Imperial Stout
Paw Paw Brewing Company

Taste: Black toasted malts, some chocolate, coffee, a little grainy in mouthfeel., Malty oat aroma. Black, mostly opaque, refined bubbles in head thin dissipating lace. Medium/full body. Light finish for an imperial stout.

 

 

Appearance - pours nearly 2 fingers of creamy medium brown foam, body is an opaque dark sepia to black, nice lacing and retention after each quaff. Substantial webbed lace coats my entire glass at the end of the session

Smell - lots of dark chocolate, dark molasses, well roasted malt, hints of fig and dark fruit

Taste - very much like the nose, this starts with big flavors of barely sweetened dark chocolate, quickly joined by those dark fruits of fig and plum, even a hint of black cherry, followed quickly by roasted malt that quickly bitters to strong roasted char flavors and unsweetened bakers chocolate

Mouthfeel - definitely a medium here, not a lot of weight in this beer, nor does it coat the palate. Carb is very light and silky smooth, almost no scrub, which is why the roast and unsweetened chocolate assert themselves so strongly at the finish

Overall - a very good representative of the style. Dark chocolate is dominant at the front, with bittering roast winning out in the end. Just enough dark fruit elements to balance. A solid RIS and worth a try.