Red Square Imperial Stout
Pizza Port Solana Beach

Sampled in San Clemente:

Inky black body topped with a desert tan sticky collar of foam. Nose is dominated by chocolate backed by roasted malt, alcohol esters, and a pleasant yeast strain.

Entry is focused on the chocolate with tingly carbonation on the sides of the tongue. Midtaste is malt madness with coffee, chocolate, and deep roastiness layering nicely on the tongue.

The finish provides a crisp hop bite and a long, slow, malty fade down the back of the throat.

I tasted this brew at Pizza Port in Carlsbad on 10/2/04. It is served with a tan, creamy head atop a black brew with a slight brown tint. The ead has moderate retention. The aroma has only one distinct scent and that is coffee. The flavor has a mild sweetness to go along with coffee. But overall the flavor is a bit weak. It is lacking the volume of flavor, though what is there is quite tasty. The beer is also a bit thin in the mouth.

Draught @ San Clemente Location: This one poured an almost inky black. There was a thick light brown head to it. It also had some lacing. The aroma was roasty with a hint of sweetness. There were some chocolate and coffee notes also. The taste was along similar lines. Nice!

Sampled on tap at the Carlsbad brewpub.

This imperial stout poured opaque black with creamy, tan foam that settled but clung to the glass. The smell was a modest, dark roasted malty aroma. The taste was somewhat sweet, dark, roasted malt with some dark caramel, light mollasses, grassy hops with some bitterness, and a hint of alcohol. The mouthfeel was smooth with full body and moderate carbonation. The finish was hoppy. Overall a bit warming. This was a good imperial stout with the alcohol fairly well hidden.

To the surprise of no one, this pours jet black.Maybe with imperial stouts we should only note the color if it isN't jet black...
THis is a nicely balanced imperial stout. The flavors of coffee, molasses & chocolate are evened out with some hoppiness. The word I'd use to describe this imperial is "silky". It's smooth and the alcohol is not even apparent. Well done

Sampled at the 2003 San Diego Real Ale Festival

Big chewy Imperial Stout that leave a man's head spinning.

For a beer as big as this (10.2% according to the liner notes) there is a surprising lack of any nose in the beer. Faint aromas of blackened sugar are the only things detectable.

The flavor is of big chewy malt with brown sugar and tobbaco with a strong dose of roast tempered by the cask serving. The finish is warm and just a little smoky.