Sumi Ink
Grimm Artisanal Ales

Black body with neither a head nor lacing.

Nose and taste are chocolate and vanilla. A light malty char is present, but it's not dominant. A bit of booze slips into the mix, but it's not hot (especially given the high ABV) as ABV is well masked.

Mouthfeel is medium, a bit light for style. Carbonation low.

Very tasty stout that would be great for my tastes if mouthfeel were better. Even a trifle of carbonation would have been great. Smallcomplaints for what is a very enjoyable stout.K

 

 

Pours black/brown with no head. Aroma is chocolate with a touch of vanilla. Taste is chocolate and vanilla with a hint of bubble gum and dark fruit. Feel is a bit light for the flavor, but still good. Overall a big beer and quite a treat.

 

 

Poured from the 500ml bottle into the test glass, Bottled 2023
A - Brown/black border in color. Gentle pour with carbonation showing up as surface islands.
S - Base of dark chocolate, the vanilla is next all under soft lite a blanket of bourbon barrel goodness
T - Char, bakers chocolate, hint of espresso, vanilla, Blackberry, hints of toffee, caramel.
M - The start is sweet, slick texture, fully coating the palate, a bit of alcohol exhale, with a nice peppery bite to finish.
the body is medium.
O - A very good BBA stout that has no gimmicks, the body is a conundrum. Hefty but with a thin finish.
Im intrigued to try this one again

L -- Lives up to the name. Inky and nearly still with some lacy retention
S -- Vanilla, nougat, rich chocolate, maple, caramel, butterscotch, bourbon barrel, potpourri. Has this very festive character to it
T -- Dark chocolate fudge, bourbon, vanilla frosting, dried dark fruits, bit of char. Pretty similar to BCBS
F -- This one is tough to rate. On the one hand it has this impressive velvety viscocity that is mouth coating without being cloying. But it also has this wateriness around the edges that makes it fall a little flat
O -- Quite solid stout. Not too sweet yet still has a lot of expressivity

86/100

Maybe I could rate it a bit higher, it does deliver what it promises.

Nose is heavy bourbon, what vanilla is there could easily be mistaken for an attribute of the bourbon itself. Taste follows to some degree, with the bourbon being front and center and the charred malt and touch of vanilla playing second fiddle.

My biggest knock is that the feel is simultaneously sticky and watery.

If a bourbon barrel vanilla imperial stout is your shit though, this one delivers

Looks pretty black, but has a nice collar of tan bubbles for a high ABV BBA imperial stout. Nose has a Baltic Porter/rich RISE fruity side to it. Dark chocolate candies with fruit liqueur isn’t out of the realm of impression, either.

First taste smacked of vanilla, but my palate seemed to adjust quickly. After that, flavors tend to open with that fruity stout note, quickly added some char before the bourbon barrel kicks in. It’s one of those BBA stouts where you wonder how empty some of the barrels were. But thankfully my palate adjusts to that, as well. Vanilla sneaks back in to aid in bring some perceived sweetness to what seems a pretty well attenuated stout.

It takes a while to settle in, but a bitter-leaning (roast and wood tannin) stout with bourbon and light vanilla influence ends up in a very solid place.

 

 

From the 500 ml bottle in a snifter. This nice imperial pours a
rich opaque with a moderate head of light brown foam that fades
to a thin ring with some nice legs. Nose of dark chocolate, vanilla,
bourbon, oak, and subtle earthy malts. Flavors hit the mark
with bourbon, oak, vanilla, dark chocolate, rum raisin, dark molasses,
and dark coffee notes with a touch of nutty malt. Mouth feel is
full, smooth, moderately slick, coating, rich, warming, and finishing
sweet with medium char and bitter malt.

Overall, a SOLID imperial!

Cheers

 

12/29/23 bottle @ home

500 ml bottle into a snifter. Think it was a 2022 edition? Had 9/10/22.

Pours a dark brown, mostly opaque, with a short head and light specks of oily cling. Aromas of roasted malt, vanilla, chocolate, bourbon as it warms, some oak, light char. Flavors of vanilla, bourbon, roasted malt, chocolate, light oak and raisins, a light hop bitterness, especially on the finish. Smooth, a very good full body, appropriately carbonated.

Strong vanilla, flavorful barrels, this gets better as it warms. Well worth a purchase.

 

 

2016 vintage