Gothic Imperial Stout
Pig and Porter Ltd

Canned and bought from local craft beer superstar Timperley Bargain Booze
Pours a jet blacj body with big tan head that remains
sugared black coffee aroma
aniseed treacle thats easy drinking without being too thin

 

Look: Flat cola - seriously. There's the faintest hint of a tan head during pouring but by the time the bottle was empty the head was as good as gone with no trace of anything except a few bubbles. No lacing, no foam, nothing.

Smell: Surprisingly fruity - the bottle blurb claims that it contains ten differnet malts and an (unspecified) blend of English, American and German hops. The malts are definitely in evidence, this is a stout after all, but there's a bit of a hoppy twang there to go with the dark fruits and chocolate smells.

Taste: Definitely back on imperial stout ground here - dark, roasted coffee, malts and more than a hint of chocolate. The grain bill means that there's a fairly wide range of malt flavours on offer but the hops are pretty subdued. Not altogether unexpected, but I was expecting a bit more in that area.

Feel: Fairly typical for an imperial stout - medium body, but very little in the way of carbonation. Very malt-forward, as you'd expect, with a hint of hoppiness in the aftertaste.

Overall: Not bad, but not brilliant either - there are better imperial stouts out there, but by the same token there are quite a few that are a hell of a lot worse, too. Ultimately, it's a decent enough brew but ten malts and three hops aren't really enough to lift it above the noise.