Imperial Stout
Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved this beer! Lost Coast is local to me, and after a low period of less than stellar quality, they seem to have worked out the kinks and settled nicely into their new brewing facility, as they have been producing some wonderful higher-end beers in the past couple years at a very good price point (at least for me). Purchased from the specialty fridge at Winco in Eureka in a 22 oz bomber for less than five dollars, the beer was bottled on 3/1/18 and opened on 6/30/18. This Imperial Stout pours a dark brown -- and appears slightly red when held up to the light -- with a small to medium cocoa-tan head. The aroma is predominately chocolate and coffee with a nice caramel balance. Taste follows suit, and, while one reviewer claimed the mouthful was thin, I did not get that. Mine was full and luscious with a lot of complexity but still very well balanced, with the caramel/burnt sugar notes playing nicely with the chocolate and coffee. Imagine a great imperial stout like Old Rasputin or Raven's Eye but with an English Old Ale (Triple Exultation?) edge. Excellent! Will be getting this again.

 

This is pretty good. They should throw some of this in a barrel and it would be great. fyi, says 10% ABV right on the bottle.

Decent beer, but won't be added to the cellar again. For my preference it is too light and too thin for an imperial stout. Not unenjoyable, just not up to my personal imperial stout standards.

 

 

Tap to glass @ Ritas @ Eureka,CA
Appearance: black, brown foam, slowly goes away
Aroma: nuts,
Taste: very good, light sweetness, lightly bitter
Palate: medium body, thick feel, average carbonation, long finish
Overall: very good beer, ok to repeat but not to look for
Drank: April 11, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

On tap at the brewpub today.

The beer pours the expected blackish brown color with good head retention and lacing. The nose is attrative, if a bit on the simpllistic side, showcasing considerable milk chocolate, coffee and vanilla. The flavor profile replicates the nose pretty closely in this fairly sweet stout, and my feeling is that this would be a great RIS for someone first trying a beer made in this style. This is a very easy going, easy to enjoy and appreciate RIS. Mouthfeel was medium bodied to full, and is fairly soft of the palate. Drinkability was quite good I thought, especially considering the abv. listed on the beer menu (9.3% I believe). The beer was not the least bit boozy or hot, with the alcohol very well integrated into the flavor profile.

While nothing mindblowing, I thought this a very solid, well made imperial stout. This beer was more like a high alcohol oatmeal stout, and frankly I tended to think of it as almost an 8 ball stout reserve, but with a bit more alcohol and richness than what one encounters in the regular 8 ball stout. Not bad...