Imperial Stout
Square One Brewery & Distillery

This had a black, motor oil appearance with a dark tan head.

It smelled great. Dark chocolate was the predominant scent, with malts and coffee coming through as well.

This tasted great. It was big and malty with a noticeable coffee aftertaste to it. You could definitely tell the alcohol was there at the end as it went down.

This was a very good imperial stout and it was even better with my smoked beef brisket.

A - A big two finger head of dark brown foam leaves an amazing amount of lace behind. The head gets pitted and rocky on it's leisurely way down to a thick chocolaty cap. This is what a RIS should look like!

S - Count Chocula marshmallows, rich dark chocolate, and a hint of espresso. I smell sweet cream also.

T - Dark high-end chocolate....like those fancy-pants Symphony bars. Loads of espresso and wood smoke are there too, but this is definitely a chocolate oriented stout, and that's exactly how I like them!

M - Full bodied, creamy, and heavy like whipping cream. There are tons of sugars in there, but the finish manages to bring out a big dry barky feeling that is just awesome.

D - Outstanding. This is probably the one beer to have at Square One if you only have the time/tolerance to try one brew.

Much like the Square One IIPA, this beer is probably not classified correctly in today’s in-your-face American craft beer world. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a nice beer. And it’s served through a nitro tap, which is always a good thing for a stout, as far as I am concerned. But the body and alcohol just aren’t there for the current interpretation of the style. It’s a good thing this beer was on nitro, as it likely helped give it some extra mouthfeel. And much like the IIPA, were this classified as a regular stout, I would be talking it up.

The flavor was a nice combination of roast and chocolate, with slight malt sweetness. A higher hopping rate and/or a bit of an alcohol bite would have given this beer a bit more definition.

All in all, very easy to quaff. Sufficiently tasty to keep your interest, while low enough in booze to avoid the subsequent ass-kicking. And to be fair, this beer can be had in a pint glass at very reasonable price. You aren’t paying 5 bucks for a small snifter.

I was skeptical of this beer at first, but a few sips of the brew completely changed my mind. It was served in a shaker pint glass a deep, dark black beer topped by a thick tan colored head. The head reflected a nice carbonation, and left a good lace on the side of the glass. . The nose had a lot of roasted malt, a little espresso, and just a hint of chocolate. The flavor is dominated by the roast malt. There is a ton of it. The espresso character is there, and a little light chocolate character. My one issue with this beer is the lack of hops. It could use a little bitter punch to take this up a notch. The mouth feel is full and satisfying. The beer has nice carbonation, but does not reach the fizzy character. No alcohol heat. This brewery continues to impress me. They take chances, assess where they are, and reset their expectations. Good beer that will likely improve next time they brew it.