Sweetwater Tavern High Desert Imperial Stout

Pours a deep black color with brown highlights and a ring of offwhite lace. Aroma of chocolate and roasted malt. Flavor of roasted malt and chocolate with a bitter finish. The body is light to medium with an oily texture and soft carbonation.

The Lure:
Vanilla beans within the chocolate. Soy fruitiness somewhat bothers the quiet interplay of sweet malt emanations. Straightforward, obviously imperial stout.

The Festivities:
Big bubbles enliven the multifaceted malt character. Chocolate and vanilla again come to mind, this time backed up by coffee beans, molasses, and cigar tobacco. Smoky fumes are evoked, as fruitiness lightens the sugar load. An efficient rendition of a most luxurious style.

Transcendence:
A dark hood somehow commends respect.

Impressive lacing scatters around the glass, the body is opaque, almost black, the head of perfectly regular small bubbles. Heavy chocolate density in that one, desserty and almost oatmealish. It is quite sweet and with a most appealing fruitiness reminiscent of grapes and dates. Marshmallowy and smoky thick malts leave a brown sugar impression that is virtually erased by the still abundant herbal hops, disturbing the cigary roastiness a bit. Velvety palate, limited carbonation. Good flavours, this must have been quite hoppy back in the days. Kudos to you Jeff!

Nice treat from Jeffin7. Pour was huge blackness, light syrup style pour. Aroma of chocolate, with some coffee, big malt presence, as well as caramel and darker fruits. Taste similar but with a small alcohol note, but just enough to be a nice addition to the beer. Coffee comes up more robust in the flavor, very chewy. Great I.S.

(22 oz bottle filled from growler: Obtained in trade with jeffin7, thanks Jeff!) I’m always leary of rating beers from growlers or hand-filled bottles that are then shipped across the country. Usually doesn’t do the beer justice, but this one seems to have traveled very well. Moderately sweet and very chocolaty, but the floral aspect of the nose has caught me off guard. Didn’t expect that. First word that comes to mind when tasting the beer is ... sweet. Very sweet, almost sugary sweet. After that, lots of chocolate and moderate roast, but the roast is not as much of a factor as with many other Imperial Stouts. Lightly hoppy, fairly bitter. The bitterness doesn’t really emerge until late, so the sweetness has a few seconds to rule authoritatively until order and balance is restored. Black, fully opaque, about as impenetrable as Bell’s Expedition, but not nearly as viscous. Not to say that this is a watery beer, just that it’s not thick and viscous like oil. Given that this was hand-bottled from a growler, the carbonation level is quite satisfactory. The tan head is fairly small on the pour and fades to a thin circle, leaving hardly any lacing on the glass. The small head is excusable, though, after what this beer has been through. A solid beer from one of my old hang-outs, but I think it’s a bit too balanced toward the sweetness, and this would be solved by a bit more roast and hops up front.

On draft at Sweetwater in Centreville, VA. Nice black pour with a thin tan head. Raisin’s, whiskey, roasted malt...and a hint of rum. A nice warm welcome. Alcohol hidden well in the flavor. Roasted molasses, malt, and some rum in the flavor. Very complex, yet not heavy. A nice treat to find when I walked in and saw the "On tap list."

12oz hand bottled from growler-thanks jeffin7 pours a fairly oily almost black hue with a small tan fizzy head. good carbonation from a growler bottle. This beer had no lacing, which brought down the appearance IMO. Aroma of dark berries, rum, rasin, roast, a hint of burbon and Onions? Big rum rasin flavor with some butterscotch notes. Sliglty thin palate for a beer of this high alcohol. The 10.8 was nowhere to be found. I thought this beer was maybe 9%. This has some similarities to Bells Expedition in flavor and aroma. A good imp stout that has a score where it should be. As the beer warmed, the alcohol came out more in the aroma, but not in the flavor. plenty of roast and rum rasin to cover that up.

Growler. Thanks to jeffc666 for this one. PItch black body with a small foamy tan head. Nose is roasted malts, light licorice, dark chocolate and sweetened coffee. Taste is sweet with milk chocolate, molasses, light licorice, dark fruits and hints of fresh brewed espresso. Body is velvety smooth with some syrupiness. Lingering light bitterness. Finish is more bittersweet with licorice and light coffee. More dark chocolate notes and light hints of raisins and molasses. Nice beer!