Saranac Imperial Stout

Very nice nose of chocolate, roated coffee, and some alcohol. Very sweet. The appearance is typical to the style, a dark brown/black with a thick tan head. Very attractive. The flavor is mostly roasted malts, cocoa, maybe a slight bit of hoppiness (not much for a beer that’s 50 IBU). Very enjoyable, and the palate leaves a pleasant mix of roastiness and sweetness. Good thick mouthfeel. This is a solid beer. I often say that while Saranac is very brave in trying to brew a wide range of eclectic beers, their execution is often found wanting. This beer however, is a real accomplishment. Not just good for the normally mediocre Saranac, but good period.

Bottle. Pours pitch black with a thin, dense tan head that recedes to a bit of foam around the edges pretty quickly leaving some decent lacing along the way. Aroma is very sweet with roasted/burnt chocolate malts, molasses and a big dose of licorice. Slight hop presence in the background along with a subtle alcohol burn in the nostrils. Taste disappoints a little bit after the good aroma and comes across a bit medicinal. The sweet malts, roasted/burnt coffee and chocolate are there but there is an overriding astringent bitterness that takes over and stays throughout the finish. Interesting tastes but too bitter for my liking. Mouthfeel is a little light for the style but still creamy despite the astringency. Well, this is definitely an interesting brew with a good mix of flavors, but the bitterness and burnt character keep it from being a great beer.

12 oz bottle, via BA beertruth. Pours a black body with a very fizzy, almost soda like head that faded pretty quickly. Nice deeply roasty nose with lots of chocolate and coffee. Lighter accents of cocoa powder, cereal grains, burnt malt, and alcohol. Roasty flavor with a good bit of malt and hop bitterness fades to a chalky dry bitter finish. Kinda leans to the burnt and acrid side of the style, not the smoothest drinker. Full bodied with a slight stickiness and moderate fizzy carbonation. Overall, just too much burnt malt character on the finish, when it combines with the hops, this just gets a bit too harsh.

Pours a dark black color with a 1 finger thick foamy dark khaki head. Decent lasting power with just a touch of lacing. Aroma of a slightly fruity chocolate coffee with cream. A notable sour note with some caramel in the background. An extremely burnt flavor, but up to the threshold of good. The roasted flavor isn’t overpowering. A lot of bittersweet chocolate undertones with quite a dry finish. The body is average for an impy stout. It does leave a pretty nice bitterness on the tongue. One of the better offerings I’ve had from Saranac.

A Sim rate (tap at Barcade, Brooklyn): Roasty, bittersweet aroma. Sour, but amazing goodness. Definite red wine notes. Perfect imperial stout appearance. Richest truffle flavour. Dark chocolate. Bittersweet. It’s so damn good. Rich and creamy palate. Damn. Damn. Damn.

Pours black topped with an inch of fine bubbles cratered by some large ones. Aroma of (50% cocoa) chocolate, earthy malt, old coffee. Tastes thin and unfortunately a little watered down. Dry, chocolatey malt finish. It doesn’t seem very balanced. Overall, it’s been a nice treat that I won’t be able to have again until another trip to the States.

Appearance: Pours a dark brown, near black body with a smallish, tan head. Smell: Somewhat restrained aroma smelling of caramel, bittersweet chocolate, roasted barley, and a hint of smoke. Taste: Smoked barley, a bit chocolately, and with a slight caramel sweetness. Earthy bitterness. Hint of boiled bitter herbs. Touch of alcohol. Slight bitterness to the dry finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: Fantastic stout? Heck, no. Decent stout? Yeah, sure. Best thing oughta Matt Brewing? Definitely.

Not bad for Utica Club. It’s a stout alright. But not like the bombastic stouts I’m used to. I liked it.. A noble MATTS effort. I can never give MATTS a bad rating. For you rookies, they invented the Party Ball, which is still probably years ahead of you. 5 gallons of MATTS Premium in a 5 gallon plastic globe. The tap was yours to keep and it took years before AB and Miller caught on. They invented cheap kegs. I love you MATTS. I’ll come to visit in a couple weeks.