t Smisje Catherine The Great Imperial Stout

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

330ml Bottle - Brown in colour and very pale for the style. Strong malt and alcohol aroma . Malty taste which is quite gassy and warming. Some fruity notes are noticeable. This is one to sip and certainly drinks its strength. Not bad but I was expecting more.

Pours deep copper to amber with tan head and some decent lacing. Wow, the aroma is here and there with sweet malts, roasted malts, solid earthiness, some musty dark fruitiness and alcohol heat. The taste like the nose has lots going on with light and dark fruity esters followed by some roasted malts that seem to move to burnt malts. By midway a solid note of earthiness wells up with a hop bitter bite and lingering roastiness into the finish.

Bottle from Knightly Spirits. Pours out a dark brown (more of a brown ale color) with a moderate light brown head. Aroma is of coffee and slight chocolate. Taste is of some strange earthy notes, mainly burnt wood. Coffee and some slight chocolate notes come through with a bit of a bitterness on the finish. Interesting effort.

Bottle. Very dark brown with a cream foam. Aromas are coffee malts with dark chocolate. Yeasty and peppery with decent bitterness and some sweet caramel. Flavours are bitter coffee with spices and yeast. Quite smooth. Good.

bottle thanks to bu11zeye. deep brown pour with a thin layer of cream froth. scents of tobacco, smoke and slight hints of wood. very easy on the palate with a very smoky, ashy flavor.

Bottle thanks to bu11zeye. Pours with a brown body and a light brown heead with good lacing. Aroma is solid tobbacco, smoke, soot and chocolate. Taste is way too much wood, very bitter, with a sootie, smoldering campfire after taste. Syrupy mouthfeel.

Dark brown body that clearly shows a deep garnet when held to light. A dense khaki head sits on top. The aroma has some black cherries and caramel. There was also some strong malt character in the nose. This was a strange brew, especially for an imperial stout. More like what some US brewers call an Imperial brown. Tastes of sweet black cherries and some caramel come to play. There is also some

Bottle: Moderate depth brown pour with a huge tan head. Smells of Belgian spices, yeast, cloves, and a bit dry/dusty. Perhaps a little toffee. Tastes of a wierd chocolate and coffee blend with heavy roast. Nutty. Some lingering bitters. It did get better as it warmed up, but it seemed more like a porter mixed with a Belgian strong.