Assassin
Toppling Goliath Brewing Company

AssassinAssassin
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From:
Toppling Goliath Brewing Company
 
Iowa, United States
Style:
American Imperial Stout
Ranked #15
ABV:
12%
Score:
100
Ranked #31
Avg:
4.65 | pDev: 7.96%
Reviews:
173
Ratings:
1,514
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 10, 2024
Added:
Feb 20, 2012
Wants:
  2,118
Gots:
  194
After endless hours of scorching in heat, brewing in turmoil, fermenting in angst, the Assassin’s journey has just begun. In the shadow of the temple, he lies in wait, maturing his plot to perfection. He emerges merciless, dominated by darkness, his bite laced with the charred remnants of his victims. No man dares to cross his path. They will forever sleep with one eye open, in fear of the Assassin’s hot kiss of death.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by robwater:
Photo of robwater
Rated by robwater from Colorado

5/5  rDev +7.5%

Nov 26, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of sd123
Rated by sd123 from Georgia

4.75/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Dark embrace invitational
Mar 10, 2024
Photo of bbtkd
Reviewed by bbtkd from South Dakota

4.54/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Toppling Goliath Assassin 2023 BBA Imperial Stout, 15.% ABV. Pours thick and black with no head on a 5oz taproom pour into a tiny-ass glass. Aroma is mostly roast malt and bourbon, with some dark fruit, chocolate and caramel. Taste follows, plus vanilla and other subtle flavors hiding behind the gigantic boozy flavor, moderately sweet. Excellent thick and smooth mouthfeel, overall world class. Mega-boozy.
Feb 22, 2024
 
Rated: 4.68 by Jcoleman4 from Ohio

Jan 11, 2024
Photo of MonDak_Joe1953
Reviewed by MonDak_Joe1953 from Minnesota

4.56/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Tap pour at Ansari's, during its 12 Beers of Toppling Goliath. 2022 vintage.
Black colored color. Light tan head; this quickly retreats to a thin ring. Leaves behind a clinging ring of lacing.
Aroma of bourbon barrel, dark roasted malts, oak, dark fruit, caramel, and chocolate.
Taste is sweet from the barrel and the malts. Flavors of bourbon soaked dark roasted malts, oak, cherry, prune, toffee, chocolate, and vanilla. Very smooth and lingering aftertaste.
Thick and sticky mouth feel. Higher ABV% is hidden but exudes vapors. Supportive carbonation.
Is a very tasty bourbon soaked treat.
Dec 23, 2023
 
Rated: 4.5 by dontknojack from Louisiana

Dec 17, 2023
Photo of Saylor
Reviewed by Saylor from Pennsylvania

5/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
I had the pleasure of sharing the 2023 variety with a friend. Easily the best, beer especially stout, I’ve ever had. This puts those other mass produced, thin barrel stouts to shame.

Wonderfully thick full-flavored mouthfeel. Coconut.
Dec 15, 2023
 
Rated: 4.86 by mando31 from Illinois

Dec 10, 2023
 
Rated: 4.56 by stmoorea from Illinois

Dec 09, 2023
 
Rated: 4.69 by Jimmylikesbeer from Michigan

Dec 07, 2023
 
Rated: 4.5 by Dope from Massachusetts

Dec 05, 2023
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Rated by jb_4226 from Texas

4.9/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5
#193, yummy!
Nov 26, 2023
 
Rated: 4.75 by JonB25 from Delaware

Nov 23, 2023
 
Rated: 5 by ThaKennster from Texas

Jul 18, 2023
 
Rated: 4.75 by cp45 from New Jersey

Jul 13, 2023
 
Rated: 4.49 by SayBoom from Ukraine

May 05, 2023
Photo of JohnnyHopps
Reviewed by JohnnyHopps from Indiana

4.79/5  rDev +3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Appearance - The beer was an inky black color with a dark head clinging to the sides of the glass.

Smell - Dark malts and barrel were the primary parts of the nose.

Taste - Initially, the profile was thick boozy dark chocolate. The profile with sweet, but nowhere close to being cloying. Notes of raisin, tobacco, and a hint of vanilla followed. The chocolate goodness lingered in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel - The feel was thick and sticky, clinging to the sides and top of the tongue.

