24th Anniversary Belgian Quad
Mad River Brewing Company

Appearance- Received with a finger's worth of head which seems to have okay retention. The head is a creamy light to medium beige while the body is an opaque, dark chocolate black. Doesn't look as if it will leave much lacing at all. (It doesn't.)

Nose- Light roasted malts that tend toward coffee. Some chocolate but a bit mute at the moment. As this beer warms up, the bittersweet chocolate comes out much more and starts to dominate the nose. Slight woody bitterness appears after swirling. Another swirling reveals some vanilla.

Taste- Pretty reflective of the nose except that it's really dominated by the coffee with only some suggestion of coffee. Slight bubblegum, maybe some licorice, or a touch of honey. Some notion of berries- nothing defined. Fruit esters that aren't the typical cherry that I get from a lot of Imperial stouts. A good imperial stout that hasn't yet opened up to show more. But I'm not sure if there is more. Light berry. Haven't got any noticeable vanilla. A good beer but in comparison to the many amazing Imperial stouts I've had, it pales a bit. I wouldn't even guess that it was an Imperial but rather a strong black ale.

Mouthfeel- Medium bodied with a good amount of carbonation which has a little bit of a zing.

Drinkability- Very accessible and strangely sessionable for an Imperial stout. Doesn't show any alcohol at all. 4 dollars for an 8 ounce glass seems reasonable. Probably wouldn't try again though.

Overall- Good, solid beer but doesn't express anything that really amazes me. I don't even know if I notice the Perle hops. Nice to see something different from Double Mountain though. Worth a try but I wish it had the complexity it promised.