Imperial Stout: Fudge and Sickle
Lagunitas Brewing Company

Taster at brewery. Dark brown, near black pour, small ring of head. Aroma comes across as mostly roast grains and burnt toast. Taste adds some dark chocolate and fudge, enough to make it seem lacto. Creamy, bitter, sweet.

a neat variant on the highly impressive imperial stout, a classic in the style and in the american craft lexicon more widely. this is done with a bit of smoked malt, toasted oak, probably spirals or staves, not barrel aged, and chocolate, as the name suggests. some real brilliance to this. its not too sweet to be drinkable, the chocolate element doesnt turn it into desert, and it retains some of its earthy smoothness and relative dryness even with this ingredient, organic and more dark than milk chocolate to me, not overdosed at all. the bit of smoked malt plays up the low end, adds complexity, but never turns this into a smoked beer or anything, its subtle, and works to accentuate both the roast and the chocolate aspect, really a nice touch, its as wide as it is deep now. the oak has a newness to it, like the spirals can be but less intense, this isnt wood dominated, but its there in aroma and flavor, and slows the pace in a cool way, while also highlighting the roast in a cool way, kind of woodsy and wintery, and this is insanely mellow and silky to drink on, although with the chocolate a touch sweeter than the original, which maybe reduces drinkability just a bit. i think the added ingredients do a lot for this, its refined, regal, and restrained, and the wood method works great, i dont need bourbon too here. that said, i love the simplicity of the original imperial stout, its no frills nature makes it special. this is a cool variant, tastefully done, i always thought this base beer deserved a little more playing around with than it ever really seemed to get...

Taste: Chocolate fudge notes with vanilla a smoked tobacco dark toasted malts. Same with the nose. Black, mostly opaque with a delicate lace. Medium to full body. Complex and not super sweet. 15 IBUs

 

 

 

Had on tap. If anything, the feel is the most fudgey. Thick and dark for sure. Smell has brownie like quality to it. Has bitter roasted malt start followed by bittersweet chocolate on the taste as it ascends quickly up the palate. Good stout while not being necessarily sweet.

 

 

 

 

 

Poured a black body with sticky khaki head and lace ring down glass. Roasted chocolate aroma with some possible brownie (something thick and "Fudgey"). Thick, sticky, not overly sweet as a bitter chocolate sweetness pervades and dominates the beer.