XXV Anniversary Imperial Stout
Northern Monk Brew Co.

 

 

 

Dark fruits, tobacco, dark chocolate and expected roasty flavors come out of this bad boy followed by a subtle noble hops bite adding a tad of earthiness and spice to the mix. Nice beer, especially since I bought it primarily for the bottle. OPETH!

I knew nothing about this brewery, and still know relatively little about them. Getting the beer over into the US was on the pricey side, but I--like others I'm sure--wanted it for the Opeth tick. This ended up being a pretty standard stout, but it was very solid, and I actually drank one bottle fresh, and inadvertently cellared one for a couple years. I was expecting it to not stand the test of time, but in fact it aged fine...didn't improve or change at all really, but the point is, it held up. The beer itself reminded me somewhat of Surly Darkness or Victory Storm King, with a general roastiness backed by a distinct piney and earthy hoppiness. Nothing mindblowing here, but still a good stout, and one I'm glad to have had twice.