Samuel Adams Imperial Series Imperial Stout

Brewed by Boston Beer Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle. Intense, dark chocolate, some licorice or anise, and beef stock. Pitch black, dark brown filmy head. Pours out a bit viscuous. Nice rich chocolate initial / mid lets outs some more dark choco malt, tree bark or something, and some wine-like notes / smooth, fine finish, with a burst of roast malt and a little bitterness. Creamy, smooth, heavy body. Very good. Not a great imperial, but smooth and satisfying. The Sam Adams brewers seem to do everything well.

Brown head, very dark brown beer. Medium palate. Lots of chocolate and dark roasted malt. A bit of coffee and pretty well hopped. Sweet. Well masked. A good example of this variety.

This one has been in the cellar for awhile. I remember it came in a SA variety pack 1-2 years ago. Can’t find a definitive date on the bottle. Poured into over-sized snifter glass, dark black with dark tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, heavy chocolate, light coffee, caramel, licorice, soy sauce, dark fruit and vanilla. Taste starts with light coffee, then some interesting spice notes but mainly this RIS is surprisingly sweet with chocolate dominating. Heavy body, creamy, thick with lingering roasty finish. The aging must have taken any alcohol notes away, crazy drinkable. I enjoyed.

Medium thickness with a nice tall tan head that sticks around a while. Some roast malt aroma, some chocolate and grassiness as well. Taste is chocolate, dried fruit, soy sauce, and cocoa. Pretty simple but easy drinking imperial stout.

12 oz bottle shared with czar. Pours an opaque black with a nice beige head. Smell is licorice, dark fruits (cherry?). Flavor is chocolate, roast, fruity (dark grapes). Finish is coffee, some oxydation?, some out-of-place tartness. Booze, coffee. Lingering dark chocolate and coffee flavor. Medium body, sticky mouthfeel. Weak carbonation. Excellent, but has some obvious flaws.

bottle shared by VT, thanks! pours very dark brown with a nice beige head, some retention and lacing. boozy, almost burnt malts - some chocolate, caramel, umami, bacon, molasses. mineral, lightly acidic and resinous. average carbonation, medium body - oily, almost cloying and grassy finish. o-k.

Bottle 12 fl.oz. Poured dark brown in color with thin beige head. Roasted malts, some wood and a bit of malty sweetness in aroma. Some slightly burnt licorice as well is present. Roasted malts, salty licorice and a bit of some salty seawater as well. This actually reminds a bit of the Wee Heavy of this same series, but it seems as it isn’t quite as much smooth as that one. A bit of coffee and dark, slightly bitter chocolate in aftertaste.

This beer is black with a minimal tan head when poured into a snifter, and the aroma is heavily chocolate with roasted and caramel malts. This beer is mildly bitter, mildly sweet, and strongly umami. Also, the combination of the full body, thick texture, flat carbonation, and slightly bitter finish make for a nearly perfect beer.

Pours pitch black with a 1 finger Brown head with poor retention, aroma is heavy sweet with notes of caramel, Vanilla and roasted malt, robust body, flavor is heavy sweet and moderate bitter with notes of caramel, Vanilla, chocolate, alcohol and roasted malt, too sweet for me, lacks complexity

Bottle from The Liquor Collection, Honolulu, HI
Black color, with small beige head. Aroma of roasted malt, with treacle, light liquorice and light oxidisation. Correct body structure, with flavor of roasted malt, some chocolate; smooth and a bit creamy, with light ending liquorice and pepper.
Not bad, quite big, but still unexciting.