The Hammer
Phillips Brewing & Malting Co.

 

 

Pours black into the glass with a substantial dark tan head. Aroma is of chocolate chunks but carbonation is too high on this one. Even after warming up, the flavor of bitter bakers chocolate has trouble piercing through.

Phillips Brewing 'The Hammer' Imperial Stout @ 8.3% , served from a lot of 650 ml bottle's purchased for $6-8
A-pour is a dark cola brown from the bottle to a near black in the glass with fine tan head leaving some spotty lacing along the pint/snifter
S-roasted barley malt , hints of coffee
T-smooth & crisp tasting 'RIS' , no alcohal bite , very slight bitterness on the swallow
MF-low carbonation , viscous , full bodied
Ov-nice good beer , very easy sipping beer , and it gets better with some age on it ,
vintage's sampled , '12 & '13 with one year in the cellar , '14 & '15 with two years in the cellar
prost LampertLand

 

This near black stout poured thick, almost syrup like. The usual stout smells were there, chocolate, coffee, molasses. I also picked up a bit of cherry/raspberry. The same flavours come through on the tongue with a hint of licorice. Very little of the alcohol (8.3% ABV)comes through in the flavour. Not as robust as I was expect but still pleasant.

 

 

 

A big bottle out from the cellar, poured into a tulip glass. An opaque nearly pitch black brew, with the barest hint of a ruby red halo at the very bottom of the glass. Aroma is complex, dark and rich with ashtray, baker's cacao powder, dark roast coffee, and dry nuts swirling together. Palate starts similar, initially very harsh, ashy, and roasted, but evolves toward a more refined faint sweetness over time. A thing of beauty. After the initial charcoal hit, I get burnt chocolate pudding and coffee, pumpernickle bread without the caraway seed, licorice candy, and brazil nuts. Nice malt matrix with a faint whiff of earthy hops down there in the mix. Low carbonation and dangerously smooth and creamy once the dry astringency loses steam ... These Russian imperial stouts never fail to get me at least a bit tipsy. Finish is long and lingering, with some roasted notes and light caramel apparent nearly 30 minutes after the last sip. One notable feature is just how well the alcohol is concealed! Often these Russian imperial stouts are discernably hot and boozy, but here this flavor was particularly covert. I lament that a certain current Russian ruler fails to emulate the class and refinement embodied by this pacific coast gem. ;)

A: Black in color, dark, fluffy head, good lacing on glass
S: Rich toasted malts, coffee and chocolate, slight alcohol presence
T: Rich and malty, coffee and chocolate notes, very drinkable for the style
M: Thick and creamy, very smooth, slightly bitter finish - everything you could want in an imperial stout
O: Extremely drinkable imperial stout, almost none of the harshness that other imperial stouts have, very rich and creamy - it is on the lighter side for imperial stout, if there is such a thing

 

 

650ml bottle poured into a tulip glass. Poured at around 8C and allowed to warm to room temperature over an hour or so.

The beer pours near pitch black with a half finger of tan head which doesn't really dissipate. The beer smells strongly of roasted barley, with a nice blend of dark chocolate and roasted coffee notes, as well as some mild sweet toffee notes in the mix as well.

The beer has an intense dark roasted coffee flavor, with nice dark chocolate flavours as well. There is a very nice roasted malt backbone that really sets the tone for this beer. It is highly drinkable - maybe too easy to drink for 8+% ABV. Drink this slowly, as the beer really evolves as it warms.. a great tasting experience.

This is a perfect beer to sit back and enjoy after a nice meal, or in front of the fire on a cold night, or watching the game, or for breakfast. Frankly this beer is great anytime. One of my favorite mid-ABV stouts. Once again, Matt Phillips and team do not disappoint.

341ml bottle, day 6 of the Phillips Snowcase pack. Been looking for this one for a while, as we've 'only' got the barrel-aged version thus far in Alberta.

This beer pours a solid, uninterrupted black, no highlights, no how, with three fingers of bulging bubbly, tightly foamy, and somewhat creamy dark beige head, which leaves some pleasantly disjointed webbed lace around the glass as it slowly subsides.

It smells of roasted caramel malt, a touch of dry toffee, mild bittersweet chocolate, soft hints of watery coffee, an earthy hop astringency, and lurking warming alcohol. The taste is more gritty toasted barley malt, a fading caramel/toffee sweetness, some acrid char, unsweetened mocha, a wee black licorice note, dried dark fruit, feeble drying hops, and a well-behaved, yet still bristling booziness.

The understated bubbles are pretty much just there to keep this from falling under its own heft, the body a fairly dense and challenging medium weight, and mostly smooth, some meddling hops and iceberg alcohol taking it down a peg or two. It finishes off-dry, and not nearly as sweet as I might have expected - very balanced.

Almost like an Imperial Dry Stout, the coffee, well-roasted malt, and booze rendering my sweet tooth duly unsatisfied. However, my stout appreciation center is lit up like a Christmas tree - tasty, and with a well-integrated warming character, this one almost sneaks up on you.

 

Aged somewhere around three years. The Hammer pours midnight black with a well-retained, thin tan head providing plenty of lacing. Roasted malt aromas dominate the nose with coffee, molasses, and chocolate all present. The taste basically mirrors the nose, with the added exceptions of black licorice and a slight sourness. Aging well, this "imported" Russian Imperial stout is light-to-moderate in both body and carbonation

 

 

Poured from a 650ml bottle. Pours a typical blackish brown with little in the way of brownish-tan head. Nose has a little smoke and dark malt notes. Overall feels a little thin, more like a Baltic porter, maybe. Certainly not poorly made, just doesn't have the heft we've become accustomed to in this style.