t Smisje Catherine The Great Imperial Stout

Brewed by Brouwerij De Regenboog
Style: Imperial Stout
Assebroek-Brugge, Belgium

Bottle. Hazy dark amber colour with large creamy off-white mostly lasting head. Aroma is roasted malt. Sweet roasted flavor.

Belgian yeast aromas make sense as far as where this puppy is from. Pours a cloudy amber color which doesn’t really make sense as far as the style goes. The flavor is slightly fruity and lacking most of the roasted malt character I am used to. The finish is slightly grainy and chalky. This one goes in the belgian ale category for me and not an incredibly exceptional one at that.

Bottle. Pours a thin-looking dark brown color with an uneven light tan head. Aroma is an odd mix of fruitiness, nutty roast, unburnt charcoal, and a slight fruity funk that seems typical of de Regenboog’s beers, now that I’ve had three of them. The taste displays a weird phenolic lactose sourness, with roast, chestnuts, and Belgian yeast following. The finish is mostly astringent. This breweries’ idiosyncracies are admirable elsewhere, but don’t seem to work with this brew.

Hmmmm....this is a strange one. Pours a clear, highly translucent, dark crimson red color. This is possibly the lightest colored imperial stout I’ve ever seen. The head redeems things a bit as its full, foamy, well retained stature leaves thick ribbons of khaki lacing behind. The nose is sweet and fruity up front, with figs, plums, and raisons coming through. Banana and clove are surprising additions. Roasty coffee follows, as does cream and a touch of bitter chocolate. Flavors are again very sweet and fruity, with figs really starting to dominate. The roastiness and creaminess come through on the back end, along with some distinctly Belgian yeast and some bitter, floral hops. There’s even a good amount of smokiness. The mouthfeel is medium-full and creamy, finishing on the dry side and slightly astringent. This certainly doesn’t fit the traditional mold of an imperial stout, but it is fairly enjoyable nonetheless if, for nothing else, its uniqueness.

(Bottle 33 cl) Courtesy of BelJohansen. Pours a hazy, orangey brown with floating impurities and a tall, beige head that leaves some laces. Aroma of burned malt and yeast. Full-bodied with sweet, burned malts and yeast. Distinctly bitter finish - mainly from the hops I believe. Again a rather different Belgian take on an Impy. 160408

Hazy brown with large off white head. Sweet fruity aroma with caramel, toasted malt and hoppy notes. Sweet flavor with hoppy, caramel and toasted malt notes. Ends bitter.

Draft at Max’s 72 Hour Belgian Beer Fest. Dark brown to near black body. Aroma is very yeasty and floral with some cocoa notes. Taste is also flowery and yeasty with cocoa, powdery chocolate, soft spice, light caramel and some herbal notes. Body is creamy with an odd herbal astringency. Almost medicinal, but not quite. That’s the only way I could describe it. Finishes with an almost aspirin like bitterness, more cocoa, yeast notes, herbs and flowers. I’d go with Foreign Stout over Imperial Stout here, but that’s just me.

Bottle at the Ale Street News UBT 3. Deep dark amber brown brown in color with a little head. Malty and sweet aroma. Yeasty notes. Malty caramel roasty flavor. DArk fruity notes. Medium bodied. Creamy tasting. Finish is dry. Nice beer. Drinkable.