Imperial Stout
Tenaya Creek Brewery

So this was a pretty old beer we cracked at March Madness 2022 1/2 edition. This was bottled 12/14/11. Hoo boy.

Pours black, makes a perfect 1" tan head. She is a looker, there is no wall is undefeated here, this one looks great with some age on it. Just great in every way. The aroma was all Russian Imperial Stout like, so much dark fruit bitterness you'd think it was a different kind of stout.

Taste was a sipper, there was what seemed like a pretty substantial bittering hop usage here. That, combined with a plethora of scorched/burnt malt definitely put this in the 100ibu territory. I didn't find anything about this to have a sweet aspect of it. Just very roasty, very bitter. The alcohol was about what you would expect for something over 9%.

Would I have liked it more fresh? Probably. Would I have liked it a lot more? Doubtful. Loving Arms is playing.

 

 

 

 

Green wax 650ml hard pour into an American pint glass produces a few inches worth of frothy head that settles down after a few minutes, tan brown head, solid black body with zero flashlight escaping past the edges, light delicate lacing

Aroma has hints of roast chocolate and burnt malts, light espresso in the back, alcohol dominates

Taste is bitter hops at first, but settles into roasted dark chocolate, strong bitter sweet caramel coffee

Mouthfeel is thick and heavy, very subtle carbonation, medium-dry finish

Only picked up to try due to being local, that being said I actually enjoyed this one for the feel but the flavor and aroma lack a bit, it’s still fairly fresh though too so will have to check back in when I try the Red Wax vintage

 

On-draught @ Aces & Ales Tenaya.

Chewy and thick. Flavours of Whoppers, chocolate malt, and dark malt sweetness.

C+ / ABOVE AVERAGE

On tap. Stellar imperial stout. Looks like a BBA with the thin tan head that hangs around and laces the glass. Smell is a bit of a winelike tang. Taste is all roasty malts and a bit of lacto tang. Feel is solid body, moderate carb. Overall quite good

 

Poured from a 22oz bomber into a tulip. Split with a couple friends while at the brewery.

Appearance: rich black hue with a layer of creamy tan foam. Beautiful.

Smell: super sweet aroma with elements of malt, smoke and licorice. A nice roasty character rounds out the balance; great.

Taste: roasty, sweet and quite licorice-ey. Rich and delicious.

Mouthfeel: huge body; smooth, creamy and fantastic.

Overall: a wonderful imperial stout. Absolutely worth a try.

 

 

Sampled at Boise’s Imperial Stout get together, over 120 bottles to choose from. Going with the flow on this rating. This was one of my contributions to the event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottled 11/7/13

Appearance: pours with a medium bodied thickness. Sits black in the glass. Halfback finger of off white head nicely poured on the pour then dissipated to the edges of the glass. No active carbonation in glass while drinking.

Smell: black licorice and mossy hops greet the drinker. Light roasted coffee with some sweeter malt notes. Caramel and molasses round out the back end.

Taste: oak and black licorice mesh well on the front. Toffee, molasses, with a lighter yet still roasted malt body. Hop presence is subtle yet adds a rustic earthiness. The finish is a lingering licorice sweetness.

Mouthfeel: sticky sweetness with subtle roasted malt dryness.

Overall: an excellent imperial stout from Tenaya. Wasn't too impressed with their IPA but this made up for it. Buy a few and sit on them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

22oz tarnished gold wax capped bottle. What, no hot chick depicted on this particular label for this brewery?

This beer pours a solid, light-destroying black, with the barest of basal cola highlights, and two fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and yet somewhat creamy light brown head, which leaves some awkward Swiss cheese lace around the glass as it slowly and evenly recedes.

It smells of roasted caramel malt, mild toffee notes, bittersweet chocolate, day-old coffee, muddled dark fruit, earthy and leafy hops, and a touch of warming alcohol. The taste is big chocolate and caramel malt, dry toffee, well-creamed coffee, prunes, plums and a fig/date adjacent fruitiness, a hint of black licorice, earthy, weedy hops, and more simmering, generally innocuous booze.

The carbonation is soft and fairly cuddly, the body medium-heavy in weight, generally smooth, with just a tinge of ashy residue, and more or less creamy. It finishes on the sweet side, the chocolate, caramel, and toffee barely tempered by the equally lingering drying coffee, weak hops, and sidling alcohol notes.

A pleasant big-ass Imperial stout, the cocoa and other sweetened components not let free to run rampant, but rather integrated with the multifaceted drying essences. All to the end game of a drinkable, and duly warming sipper, something more than capable of salving the heat and judgement after the fact of spicy Chinese food and in-law get-togethers.