Sick Duck Imperial Stout
Flyers Restaurant And Brewery

I had this for the first time at Winter fest in Dec 06. This was enjoyed in a 5 oz sampler but yearning to go get more. I'm not sure of the ABV, but you should know it's there.
A: Wow, this is very black motor oil without a head.

S: The roasted aroma was what I expected and was very inviting with mild notes of caramel in the nose as well.

T: This commanding taste brings on caramel notes and a stronger ETOH taste but not dominating. Some excellent caramel malt, and roasted/ burnt woody flavors are quite enjoyable. The caramel roast finish was penultimate for this beer.

M: The thick character with stronger ETOH still was able to pull off an awesome well-balanced beer and not too much for anyone.

D: Imperial Stout and well deserving for the style. This is now a new favorite of mine. Russian Stout fans must have this one. Ask around and the locals will back it strongly.

Elbows Up,
Adam

On draught in a shaker pint at the Uber Tavern in Seattle, WA, Sick Duck is a pitch dark black with a small off-white collar and head that leaves pretty heavy lace.

The smell is moderate, caramel, vanilla, coco dust and oak.

The taste, however, is rich and thick. On the sweeter side of RIS for sure, really more of a lightly roasted baltic porter, where the roast could easily be attributed to the barrel aging alone. I like the wood with the sweetness though, well balanced here and very tasty, with notes of caramel and vanilla, and light hints of alcohol and plasticy phenols. The menu here cites "Oak+rum", so I'm not sure if it's a blend of the RIS aged in booth barrels, or it's an oak rum barrel that was used for rum before. Either way, I taste mainly wood and vanilla, which I've always attributed to the oak (and I don't think I've ever had a rum aged brew before), more so then rum (or caramel).

The mouthfeel is rich and smooth, and really not to thick for the style, yet still satisfying.

A tasty and easy drinking RIS, and a fine example of the benefits of barrel aging, whereby the oak and vanilla are equally represented without overbearing, as for malty sweetness as well.