light tan head...aroma is oily and dark, dry malt, charred wood and some faint cocoa...flavour is oddly acidic, toast, burnt coffee bitterness, lightly astringent, creme...why is this sour?

Inky black. Medium hefted chocolate milk foam sits for length before settling to a hairline skim and crumbly edging. Lacing is thick and all over the place making a mess of blobby sheeting across the glass. In a word for appearance - pinnacle! Aroma is tarry and roasted with heavy black malt dryness with some dark chocolate scuffing. Taste is bold, rich, and gradually building across a wonderful, medium to heavy roastyness of black malt. Chocolate intercedes into the middle areas, then the fun begins with one fantastic drying length and character. Slight molasses tang sweetens the pot for a stint, notes of burnt/charred edges creep in there while the chocolate gets supurbly darkened, heavy, and dry with a solid smack of bitterness thrown in. A very solid smack! That’s some of the most bitter dark chocolate I’ve ever encountered in a stout. It’s awesome! The body of this beer is quite nice. Full, round, roasted and textured as so with a substantial girth of roasty malt all the while maintaining a heavenly smoothness. Its just sweet enough on the underside for most of its length, gliding the roasted stuff along the path to the finish where the dark bitter chcoalte takes over and does its thing. An excellent drinker as well as being damn tasty. What more could you ask except for more. And at 6% this blows the sessionable competition away as far as other big stouts that taste like this are concerned. Not that I don’t miss a little kick like those found in most Impy’s or Dbl’s, these Foreign/Export stouts are just too damn tasty and drinkable not to be in the same league as some of those big boys. Most are loaded in the ABV dept. This on the other hand says drink up and enjoy! And enjoy, and enjoy...