Narwhal
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

 

This stuff looks as black as old used motor oil. It's completely delicious and bombards your taste buds chocolaty, malty, coffee booze. I would imagine the bourbon barrel aged version of this would be close to founders KBS. This is my new winter favorite.

L: Poured from a 12oz bottle into a sniffer - Jet black pour with no ounce of light hinting. Big head on the foam - about 1-1 and a half fingers length risen.
S: Getting aromas of chocolate, coffee, slight toffee, malts.
T: Taste is as smell follows - chocolate first, heavy malts, cocoa.
F: Heavy bodied, thick, oily, rich, a good sipper.
O: Not bad! I liked this one a lot - am curious how this would taste if barrel aged.

 

I absolutely love this stuff.
It is less sweet than some other stouts I've had but just enough to be perfect.
The balance in incredible.

 

L: Poured into a goblet from a 12 oz. L bottle; very little head, very dark -- 40+ SRM

S: Booze, cocoa, and chocolate malts; smoked notes are intertwined with notes of dried fruit (fig, raison, and prune, I believe)

T: This a decadent beer that tastes heavier on cocoa than the aroma would suggest; the malt forward chocolate flavors are delicious, but I would prefer more balancing bitterness and the sweetness became a bit bracing towards the end of the glass; there is a slight smokiness lingering somewhere if you work to find it, but those complex dried fruit flavors escape me

F: As suggested by taste, the sweetness became cloying and distracted from an otherwise elegantly velvety, full mouthfeel and suggested surprisingly little attenuation for a beer this big (to my taste)

O: This may be an objectively nice beer, but it is surprisingly out of my wheelhouse as it is too unbalanced in favor of malt for the size of the beer

 

 

12oz bottle poured into a snifter at 50F. Body is pretty much pitch black with a khaki head that dissipates to a ring and swirly patches of self-renewing bubbles.
Smell is caramel and cocoa with a hint of floral, pine, and booze. Very slight coffee notes on the back end.
Taste follows the smell, but quite more intense on booze and the cocoa. Bitterness of the combined flavors does linger on the palette for quite a while. Nicely blended, but would be EXCELLENT in about a year's time. I will definitely put some of this in my cellar for next year.
Feels a bit on the high side for carbonation, but still appropriate to mask the high ABV, which is noticeable, but not too overbearing considering the style. All the more reason to bottle age this one.
Overall quite nice, but so fresh that it might be too a little too fresh. Can't wait to try this one at the end of Winter in 2023, and then again in Fall 2023. Well done, Sierra Nevada!

What a brilliant imperial Stout this is! Here in Northwest Montana it's unusual to see beers of this quality but it did show up in our local grocery store. Narwhal pours black as the darkest night. There is a persistent dark brown head as well. The first thing that hits your nose is coffee, followed by chocolate and then the hops. Taste is much the same in order. The one thing that doesn't make an overt appearance at all is the 10.2% ABV. Narwhal from Sierra Nevada is a home run without question. If you have never had the pleasure of tasting this brew, do yourself a favor and seek it out. It will be worth it.

 

Chilled can into a snifter. Gentle pour yields brown head resting on deep black liquid.
Smell is roasty malt, cacao nib.
Taste brings the dark malt profile, there’s a present hop to keep it interesting, touch of coffee, cocoa, little char. No alcohol burn.
Feel is medium to thick, but not oily.
Overall, a fine everyday Stout.

From the 2020 dated bottle, it pours a stygian dark black color with a modest brown head, soon diminishing to nothing. The nose gets roasted malts. The mouth gets the same - deep roasted malts that grab you by the cheeks, overall it ages well and is easy to drink.

From a 12 oz. bottle, 2 months old.
Black as black. Smell is faint to this nose, some dark fruit , chocolate, coffee, none overly prominent. Taste is rich, heavy, high alcohol content is well concealed, notes of the aforementioned attributes. Feel leaves the mouth somewhat drying. Coats the glass (snifter) with evidence of a higher ABV. Very respectable Russian Imperial, close but not above Old Rasputin, my personal favorite.

 

Poured from a bottle into a tulip glass. Bottle purchased on 10/15/22. Bottle date 9/2/22.

