Catherine The Great W/Sour Cherries
Brouwerij Smisje

woah... very strange, and a bit misleading. reviewing as a BSDA because it is not an imperial stout, even though it says so on the bottle. the cherries used were hand-picked from the brewer's back yard. pour is a turbid dark brown with a dark tan (almost brown) head that fades pretty quickly. nose is sour/spoiled/overripe fruit with lots of dark sugar sweetness and some leathery notes. plums, rum soaked raisins, prunes, dates, very dark cherry and a bit of a vinous character come out in the taste. it's a bit muddy actually, and i'm wondering if this is my mind playing tricks on me. the appearance is so off-putting for "imperial stout", so brown and muddy, that the flavors themselves are seemingly muddy. thick, medium-full body that has a long, boozy finish, almost like if this had been barrel aged. quite a daunting beer, and not the best effort from a usually amazing brewer.