Saranac Imperial Stout

Bottle. Black pour with lasting brown head. Mostly roasted malt in the aroma, caramel malt, citrus hops, and a little bitter chocolate. Flavor is heavy on the bitter roasted malt and bittering dry-hops with fruity hops showing through as well. Palate is a little thin for the style, and all the hops are a little strange also.

Bottle. Pours deep black with a tan head. Aroma is rich and hearty. Alot of malt flavors including chocolate and coffee. A dry hoppy finish. Maybe too much so. I still think the Czars would have enjoyed it.

Bottle. Fifth beer of my ’St. Patrick’s Day Stouts & Porters Mini-Tasting’. Fifth and last beer of the night. Pours black with ruby hues and a large lasting foamy light-brown head -- looking good! Aroma of roasted malt, coffee, lots of hops, hint of smoke, chocolate and alcohol. Flavour of roasted malt, chocolate, herbal hops, that hint of smoke, nuts and alcohol. Dry bitter finish. Medium bodied. This is pretty good stuff, especially for a Saranac beer.

Bottle... March 08 Tampa Bay Tasting... Pitch black ale with a small, creamy, khaki head. Good retention. Pronounced roasty, toasted aroma. Burnt, bitter fragrances of unsweetened cocoa and charcoal. Full-bodied with a silky mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Nicely balanced flavor. Low sweetness and mild acidity; chocolate and more charcoal. Finishes burnt, bitter and lightly lactic. Kudos to Degarth for providing the bottles!

Courtesy Degarth. Pours black, with a medium, foamy light brown head. Smells pretty mild, light roast and chocolate notes. Not much else to really pull out of it. The flavor is pretty roasty, the chocolate is more apparent than in the nose. Sweet, silky finish, with some roasty bitterness. Nothing special, but a very drinkable session impy if there is such a thing.

A weak impy. This style takes a lot to make me like it and this just isn’t doing it. Typical coffee/chocolate aroma, but just average. Pour was beautiful. Deep dark brown/black with a 2 finger tan head. Taste was thin and watery. Strong coffee and chocolate with not much carbonation to carry the flavor. Medium alcohol burn. Bitter sweet aftertaste. Blah.

Poured from a normal bottle into a pint glass. The color is a dark black with a dark tan, creamy head, mostly around the edges with short retention. The aroma is on the milder side, some roasty coffee and chocolate tones, maybe a bit of caramel. The taste is sweet and heavy, with some alcohol present; slightly rough. A wet body with ample carbonation, but a slightly dry finish, with a somewhat sticky and syrupy mouthfeel. It’s a pretty good beer, but not a top-of-the-line imperial stout, and a bit rough around the edges.

Saranac Imperial Stout is a solid black that is chocolaty brown during the pour. The head looks like hot cocoa. It leaves some dense brown lacing and develops oily bubbles as the head thins out. The aroma is ample. Chocolate malt prevails in the nose. The hops register as spruce or wintergreen. It’s a pretty lively aroma. It is not very complex. It’s soft and fluffy on the tongue. It is medium-full bodied and the carbonation is prickly. It dries up a bit at the finish. The flavor is dominated by cocoa. It’s well balanced and pretty well blended. There is something like nutmeg before the alcohol takes over. It turns into vodka and black pepper at the end! It’s never very sweet and very straight-forward. I like that Saranac never goes over the top. This one doesn’t have as much personality as their Imperial IPA, but it nails it nonetheless. Don’t get too many in arms’ reach at once-- great drinkability for an impy.