Imperial Stout
Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster)

 

A: Pours up a deep reddish mahogany with a frothy three-finger beige head, medium retention, nice lacing.

S: Immediate notes of chocolate followed my more muted hints of roasted malt, specifically not coffee but roasted malt, though some slight coffee notes do come out a little bit later, as do some biscuity notes and some subtle hints of vanilla. 



T: A warm bready sweetness greets you, followed by a somewhat jammy malt flavor that hints at chocolate without quite getting there, this is rounded out by some subtle hints of roasted malt and a crisp, slightly tart finish.

M: On the lighter end of medium body, slightly over carbonated and a bit dry.

O: This is a very good beer, but to me it suffers from what I might call “OG Syndrome”. What I mean by this is that how this style is understood has changed since this beer was first brewed but this beer largely has not, leading to a beer that misses the mark by no fault of its own. The beer has a surprisingly light body that one would not think of when one thinks of the style, and the dryness and carbonation are unwelcome by modern standards as well. I do enjoy this, but were I reaching for an imperial stout this would not be my first choice. It’s a bit too understated.

Everything you would hope for in a classic British stout.
creamy, light brown head that lasts until the end
Rich, roasted barley, mild hop aftertaste
Fermented in "Stone Yorkshire Squares",
what this adds to the flavor I can't say.
Would drink this again at the drop of a hat.

 

 

 

 

I got what I paid for. $5 for a biggie bottle of Stout. Like going to The Bunny Ranch and sticking to the third tier of doves, you’re going to get one with a few feathers missing. In life, I suggest that you shouldn’t lie to yourself (you will be better off in the long run - or any “run,” for that matter). And with tonight’s realization (for like the 50th time for me), maybe I’ll make the better decision next time.

L-Jet black with a half finger head that's tan and dissipates to a rocky lace.
S-Smells of faint roasted coffee, toffee, and chocolate. On an even slighter note, I get some dark stone fruit. Some soy sauce towards the end.
T-Follows the nose. A roasted malt flavor there, but not much coffee. Some chocolate, vanilla and brown sugar. Molasses. Slightly sweet, slightly bitter as well. Some boozeyness at the end.
F-Medium bodied mouthfeel. Decently high carbonation.
O-Ehh. I don't really get the hype with this beer. It's solid, but there isn't anything to write home about. For a surprisingly low ABV imperial stout, there was still a good bit of boozeyness on the pallet. Just an okay beer. Not sure if I'd try again.

12oz bottle into a pint glass. Coding no help in determining age.

Looks nice enough. Black body with a persistent tan head which leaves scattered lacing.

Aromas of dark chocolate and faint coffee.

On tasting, very smooth, no roast, slightly sweet with the coffee and chocolate notes detected by the nose.

Mouth full, finish smooth and almost creamy.

Overall, splendid stout, would be happy to have ot again.

 

 

 

 

Look: It pours very dark brown with a brown head. Head retention is good.

Smell: It has a chocolate aroma with some roast in the background. There are very low dark fruit notes.

Taste: It is more roasted in the flavor than in the aroma with the chocolate not as noticeable in the background. There are light coffee flavors with very low dark fruits.

Feel: It has a medium full body with a mildly bitter aftertaste.

Overall, this is an easy drinking imperial stout with good flavors.

 

 

L: Rocky, thick head, middling retention
S: Chocolate
T: Sweet malt coffee blanced bitter (sweet finish)
F: Light carbonation, light viscosity
O: Loved the sweetness

 

 

 

 

An extremely satisfying Imperial Stout, with a nice and robust body built from toasted grain and malt. A layer of alcoholic phenols accompany the rich flavor profile. Love it.

 

 

Look: black with a thick creamy mocca colored head

Aroma: roasted malts, chocolate

Flavor: roasted malts, chocolate, molasses, dark fruit, it is fairly sweet but not too sweet..

Body/overall: full body, pretty good

 

 

 

355 ml bottle into pint glass. Pours a deep brown with a modest light tan head. Initial impression is roasted malts, chocolate, and a hint of hops. Mouthfeel is medium, as is carbonation. Smooth and eminently drinkable. Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable Imperial Stout at a much lower ABV than what I'm used to.

From a 550ml bottle. Jet black with a quarter inch of medium brown head. Smells of roasted malt. Full bodied. Roasted malt and chocolate flavors with some hop bitterness on the finish. Well done. I'm so used to the high-octane RIS that it's interesting to get this style at only 7%.

Pours an excellent, dirthy, viscous and full bodied dark, deep black. No light bleed. Head is hanging around and is deep earthy brown. Nose gives huge elements of baltic porter, like zywiec or black boss: toffee, caramalt and some solid residual brown sugar leading into a hint of oxidized hops (nose), liqourice (licorice?), plum, cane sugar, maybe some smoke (but the weber is going so who knows)

Hell of a beer, really complex. Those notes above all pertain just the same in the flavor, but just in phases. Like from fruity to chocolatey to smokey and on and on just evolving.

Poured into a tulip a nice black colored liquid capped by a light brown head that was dense and soft looking. Dissipated fairly quickly but still looks good.
The aroma was roasted malts, and for me that is impressive, my nose is broke as far as aroma goes.
The taste, I was somewhat impressed- for a RIS it was very smooth, as in no charred malts and no extra hops, just dense and full roasted malts that bring to mind figs and coffee and chocolate. Really nice!
The feel is likewise smooth as silk, this is just a pleasure to drink.
Glad I finally tried this, it will be a regular in my cellar.

12-oz bottle into Samuel Smith pint glass
I had been saving a bottle to review for a while. Father's Day seemed like a good occasion.

A - Samuel Smith always looks fancy, foil-wrapped bottles and all. This one pours a deep pitch black with ruby highlights under 3 fingers of thick dark tan foam, which leaves behind a very nice web of lace. Simply beautiful!

S - dark fruits, touch of chocolate, molasses sweetness, hint of lactic character; inviting

T - dark roasted malts, sweet and tart dark fruits, light sugar sweetness, wooden notes, earthy bitterness; just delicious

M - smooth medium body, moderate carbonation

O - an excellent beer all around; no complaints

 

 

 

Tasty stout, very refreshing and much smoother than you expect it to be at 7% abv. Pleasantly bitter. Drank straight from the bottle on St. Patrick's Day, like the Irish lush I am.

Pours a dark brown color with a foamy head that lasts quite a while. Aroma of coffee and roasted malts. Taste is black coffee and dark chocolate. Smooth and creamy.