Overall - This beer was definitely hype worthy.
Apr 24, 2023
 
Rated: 4.65 by Chuckg93 from Oregon

Apr 12, 2023
 
Rated: 4.88 by notchucknorris from California

Apr 04, 2023
Photo of M-Fox24
Reviewed by M-Fox24 from New Jersey

4.46/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
A: A carbon black discharge to the carafe with a tap shoe hue, while the decanter rests on a woodsmoke tone, before the radiance pins a coloration near Kurotobi. The transfer(s) occur across natural nucleated sites, which avoids the unwanted lipids/impurities on the cross-reactions, for solidifications. Accordingly, a collar formation to the inch, as latticework – marginally – pushes through a rushed retreat. The brim comes in towards the .25in, which clings to the periods that reach 1cm, while the hours further the detachments per the foam-negative materials. With this in mind, the palette to the neck has a dark beige peak, as the rushed retreat has a mars brown rim. In turn, a viscosity factor that plays to the annulling properties aforesaid, which support the nuanced droplets that attune the advanced (teary) arches

S: Malts frame the dexterities above a soft hop bill, while the oak casks work to build a complicated mass around the aged aldehydes. An ignition that politely connotes La Bête Noire with a Cajeta glaze, as figgy duff pairs alongside prunes + flame raisins. There is an oak stave to plank presence in exercise, which adds a dynamic balance to the sweet midsections. Supplementary to this, a calm hop effect that reinforces the barrel toned landscapes, when symbolizing forested alder to shagbark hickory. All the while, a ventilated deduction on the vintage, beyond the bettering cask aspects. This comes at a trained interval, which nears ≥68°F, for softening & blooming the – hourly – abstractions. Correspondingly, an enlightened (smart) complication that comes without additives, where the stability is maintained & rooted through coordination. The progression optimizes the breathing periods, by characterizing Palo Cortado through rawhide over clay pipes, outside the dried fruit subtexts over Atomic Fireballs. Moreover, a structure that continuously engages in complex polymers, when denoting lignins across tannins, in the act of rolling dry constitutions

T: Soft barrel entitlements to the conversions set by diastatic enzymes, where hemicelluloses contribute to the cultured caramelization(s). Namely, maltol developments to the plot, for signifying doughy accounts on Nussbrezels under a Crème brûlée guise, as bourbon coats Chelan cherries + Moyer plums. The notations have a light implication on the makings that analog MalvaBons, while lightly addressing the oak lactones thru coconut. The age offers a refined sense on the phenolic aldehydes, as they lend vanilla by vanillin, which comes with a molasses – charred – nature. Howbeit, cautious to not exceedingly burn amid the oxidized transfers, across the carafe, where Fahrenheit gets incrementally pushed. There is a leathery standing behind the hydrolysable workings, which offer a steadying composure to the sweet malt passages. This is furthered by a low toned bitterness, when detailing the dark rosin inflections. Sequentially, a blooming allowance that recapitulates the sensed perceptions on sherry, where an oxidized nuttiness supplants English toffee. The sequences have dry – tannin derived – cessations, while carefully regulating spiced eugenols & smoked guaiacols, against the softly spoken (developed) acetaldehydes

M: An intensity behind C₂H₆O that’s courteous to not suffocate, when attenuating sweetness. Thus, a treacly to thick mitigation with an alleviating bite, while the smooth ebullitions amalgamate over the tempered – carbonated – tiers. A feel that’s accompanied by age, besides the aeriated drafts, for paving a weathered maturity

O: The degradations on hemicelluloses are rich in their pursuit on furfurals above ethyl acetates, which is fittingly appropriate, for perceiving malt. Oak compounds are continuous in the upsurge, of clocked intervals, as they are paired alongside the relaxed wooded hops. Correspondingly, a construction that offers more harmony, when providing the time with an uncapped patience
Mar 31, 2023
Assassin from Toppling Goliath Brewing Company
Beer rating: 100 out of 100 with 1514 ratings