Small Batch Ale Deep Dark River Imperial Stout
White Birch Brewing

A- Standard can into a becher with a midnight black body and a dark mocha brown cap. The head is foamy with decent retention dying to a tiny ring after rising to a half inch high. Lacing is spotty but rare.

S- Blackened aromas dominated by malts with a hint of yeast and booze. Burnt barley sets the stage with notes of bitter dark cocoa, licorice, toasted to almost burnt nuttiness, fudge, espresso and sweets. The chocolate comes out on top overall.

T- The aroma seemed aggressive at the time but compared to this flavor it is actually very smooth. The black barley once again dominates but along with it this time comes a fairly astringent bitterness and a helping of alcohol. Extremely bitter dark chocolate, heavy licorice, burnt coffee beans, burnt barley, ash, caramel sweets, raisin and berry chocolate truffles come to mind.

MF- Sludgy oily body with a massive heavy thickness. Besides being slick, the texture is slightly creamy and frothy. Ends plenty warm.

Aroma leads off with a smooth and sharp darkness but the flavor gets a bit out of whack with some booze and general sharpness from the fermentation. Gets bonus points for not being overly thick and having a nice body to back up the aggressive flavor profile.

 

YUM! A new imperial stout. This nice brew pours a deep muddy blackish brown with a moderate head of off white foam that settles to a thick ring and light lacing. Nose of strong booze, coffee, dark chocolate, and deeply roasted malts. Flavors exceed the nose with subtle coffee awash in dark molasses with a touch of licorice on the front and sides. Middle shows deeply roasted malts and dark fruit notes of black berries and blueberries (?!!) that settle on the back with a nice strong booze and light cream flavor. Nice mouth feel, medium carbonation to cut through the slickness, and finishing with a subtle herbal hop note touched with brown sugars. VERY substantial and a worthy brew to seek out again.

AWESOME.

PERIOD.

Underrated and overlooked.

Cheers

Poured from 12-ounce can into a snifter. Opaque deep brown color, with a thin tan head that dissipates very quickly leaving minimal lacing. Nice aromas of chocolate and burnt coffee that carry over to the palate. Silky and substantial mouthfeel. Overall, an outstanding imperial stout.

Can from Bert's
Inky black color with a smallish tan head that shows moderate retention. Rig roast and chocolate with a touch of oak, dark fruit and molasses. silky rich mouthfeel big body light carbonation. I'm a sucker for a big stout and this one is quite good.