L- Absolutely pitch black!

S- Deep roasted malt.

T- Nice bitter dark chocolate flavor.

F- Very nice velvet mouthfeel with just
enough carbonation.

O- A wonderful Imperial Stout!

 

 

 

Appearance: pours a jet black color with a 2 finger tan foam head.

Aroma: a sweet toasted malt aroma.

Taste: Oak barrel and chocolate malt, and a little bit of earthiness. A smoky flavored backbone.

Overall: another solid beer from Sierra nevada.

For the price, this is a fantastic Imperial stout! Very smooth and thick ( without being syrupy) , I get strong elements of dark coffee and cocoa powder. There is a bitterness on the finish, but the texture is so smooth that there is very little alcohol bite or resinous linger. It really is worthy of grabbing anytime this one is released, BA version are especially good too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 oz can, 2020 vers.

Black, some foam. Smells like roast and grass and chocolate and maple and pine. Coffee, pine hops, chocolate, spice, very slight soy sauce... a sickening amount of hops to the point of being disgusting. I'd have loved this in the past, now it's definitively not my thing

It's okay but I probably won't buy again. I'd like to try the BA version

 

 

 

 

Ebony with a 1/4" tan head, which slowly fades. Moderate lacing.

Aroma of coffee, chocolate, roast malt.

Taste is rich chocolate, coffee, roast malt. Astringent.

Full body, light carbonation. Dry, astringent finish.

Excellent cocoa flavor. This is a very good Stout.

Appearance: Pours a jet black color with a thick body and large and rich somewhat dark tan head. SRM of 24. (4.25)

Aroma: Strong aromas of chocolate, espresso bean roast, and earthy molasses. Vanilla notes are there. Earthy and black malt notes follow before a chocolate finish. (4.00)

Flavor: Intense flavors of rich chocolate, coffee, toasted black malt, and some vanilla and rich chocolate mixed with intense earthy pine flavors and smooth espresso roast notes. (4.00)

Feel: A large body. Rich and smooth without being too cloying or thick. Appropriately and surprisingly clean and dry for 10.2%. (4.25)

Compared to North Coast Old Rasputin 1/16/22: Pours a similar color with a darker and larger head. Stronger aromas. More chocolate and espresso bean roast. Less black malt, earthy notes, and root beer.

Overall: Tons of Sierra Nevada quality to this beer with the pine. Intense chocolate, espresso roast, but a ton of pine bitterness too. Goes down smooth and clean enough to make you long for another sip. Definitely a sipper and hides the alcohol extremely well at 10.2%. Probably settles down a little with age. (Final Rating: 4.09)

Pours black with a medium persistent rich tan head. Smell is roasted malt, some coffee notes, maybe even a little dark fruit. Taste has a big sweet backbone but it's overwhelmed by the bitter roasted malt. Great malt profile that's hard to place. Dark chocolate and coffee notes, but that's a bit of a cop out to describe what's a more complicated malt taste. Spicy warming boozy finish. The most noteworthy thing here is how surprisingly balanced and drinkable this is. Heavy for sure, but it goes down dangerously easy. Nicely carbonated. Really great imperial stout and a great beer for a cold January evening.

 

A great Imperial Stout for the money. Delicious.

12oz bottle poured into Teku glass. Picked up from liquor store for $2.79. 8/13/21 printed on the top of the back label, so this is about 4 months old.

Appearance - Opaque black body. Medium brown 2-finger head with good retention, lacing and stick. 4.75

Smell - Dark roasted character primarily. Then some caramel and chocolate and vanilla, and alcohol. It really doesn't hide the alcohol very well. 4.25

Taste - Dark roasted coffee. I just now read the description on the back label and it literally says word for word "dark roasted coffee". So yeah, it sure lives up to that. Baker's cocoa noticeable too, as it notes. It's not bad by any means. But this style has very stiff competition, and I rate within style. 4

Mouthfeel - A little harsh. Boozy. Full bodied. But a relatively clean finish for the style, which isn't saying too much. 4

Overall - Pretty solid beer. Pretty middle of the road for the style. No major flaws. Easy recommendation, especially for the price. Good value. 4