Smuttynose Zinneke

Brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

Serve in Snifter

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Hugely enjoyable ’stout.’ Aging gives it character and a long taste. Alcohol muted. Vanilla is present. Smuttynose does a beer well.

Bottle. Pours a nice deep brown with a tan head. Big bourbon/chocolate/vanilla nose. Perfect christmas eve beer! Taste is creamy, coffee, chocolate, vanilla, bourbon sweetness, but a bit unbalanced. Definitely one of the better Smuttynose big beers.

Bottle shared with my dad. Pours a deep ruby crimson brown to black with a medium sized tanned beige head. Very faint musk and cocoa on the nose, esters, chocolate, faint plum. Medium bodied, a bit of malt and roast, touches of plum. Cocoa and malt, cocoa with a touch of smoke. Warming alcohol and bourbon on the finish. Smooth and warming, rather balanced. Long cocoa and a touch of bourbon and wood. Nice and fairly easy drinking.

Bottle. Pours black/ruby with a tan head, some retention/no lace. Aroma of licorice, anise, prune, light chocolate. Taste is sweet, prune, light vanilla, light chocolate, licorice. Palate is soft, creamy, sweet finish. Muddled flavors.

Draft @ the Ale House, Amesbury, MA. Tulip glass shows a deep black with lasting tan head. Nose is chocolate, yeast and raisin notes. The taste is a Belgian stout without question. I get only very light notes that this was aged in bourbon barrels. As I sip this I can’t detect any ABV. Just lots of sweet flavors. Chocolate, coffee, raisins, plums and yeast. Texture is on the creamy side. My glass was empty much too quick. Overall this is my kind of brew. And the best thing is the price on draft and in a bottle is very reasonable.

22 ounce bottle, 2012 vintage. Served in a goblet, the beer pours dark brown with about an inch tan head. Head retention is good, and there’s a small amount of lacing. The brew smells like dark fruit (cherries, plums), roasted malt, bittersweet chocolate, bananas, and some vanilla. It tastes like bittersweet chocolate, dark fruit (plums, figs), roasted malt, molasses, vanilla, and a bit of smoke and banana. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it has moderate/high soft carbonation. I think this is a good overall Belgian-style stout. I don’t think the partial batch barrel aging hurt this brew at all, although I’d like to try a version of this beer that was fully aged along with the base version of it as well. At $5.99 a bomber, I’d certainly pick this one up again.

Definetly Belgium yeast. Great dark fruit smell. The bourbon barrell age adds a great deep coffee taste.

Bomber. Poured deep, garnety-brown with a creamy beige head. The aroma picked up a nice blend of darker fruits and baker’s chocolate with accents of vanilla and cloves.. more dry, white spices and a hit of bourbon and oak on the back of the nose.. lots of Belgian yeast impression going on, and not all that much barrel. The flavor found near-burnt dark chocolates, some dark fruits, and licorice at the core, with tangy barrel, a touch of bourbon, and vanilla around.. fruity yeast and spices clashed a little with tangy bourbon barrel on the warm, dry finish.

Bottle purchased at Healthy Living in Burlington, Vermont. Diggity-dark color with the faintest trace of a light brown hint of a head circling the edge. Earthy, yeasty aroma accompanied by a moderate alcoholy tune with a quiet burbony harmony. Once in the mouth, it is quite fluid (not quite at "watery" but it still has a refreshing quality to it), and hefts an active effervescence - not overpowering, but it definitely stands up and makes its presence known. While it’s making its way across the tongue, a woody, toasty, choco-mel combo stops by and says hi before heading warmly downstairs. Another winner from Smuttynose. Have I ever lamented before how I dearly wish that li’l Smuttynose seal would work hard making these big beers year-round instead of once a year (if that)? Maybe his flippers are too short or something.

Draft at the Alehouse Pours a very dark brown, nearly black with a frothy tan head. Aroma is rich dark fruit - plum and fig - with notes of Belgian chocolate, molasses, and sweet bourbon. Silky and light - but not thin - I drank this rather quickly. Flavor is an amalgam of plum fruit, sweet bourbon, fruity Belgian yeast, flutters of chocolate, coffee, and licorice. A delicious, delicate beer that is not as sweet as it sounds.