Gothic Sour Imperial Stout
The BoB (The Brew on Broadway)

July 3rd, 2015 - Sour? Stout? This is weird, but this is a strange brew. Sour and lactic and tasty on the aroma, it invites lots of extra sniff samples. And when I indulge, I get oak and a bit of tobacco flavoring, which wins my approval. The flavor introduces my acidity and lactic acid, with a tasty oak and tobacco flavoring, which DOES win my approval. But the overall impression here is of funk - potent and powerful. And while not definitive, it's an important dimension of this brew.

funny to hear the story of this one, which apparently started out as a mistake brought on by the unintentional souring of a stuck or sticky mash, but it has been recreated with success. a classic kettle type sour, lacto heavy, really acidic, astringent, sharp, but in a nice big stout base with some oats for smoothness, which really help balance the sharp. jet black and shiny in color, not much head. sturdy looking for a sour beer. the nose is a little stinky, cheesy and sweaty lacto, hot and quick on the souring, thats for sure. i think some tannins come out of the grain, and i see that as a flaw in this one. the flavor is real sour too, but there is still some residual sugar in the finish, which makes it sort of odd. i think the idea of a sour stout like this is a good one, but i think this beer is a little amateurish. what it lacks in refinement though, it more than accounts for in creativity. nice to see a classically english brewery take a chance like this, even if the original was born from not wanting to dump a batch, i think they have hit on a missing niche in the market, and with a few tweaks this could be a real success...