t Smisje Catherine The Great Imperial Stout

Bottled. Aroma has caramel, chocolate, some fruitiness and yeast. Murky, dark brown coloured beer with a lasting off-white head. The taste is slightly sweet, little bitterness, has caramel and fruity malts, some spice/yeast/earth. Well this is not what I call an imperial stout, but it’s drinkable.

Bottled 33cl. Courtesy of daniele. It pours a murky nut brown beer with a lot of yeast sediment floating. Fizzy quick diminishing head. The aroma is of aniseed, tarragon, horse blanket and disinfectant- very atypical. The taste is surprisingly acidic. Yeasty. Low carbonation. Mediocre palate. Dry finish. Dissapointing. A very peculiar Imperial Stout. Thanks a lot daniele!

Bottle. Thanks to Santa from some time ago. Interesting aroma, light chocolate. Flavor is light cocoa, grainy and some hops but very carbonated.

5/18/2009: Wow, t Smisje Catherine The Great Imperial Stout produces nothing but foam, ALL foam, overflowing foam on the pour! Talk about a huge, lofty, pillowy, FOAMY beer! The color is light golden brown, but opaque. This is a totally atypical appearance for the style! Just by looking at it, there is just no way that this beer can be considered an Imperial Stout. It doesn’t smell like on either. The fruity and caramel malt aroma is more like that of a Belgian Abbey or Strong Ale. The flavor is also fruity and malty, very spicy, andhints of darker malt. It has a peppery middle and some alcohol burn in the nose. The alcohol has a cherry and almond-like flavor. As it warms, this beer becomes sweeter in the front with earthy, grassy hops in the finish. It is fairly bitter, but tastes like it has more wheat and rye malts than barley. I say rye because it is just so fruity and spicy. This beer is highly carbonated and very airy on the palate. This beer might pass okay as some sort of Belgian Ale, but it is HORRIBLE as a stout or Imperial Stout and just doesn’t fit the style AT ALL!

11.2 fl. oz. bottle (10% Alc./Vol.) at the Winking Lizard Tavern in Columbus, Ohio. Rating #163 for this beer.

The bottle looks good, the beer in the glass also. Woody-earthy aroma. Starts smoky and dusty, notes of dry bacon. Strong-malty finish, still dusty. Not really like an Imperial Stout, bis still good!

Pours brown with a tan head. Fruity sweet aroma with caramel. Tastes sweet with alcohol and a bitter roast finish.

330 cl. bottle from Buffalohead. Almost clear dark brwon, perhaps the lightest color imperial stout that I’ve seen, with ahuge, gushing foamy head that portends trouble.Caramel aroma with something funky going on. Medium sticky palate, a bit watery. There are some off flavors and a tinny aftertaste. I suspect a bad bottle, especially after looking at recent ratings.

Bottle @ La Trappe, SF. Pours a murky brown with a giant tan head. Chocolate is evident in the malty aroma. Sweet candi sugar, dates, raisins, roasted malts dominate the body. Dry, biting finish. A definite winner, roasted nut/malt character is only signal of a stout.