PAPPY
Al's of Hampden / Pizza Boy Brewing

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From:
Al's of Hampden / Pizza Boy Brewing
 
Pennsylvania, United States
Style:
American Imperial Stout
ABV:
10.5%
Score:
84
Avg:
3.67 | pDev: 13.35%
Reviews:
6
Ratings:
27
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Dec 16, 2014
Added:
Jan 06, 2013
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by jwjon1:
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Rated by jwjon1 from Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -11.4%

Jan 18, 2013
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.5 by JNForsyth from Pennsylvania

Dec 16, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by DrBier from Pennsylvania

Aug 06, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by jbdpsu82 from Pennsylvania

Jul 25, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Invictus from Pennsylvania

Oct 13, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by BMart from Pennsylvania

Aug 16, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by jwat from Pennsylvania

May 14, 2013
 
Rated: 3.25 by ravot from Illinois

May 10, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by stakem from Pennsylvania

May 07, 2013
Photo of Etan
Reviewed by Etan from Wisconsin

3.15/5  rDev -14.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
Growler into a snifter.

A. Black, some brown lacing around the sides of the glass.

S. Huge buttery bourbon, oak, a slight acetone note, some nebulous sweet maltiness.

T. Dryish bourbon, tannic vanilla, more bald oak, slight cocoa sweetness.

M. Between light- and medium-bodied with light carbonation.

O. The bourbon totally eclipses the base beer here. The body is very thin for an imperial stout, and you can barely pick up the stout over the flavors of the tannins and bourbon.
May 07, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by ShanePB from Pennsylvania

May 05, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by yourefragile from District of Columbia

May 04, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by runner_pe from Pennsylvania

May 04, 2013
Photo of John_M
Reviewed by John_M from Washington

3.35/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
On tap at Al's the other day.

The beer pours a blackish brown color with good head retention and lacing. On the nose the bourbon is very, very prominent, seeming to crowd out anything else. There's also some noticeable vanilla, milk chocolate and light coffee, but the bourbon really takes center stage in this one. The flavor profile replicates the nose, with once again the bourbon dominating. Frankly, I just don't feel as if there is enough of the stout flavor component to hold up to it. This beer tastes like a glass of bourbon, but one where someone dumped in a couple of spurts of stout. Rather than tasting rich and full, this beer comes across as thin and quite hot, with a long boozy finish. Obviously, the alcohol is not very well integrated into the flavor profile with this beer, making it very difficult to drink. I ultimately ended up dumping my $7.50 snifter of this beer, rather than trying to force it down.

I realize that most of these Pizza Boy beers are a work in progress, so hopefully future renditions will be a bit more balanced, with more RIS character. This one is just not doing it for me.
Mar 10, 2013
 
Rated: 5 by VipertheIV from Pennsylvania

Feb 28, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by BeerCon5 from Pennsylvania

Feb 25, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by Slatetank from Pennsylvania

Feb 19, 2013
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Reviewed by ThePorterSorter from Oregon

3.79/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
The beer pours a jet black with a half inch of a creamy tan head...but it's downhill from here. The nose is potently boozy, smelling like a shot of pure grain alcohol. The taste smooths out with caramel upfront, bourbon in the middle, and a sweet, bready finish. The mouthfeel is heavy bodied, VERY boozy, sweet, but not cloying, a harsh lingering bitter/burnt caramel and alcohol burn. I think this beer needs some serious reconsideration before being released into the market (from a pizza shop nonetheless) in the future.
Feb 17, 2013
Photo of Rifugium
Reviewed by Rifugium from North Dakota

3.23/5  rDev -12%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
First had: on tap at Al's/Pizza Boy

Good concept of course, but not quite a good execution. Thankfully, I got a sampler size of this and not a full pour, otherwise I would've been grounded for a while. My wife took a tiny sip, fanned her hand in front of her face, and quickly pushed the glass away.

Shiny obsidian pour with a small brown head that receded to a ringlet and left some strands of lacing on the glass. Aroma was heavy with bourbon, fusel, dark roasty malts, and more bourbon. Almost burnt my eyebrows off. This beer was HOT with booze, almost more bourbon than beer, though there was a heavy roastiness in the background, as well as a stiff woody quality. The body lacked the smoothness and richness that makes other similar beers good. The mouthfeel was thin, the body about medium, the booze dominated all else. This tasted and felt like way more than 10.5%ABV.

This beer needs work. Or a LOT of time to mellow out...not sure how longed they aged it, if at all. It has potential, but without some age, it's just very messy. I appreciate what they're trying to do, but I had to force this small sample of beer down. Obviously, there's nothing wrong with bourbon or Pappy itself, but speaking strictly from a "beer" perspective, this one was nearly undrinkable...but fixable. If it was up to me, I'd hypothetically cut the batch in half, add a half batch of virgin stout on top, and let it sit for a while. But that's just me.
Feb 11, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by mozim from Pennsylvania

Feb 09, 2013
PAPPY from Al's of Hampden / Pizza Boy Brewing
Beer rating: 84 out of 100 with 27 ratings