15th Anniversary Imperial Stout
Carolina Brewing Company

 

 

 

12 oz bottle.

Appearance: Pretty much opaque. Light brown head with literally some of the worst retention I've ever seen (poured in the kitchen, 10 steps to the couch, no head). Does leave some lacing.

Smell: Nice chocolate. A little smoky, roasty coffee. I like it.

Taste: Not as rich with chocolate as the smell, but still chocolately. Its a little thin at first, but feels bigger after you swallow. There's a vaguely grape Hubba Bubba flavor here. Very sweet. I bit of char-like roast and bitterness on the finish. More round and flavorful as it warms.

Mouthfeel: Its on the thin side for a double stout. Again, it feels bigger on the finish.

Drinkability: This is the last of my sixpack, and I've enjoyed them all. A decent stab at a big stout. Tasty, but not real complex, and too thin of a mouthfeel.

Sampled from a 12oz bottle in a standard pint glass. Purchased from the brewery the day after it went on sale. Bottled on date is 6/30/10. Served at 50 degrees.

A - Black with a little light around the edges and very litte head.

S - Coffee, roasted malt and chocolate. With each smell, it seems to vary which leads but it tends toward a more roasted, coffee aroma.

T - A bitterness that seems to come from both the roasted malts and a good dose of hops. There's a strong presence of coffee though I don't think any actual coffee is added.

M - Smooth and silky with a very low carbonation.

D - A decent beer but not one that stands out. This beer has a lot of flavor but it's not well focused. Maybe it'll be better over time. But this is one of the best beers for the money. They reeled the prices back for their anniversary. All six packs were $6 except this one which was $8. That's still very good for a 'B' range Imperial Stout that weighs in at 9.4%.

Roasty malts and just a bit of sweetness define this beer. Poured with brilliant opaqueness, the head dissipated slowly and was the color of cardboard. I was pleasantly surprised by the roundness of this beer it instantly had me craving cold weather and a turkey leg. Any bitterness was provided by the roasted malt/barley. An absolute pleasure to drink.

On-tap at Flying Saucer served in a standard pint glass a deep opaque black with almost no head that leaves the slightest trace of lacing on the glass. The aroma is slight roasted malts and alcohol, but not much there. The taste is a nice amount of roasted malts with some bitter chocolate and slight espresso. The beer is a bit heavy with its ABV certainly showing, but it's a tolerable sipper, even on a Summer afternoon. This one is enjoyable, but I think I'll be aging the bottles I bought from the brewery.

Inky black pour, with no light coming through. Dark tan head, 1 finger's worth. Nice retention and laces well.

Lots of roast malt in the nose, ever so slightly burnt. Chocolate and cocoa back that up. Even smells creamy.

One of the smoothest impy stouts I've ever tasted. Alcohol comes in faintly in the end, but masked very well. Has the taste of a very rich expresso dropped in the middle of a hoppy stout, but with the coffee bitters tamed down some.

Very thick feel. Incredibly rich and creamy.

I was a little leary of buying another impy stout this summer, but glad I did.