Saranac Imperial Stout

Brewed by Matt Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Utica, New York USA

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.

Bottle. Pours black with a creamy two finger tan head with spotty lacing. Aroma of roasted malts, chocolate, and a hint of caramel. Flavor is roasted malts, chocolate, coffee, alcohol, and a touch of smoke with a creamy mouthfeel and a dry and bitter finish. Decent imp stout

12 oz bottle poured into glass: Not too strong of an aroma, however chocolaty in smell. Very dark, just about black in color with a deep tan head. Very impressive head of a decent size. With an IPA flavor as a preference, I still thoroughly enjoyed this brew. Great chocolaty taste, compares with the imperial chocolate stout from Southern Tier, just more balanced. Easy on the palate, tipped back two since i got the sixer about 30min ago. Overall, it was better than I expected, I would certainly buy it again as a special treat to myself.

Presentation: Poured from a 12oz bottle into a pint glass. It pours very thick and slowly into the glass. Its color is dark black with dark brown high lights near the edges of the glass. You could say that it has the appearance of used motor oil. The head is tan in color, thick and foamy. It has good retention and leaves behind light tan rings of lace. The aroma is full of dark roasted malts with a light herbal hops note off in the distance. The flavor has a deep roasted malt character with notes of dark toast, espresso, burnt caramel and baker’s chocolate. Hop flavors blend in well under the deep malty character of this stout and add a solid dose of bitterness. It is very thick, creamy and slick in texture with a full body and soft carbonation. This is defiantly a heavy hitter with good depth from the FX Matt Breweries Saranac line. The 8% abv. is well hidden and the silky smooth texture makes it an easy sipping full bodied beer. This is a must try for stout lovers.

Bottle from Jimbo. Typical dark dark color. Somewhat watery pour. Light roasted malt aroma. Flavor is pretty dull, not a lot going on in the body, and there is a sourness that is really quite annoying. Im hoping this gets better as it warms, but so far im striking out. Average.

This poured a black color with a tan head. The aroma contains roasted coffee, chocolate, and licorice. Some sour notes in the flavor which also contains some chocolate and coffee. Overall this was better than I expected from my name sake brewery.

12oz. Bottle: Smells of roasted malts and melted dark chocolate. Poured black in color with a small brown head. Opaque. Flavor is lightly sweet. Tastes of chocolate, coffee, alcohol, cream, and very roasted malts. Medium body. Chalky, viscous texture. Average carbonation. Dry chocolate and malt finish. Flavor was off and made my mouth pucker. Alcohol was not balanced, nor was the beer overall.

Date: 05/10/2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

Appearance: black, wispy tan head, bits of drippy lace,
Aroma: light roasted aroma backed by a dark caramel sweetness,
Body: creamy body,
Flavor: rich dark chocolate flavor, dark caramel sweetness, light bitterness, touch of milky sweetness,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4