High Desert
Sweetwater Tavern

Pours a dark opaque color with a slight tan head and lacing
Aroma has coffee, chocolate and roast hints
The taste follows the nose with a coffee, chocolate and roast flavor
A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
A good Stout

Rich, malty, roasted aroma and flavor. Strongly reminiscent of cocoa and dark coffee. Quite good! I'd enjoy any beer that approaches this one in quality.

 

 

 

 

 

Not My Cup of Tea

I poured it out. Precious had a medical appointment so I threw a growler in the back of the car and asked her to stop by Sweetwaters to get me something. On their website they had a beer named after Denzel Washington: Black Stallion IPA. I'm a fan of Densel's. But when Precious got there, they didn't have it so she got this. I'm not a big fan of stouts. In the past I would have liked to drink this no matter how bad it tastes just for the alcohol content to so I could get stoned to the bejesus, but at this moment I really don't want to sacrifice taste.

It pours out not quite as thick as cough syrup but in that neighborhood. It's dark brown and syrupy. It has a taste and smell of chocolate and coffee. I do not like coffee which is why I was turned off by this. It also had a syrupy feel. I drank a glass, but I threw the rest away.

From reading the review I understand that a lot of people like this. That's great. I like Sweetwater, and I am happy if their products are successful. But this beer just wasn't for me.

On draft

Almost black, very dark brown, a thin tan head. Chocolate and coffee aroma. Taste is a bit acidic, odd oxidized aftertaste for a fresh draft beer. Much too thin for an imperial stout.

 

 

 

 

Had on tap at the centerville one. VERY chocolately. Probably one of the most pronounced chocolate flavors that I've had. Overall a delicious beer and very drinkable. I might go get my growler filled with it since I liked it so much!! Definitely worth trying if you go to the restaurant.

 

Thanks to Kegatron for sharing this 2-liter growler with me. Poured into a snifter, this brew appears black in color with a finger of tan froth. A swirl revives the cap and produces some spotty lacing on the glass. Brown clarity to ruby is seen when held to the light.

The smell includes some raisony alcohol sweetness mixed with some citrus and mineral inclusion. A bit of burnt molasses and toffee are noted accenting the dark fruity quality of the nose. The taste is raisons, chocolate, bitter roasted grain, citrus, minerals and molasses. There is a solvent inclusion of alcohol that breaks things up a bit.

This is a medium bodied brew with a modest amount of carbonation. The 10.5% is fairly well integrated until it warms up. Heath mentioned this growler not holding up as well as he remembered having it. I don't doubt that but found this to be a decent offering regardless.

(Listed as 8.6% ABV on the board at the restaurant.)

A: This poured an opaque black with some tan head.
S: It smelled like dry milk chocolate, with some roasted coffee and cream. No real subtleties that I could detect.
T: It tasted like it smelled, with dry milk chocolate and some roasted coffee, and maybe a bit of citrus hops. It had a smooth and easy bittersweet aftertaste.
M: It was thick with a bit of carbonation. Nice and full.
D: This was a solid imperial stout. It had a nice scent and taste, with great body. It hid the alcohol really well too, so it was quite easy to drink. It had a very basic profile, with no complexity, but it was still enjoyable. Recommended for those who are just getting into bigger stouts.

Thanks to Alex for bringing this flagon to our growlerfest part one/ufc showdown/showtunes night. Poured into lost abbey tumbler, pitch black with decent sized mocha head, good lacing and some good retention for a high abv beer. Smell is very interesting... Favoring the much more heavily roasted malts, nutty, slightly burnt, tar, a bit on the chemical side, but not in a bad way. Very unique. Taste is nutty and very bitter, hop forward with lots of dark roasted patent and chocolate malts, sweet coffee and a bit of dark sweet fruits in the finish. Medium to heavy body and a medium light carbonation. This is one imperial stout that drinks much more like an American stout. A very good beer, very drinkable for nearly 11%.

Ugly growler which looks like you would use it to transport toxic waste provide by Alex at our UFC/Showtunes Dance-off.

A - Black beer with a brown head that rose a tad over two fingers in my Stone RIS glass. Good retention, great lacing, no agrument with the looks on this one.

S - Roasted malts, chocolate, molasses, caramel, really just a nice blend of what you would want in a big stout like this.

T - Taste is sufficiently roasty to balance out a rich chocolate flavor. It's quite surprsing how good this one turned out, and I drink a fair bit of the growler.

M - Full bodied, low carbonation, quite filling.

D - Great beer, would have again, solid drinker at 10.8%.

Growler, thanks to Alex for this one. Shared at our UFC tasting.

A - Pours black, two fingers-worth of a beautiful mocha head, great lacing along the sides of the glass, and wonderful retention after the initial pour. A really nice-looking RIS, to say the least.

S - Sweet milk chocolate, buttery richness, roasted nuts.

T - Really nice roast and milk chocolate, really buttery rich, nice nutty flavor as well. Really nice mix of rich bitterness and sweetness.

M - Full bodied, rich and smooth, creamy finish.

D - A wonderful RIS that really surprised me. I had two pours of this one because I enjoyed it so much. This beats a ton of other East Coast hyped stouts by a long mile. Get this one!