Dia De Los Muertos (Ghost: Muertos)
Adroit Theory Brewing Company

 

A 2022 "vintage" that my buddy brought me from the US

Look: pours a dark dark brown body with an impressive brown head. Decent head retention.

Smell: the nose is full of vanilla, milk and dark chocolate, with hints of bourbon and coffee

Taste: less sweet than your average RIS but still sweet enough. Heavy on the chocolate and vanilla. Alcohol shows its face a little bit in the taste, and the aftertaste provides some pleasant bitterness and dark chocolate notes.

Feel: quite good for a 13.7% beer: not too thick or boozy. Enjoyable even after the beer warms up.

Overall: a very good imperial stout; not one I'd call a must-try, but I'm definitely glad I tried it.

A: dark black and syrupy with a dark brown head.

S: dark chocolate, and caramel.

T: rich with dark chocolate and caramel. Hints of licorice in the finish

M: thick body, creamy texture, and lower carbonation.

O: overall a damn good beer.

Good RIS. Poured from a 16 oz. can into a USAF Academy snifter, this beer featured a dense black color with no light coming through and a dark brown head that fades fairly quickly (as to be expected in such a strong beer). Aroma and taste include lots or roasted malt, a fair amount of chocolate and some coffee and vanilla. The overall taste was very enjoyable. Mouthfeel was rich and somewhat smooth but with some alcohol warmth and a touch of "bite" as you would expect in a beer this strong. Very enjoyable.

 

 

Pours black only faint highlights mar the edges when held to the light. Nice fluffy almost 2 flinger darker tan colored head from an aggressive pour, great lacing.

Aroma is chocolate, good roasted notes abound, light coffee and sweetness with vanilla hints. Smells like a nice mocha.

Taste is like the nose good chocolate and malt sweetness, aided by hints of vanilla. Coffee more dominate in the taste cuts thru like a sharp bitterness of a shot of expresso before mellowing out in the finish. Where the coffee bitterness fades hops pick up earthy/herbal along with some char that makes for a good finish. Kind of nice to sip n an old fashioned RIS instead of an overly sweet pastry stout, Brings back good memories.

Mouthfeel is big medium and smooth , still seems a little light for a 13% brew nut nice enough.

Overall a good regular old fashioned big ass stout.

L: Pours a dark, rich hickory. Forms a thin tan head that dissipates quickly, leaving behind a scant layer of uneven retention and a thin foam lacing around the edge of the snifter. Held to the light, this beer is pitch-black.

S: Aromas of baker's chocolate, roasted malts, and faint vanilla. Light coffee.

T: Very roasty character. Dark chocolate, coffee, and malt dominate at first. Hints of vanilla sweetness. Charred, astringent finish.

F: Medium body. Creamy, silky mouthfeel with light carbonation.

O: Good, not great, Russian Imperial Stout. Late night sipper.

 

Pours a pitch-black coloration with a medium, creamy head. Smells of roasted, slightly caramelly malt, chocolate and coffee, with hints of brown sugar, licore and ash as well. Taste is an excellent balance of roasted, slightly caramelly malt, roasted coffee and dark, bitter chocolate, as well as lighter dark fruit, with accents of fig and plum and just a hint of brown sugar, licorice, ash and earthy, bitter hops. Finishes bittersweet, with a light sweetness and some coffee, chocolate, ash and brown sugar lingering in the aftertaste. Full mouthfeel with a rich body and light/medium carbonation.

Praise be to Adroit Theory for blessing me with this RIS after I had already almost given up on Stouts after a slew of European, overly sweet and boozy examples of the style, some of which were way too heavy-handed on the additives as well. Most of these weren't even Pastry Stouts, but the trend really seems to have shifted in that direction generally, which really isn't for me at all. While this is still just a tad too sweet for my personal taste, with some brown sugar coming through, it's balanced very nicely by quite roasted, not overly caramelly, malts and bitter, earthy hops, while the ABV is not detectable here at all. In fact, I literally don't believe that this is almost 14% strong, to be honest.

 

Growler into pint glass. Pours an oily black with a minimal tan head. Initial impression is smooth chocolate, a hint of coffee, and roasted malt. Alcohol is extremely well hidden. Finish is smooth and lingeringly sweet. Overall, an excellent RIS. I could drink a bunch of this stuff, except the ABV would probably kill me outright. Really good.

Poured from a 16oz can into pint glass in April 2022. There is a canned on date 3/9/2022, and purchased during my visit to their brewpub. It is labelled with "Ghost: MUERTOS" on the can.

Appearance: Dark black with a dark tan/brown head. The head is 1-finger thick with very fine bubbles. It lasts for a few minutes and ends with a very thin tan head. There is very little lacing sticking to the glass.

Smell: Strong aroma of roasted malt. Also some coffee and a hint of sweetness like chocolate. Overall the roasted malt and coffee dominate the others.

Taste: There is a nice balance between the roasted malts and coffee flavors. There are some chocolate and hop bitter flavors to enhance the taste and add some complexity. There is a strong alcohol presence, as with other Imperial Stouts, which matches the 13.7% on the label. Great aftertaste, which is also dominated by the malts and coffee.

Mouth-feel: Thick, but with an extremely smooth and creamy body. Much more smooth than many other imperial stouts.

This is a very good imperial stout, and it has a variety of flavors that adds an impressive complexity to the beer. Although this is a big beer, it is smooth and very enjoyable to drink. The smoothness adds to the overall enjoyment. I look forward to drinking their other stouts, and will buy this again.

Pours a very dark color with a slight head and lacing
Aroma has chocolate and vanilla hints
The taste the nose with a chocolate and vanilla flavor
A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
A good Stout

Look: very dark as an imp stout should be. No highlights even held to light. Modest mocha head that mostly disappears.
Smell: roasty, dark chocolate and vanilla.
Taste: like the nose. Super mellow, easy drinker (this one is 2 years old).