Stone Imperial Stout
Stone Brewing

Rich malt, roasty aroma, full body.

Rich malt, roasty aroma, full body.

 

Pours thick jet black with a very dark caramel head. Strong smell of dark fruit and molasses. Taste of roasted malts along with dark fruits and a light coffee finish.

 

 

unpretentiously poured into a pint glass, a dark dark almost black with tan one-finger head. Slight lacing and minimal retention. Looks fabulous. Nose of chocolate and nuttiness (would be awesomer with a touch of vanilla) is quite good, but the taste and mouthfeel is where it's at. Nice blend of maltiness, chocolate, touch of sweet, and (to me) not the heavy roastiness. A smooth sipper, the 10.5% AC is not evident...this sips as an 8 or 9 tops, with no alcohol burn. As a fierce Stone fanboy, I was totally expecting a hop-forward stout marriage but this surprised me in a great way. Very good.

 

 

Copenhagen 9/12 2023. 35,5 cl can picked up at Meny, Borups Allé half a year ago. As "Stone Imperial Stout". Black and blue can with Stone's iconic Devil head.

Pours opaque dark brown with a big beige head. Stable. Settles as thin patch of foam unable of covering the surface of the beer. Moderate lacing.

Aroma is fairly intense with a dark malty and toasted odor hiding a sharp edge of dark alcohol Caramel, toffee and brown sugar. Dark chocolate and licorice. whiff of Calvados.

Light carbonation. Medium thick, oily, soft, slightly viscous, almost flat texture.

Flavor is intense with a strong sweetness followed and balanced by a strong bitterness. Aftertaste is bitter dark licorice. Lingering. Finish is rather dry.

Fine potent boozer.

 

 

 

Poured into a tulip pint at about 45F. Jet black and totally opaque with a desert sand colored and very fine head that lasts much longer than anticipated, leaving amazing streaks of lacing along the sides of the glass.
Smells of caramel and cocoa with a nice yeasty zest that isn't funky like it is in some other stouts.
Taste is sweet caramel up front with bakers cocoa in the middle and a nice dry finish. The flavors are similar to Oscar Blues' Ten-Fidy (the regular version).
Mouthfeel is amazing. The very fine head makes for a velvety mouthfeel similar to North Coast's Rasputin. The 10.5% ABV is covered up so well that I would have guessed this to be a 7-8% abv beer in a blind taste test.
Overall absolutely SUPERB job this year y'all! 100% will be buying this as long as the cold weather lasts, and/or as long as it remains on the shelf.

Poured into a chalice: color is solid black, head is tan with fine to small bubbles and presents one finger thick, head lingers with a solid top with frothy lacing on the glass sides.

Smell is boozy upfront, then roast, chocolate, toast, malt, earth and grassy hops.

Taste is more malt, roast, cocoa, light espresso, earth, grassed hops, boozy notes are more backing flavor; very good flavor and high glass imperial stout.

Mouthfeel is low/moderate carbonation, moderate sweetness, moderate bitterness; really easy on the boozy bite and flavor for such a big beer.

Overall a big beer that drinks lighter but brings forward the flavors you want in a big stout - chocolate, roast, light coffee, some booziness.

From a 12oz can dated "PKG" 10/24/24 into a stemless snifter.

Pours about the blackest I've seen a stout with about one and a half fingers of brown head. Great retention and lacing.

Some charred smoky and dark fruit aromas on the crack of the can. In the glass, bitter baker's chocolate is noticeable.

This is a bitter tasting stout. Baker's chocolate, dark chocolate, light coffee with a roasty flavor over it all.

I feel like this beer could be a little thicker but for what it is, the body works just fine. Low carbonation. Bitter aftertaste.

Great old-school imperial stout.

Stone Russian Imperial Stout, 10.5% ABV. Pours thick and black, with a nice four-finger brown head that left good lacing. Aroma is roast malt and chocolate. Taste follows, quite bitter, slightly sweet. Excellent mouthfeel, overall outstanding.

1/22/2025, Apothecary, on a less than 0 degree day!

Aroma - dark sour cherry, cocoa, red wine

Taste - bright and almost astringent, woody, spicy, and, amazingly, not overly sweet for an imperial! It's more stoney, with molasses.

Feel - not sticky and sweet, stoney, cold, bitter finish.

Excited to have this on tap in West Virginia!