Smuttynose Imperial Stout

On tap at rattle n hum. Lactic and strong imperial Russian. Loads of espresso and dark chocolates. Tasty.

22oz bottle. Pours jet black with a creamy tan head. Tons of licorice, black fruits, coffee, and cocoa on the nose, light booze. The profile is dominate with coffee followed by black licorice and bittersweet chocolate. Good mouth feel and nice carbonation. A damn good Impy Stout.

Special thanks to "unknown sender" for this beer. 09 bottle. Pours black with a bubbly light brown head. Aroma is very very hop heavy! Wow. Notes of pine, plant, pepper, spice, leaves, tea, sweetened espresso, licorice, and biscotti. Taste is balanced with dark chocolate, strong hop flavors (pepper, pine, earth, leaves, spice) caramel, charred creme brulee crust, light maple, and chocolate truffle dust. Finishes with earth, ash, wood, but there’s lingering dark chocolate, espresso and cocoa as well. For all the hops, the finish is not as bitter as anticipated. Creamy and thick, mostly heavy mouthfeel avoids ever being syrupy. Soft carbonation. I was worried about the hopping being strange and out of place here, but I’m impressed how well the beer manages those characteristics. Nice!

Rich, oily aroma has an overtone of molasses and an undertone of fine roast coffee with a hint of unsweetened chocolate. It pours a dark, nearly opaque sable with a very thick, fine-bubbled, persistent tan head. Flavor is a little smoky, strongly of molasses with nutty, coffee, chocolate and toffee hints. Texture is thick, smooth and fizzy with a good alcohol bite. Definitely lip-smacking.

Wow, this is the real deal here folks. A very nicely balanced Imperial stout on the tounge, it literally knocked my taste buds out but brought them back screaming for more. Try this one on a cold, damp evening close to the fire. Enjoy!

Opaque black pour, frothy tan head that lasts forever. Smell is very boozy, very sharp. Some roast malts, but just a very sharp scent. The taste is so deep though. Dark chocolate, perhaps espresso notes in the front. Extremely creamy. Very good.

Pours black with a thick black head. Nose is standard stout with dark fruit scents and and spice. Taste is smooth milk chocolate, coffee, thick body without being too sweet, licorice, nice mouthfeel, but too hot.

I grabbed the last 09 bottle at the Portsmouth brewery last night. I poured it into a tulip glass and watched a huge tan head erupted from the brew. The head could easily be brought back to life and it settles to a fine looking lace that followed the brew down the glass. The body was a midnight black in color with no highlights. Big old hop notes on this brew flavor as well as aroma. So much so the roasted malts take a back seat on this fresh bomber. This was a great full feeling brew with ample carbonation. It did not show any of the 10% in its aroma or flavors so consider it dangerous. It was an easy big beer to drink. The word dangerously so must be used again. I polished the bomber off with ease but that was it for the evening.