Victory Storm King Imperial Stout

Brewed by Victory Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Downingtown, Pennsylvania USA

This full bodied brew w/ its chocolate & espresso flavors is wonderful. It is a well balanced beer. Very enjoyable.

Tasted on 9/29/2006 from 12 oz bottle (2006 vintage, best before 8/29/11!) at River’s Bend - Thanks Matt! Color is nearly black with a dark brown head/crown. Amoara is of roasted barley and chocolate malt. The flavor is much like the aroma and is roasty, bitter espresso, and something a little fruity that reminds me of raisons. Medium body, but almost watery at times. Alcohol is nearly completely hidden. I think this one would be even better and more complex with some age. I have a 2005 bottle in my cellar that I’ll let age for awhile and then revisit this tasty brew. -- Sampled again on 11/29/2006 at the November meeting of the Junedale Beer Klub. Brought by WWWarrior... Tasting notes: Poured a very dark brown color (opaque) with a huge head. Nice floral hoppiness and a long, hoppy finish. medium to full body. I will leave thye overall rating as it originally was (847317)...

Good stout. Quite hoppy and malty. Burned finish. It is a great beer, because of the strong bitterness, compared to other examples of this style. Pretty dry and DARK!! Fantastic aroma.

Bottle. Black color and creamy head. Sweetish, quite malty aroma with coffee, salty licorice and floral-grassy hops. Full-bodied, bittersweet, warming and strongly roasted flavor. Fruity and floral hops with solid bitterness. Long, warming and roasted finish with fruity-bitter hops and coffee. Very deep flavor.

Bottle. A rich, grainy, deep, dark, roasted & toasted, chocolate, semi-sweet, bitter, creamy rich delight. A wine-like alcohol kick, but so light and smooth it masks the intensity. The Aftertaste is long and bitter with a trace of sweetness.

Pitch black, no tar-black, no black as the pit in Lucifer's heart, pick your favorite or, please, choose your own, adorned with w thick, bubbly, cocoa-tan head, a solid inch to begin, very slow to crumble down, a perfect stoutish appearance. Aroma; dark and rich, with many flavors intertwining: dark rum, mollasses, pepper, anise, ohl so, heady and delightful and intoxicating, just from the whiff of it! Beautifully burnished, cognac-y, with a deep, delirious, leathery quality, and leaves one aching for more. Taste: full mouthfeel, thick, palpable, with tastes of chocolate and coffee, paired with those tastes noted from the nose, delciously roasty, awash in caramel-y, toffee-ish sweetness, a great mix of dark delights, and again, with every sip, a warm, thick, charcoal-y texture on the palate, rich and delcious. Wow, ...so tasty, so perfect... one of the best American Imperial Stouts, by quite a longshot!

Poured slow and syrupy. Stunningly black with a decent medium brown head. Hop aroma blasting me in the face before I even began to pour actually. On the tongue it is initially all hops, and is quite frankly out of balance. But the hops are top notch, bitter, spruce, citrus, all wrapped into one. As the beer warms up, the malts begin to kick in, but they are still shockingly masked by the taste of hops. Most beers this dark are victims of their own malt excess. This one is a victim of its own hops excess. Could have been a classic with a touch more subtlety. - CASK UPDATE - 12/5/04 - Very similar, except the hops surprisingly were more balanced, and it seemed a hair lighter bodied. Quite excellent, overall rate would have been a 4.2. Will leave up the bottled rating since that is what most actually have access to.

Pours a thick black with a small brown head that mellows out pretty fast. Aroma is a nutty/coffee type aroma. Smooth, smooth and more smooth. Starts very smooth with deep coffee espresso flavor that hangs on throughout. Finish is very smooth and creamy as well. Palate is perfect. For being 9.1%, this brew is extrememly smooth and enjoyable. My only complaint is a lack of head and lacing...***********had a year old batch of this on cask at the brewery and it was probably the best beer I've had to date. I will not re-rate it, but wanted to mention that this on cask is an impeccable beer.