Sanitas Imperial Stout
Sanitas Brewing Company

 

I got a can of this beer from my bestie whom got it out of a monthly craft beer club. It poured an opaque dark with tan head that is leaving some lace. The scent had wonderful Russian stout notes. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with dark chocolate, vanilla and molasses presence. The mouthfeel was medium in body and had good carbonation. Overall it is a solid beer.

 

APPEARANCE: The cell phone light test revealed absolutely no light escaping from this black hole of a beer. Despite a strong light shown at point-blank range from the other side of the glass, nothing came through, not even a little red at the edges. A decently resilient light brown foam rose about a finger above blackness for over 30 seconds after the pour finished and settled down to a thin cap covering 98% of the surface. This was a little surprising as the crack of the can was pretty soft and seemed like some carbonation may have escaped due to a weak seal...that clearly was not the case though, might have just been user error?

SMELL: The first aroma that hit my nose as soon as the beer started flowing from the 160z. can was the roastiness. It smelled like coffee beans being ground up. Closer inspection by the nose reveals some more nuance, including dark chocolate and a tiny hint of woodiness.

TASTE: The roast and dark chocolate flavors basically flip-flopped between nose and palate. The chocolate is still decidedly bitter and dark though. The can indicates a low level of hoppiness (along with high maltiness), but make no mistake, this beer holds its own in terms of bitterness. The woodiness can still be detected in the background, but it's very faint, especially with the intro of a slightly stronger hint of caramel.

MOUTHFEEL: The flavors play into this mouthfeel more than most beers I've had. That dark chocolate provides the bitterness, but also a semi-sweet balance, the when combined with the hints of caramel really brings this beer out of the solidly dry category and into a place that lands somewhere just on the dry side of perfect balance. A nice, pleasant, and moderate sparkle is present throughout the whole glass (further debunking the idea that this particular can may have had a weak seal) and dances on the palate as it goes down. Big, voluptuous body allows this to be a slow sipper that does actually taste like it's a 10.4%er.

OVERALL: I haven't had a big, dark beer like this from Sanitas in years. It hits all the right notes for me though, sweet enough to round it out, but with otherwise strong and sharp flavors that challenge a seasoned palate. If you haven't given these guys a chance in a while, this is a great example of why you should check out some of their newer stuff.