Pike XXXXX Stout | The Pike Brewing Company

3.85/5  rDev -4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

3.95/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

Look: Black body with a foamy, light mocha head. Slippery legs that leave circles and ovals behind on the sides of the glass.
Smell: Mostly roast and part toast. Black, underwhelming coffee flavor. A little nuttiness and a smidgen of dark bread. I detect a touch of lactose sweetness.
Taste: Roast is front and center, with a touch of malty sweetness. A dash of pepper. Short finish...dry...ish.
Feel: Medium carbonation. No lather in the mouth. Overweight, medium body.

Overall - Straight forward stout. This is not a mongrel.

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4.23/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I have sampled this stout a few times in the past but now I can get it here it my area and at a pretty good price!Poured jet black into an imperial pint glass with a sticky lighter mocha colored one finger white head that stuck like glue to the glass as it settled into a frothy mass.Dark fruit,bitter chocolate,and heavy roast in the nose,quite earthy as well,this a definition of American style stout here,heavy roast and earth.Dryer flavors on the palate,big bitter chocolate and French roast coffee flavors, with subdued dark fruit, and molasses,its earthy and somewhat woody in the finish.If you like heavy roast and earth in your stout this is it for you.Very nice.

7.0% abv. per bottle label.65 IBU's.

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4.03/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance – Blacker than black with a very dark tan head that foamed up big and lasted forever, lacing the glass as it went down.

Smell – Big, very dark chocolate leads the way here followed by deep, roasted malts and fine espresso beans (not espresso but the raw, whole beans). There’s also a nice hop balance in there (citrus maybe) plus a soft sour tang.

Taste – Everything comes out beautifully at the taste. For all the big smells up front, this one is very even and balanced at the tongue. This is almost like a milkshake complete with cocoa and sweet chocolate, espresso (subdued from the nose), malt, and a very light, barely detectable sweet/sour note.

Mouthfeel – Smooth and chewy and medium in the body. This is a serious stout with a somewhat bitter finish.

Drinkability – One of the better stouts that I’ve tasted from the NW. Most of them are pretty lame (Hale’s Pikop Andropov's almost made me vomit), but this one is the real deal.

Update – I rated this originally with a 2003 vintage so thought it would be run to take another look at it using an ’04 bottle. It happily lost the slight sourness this time around and really is one of the better examples of the style brewed here in the PacNW.

Update – I had a 2005 vintage in May and found it to be very consistent. This is about as good as it gets here in Seattle, and this wonderfully brewery is just a few blocks from where I work.

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4/5  rDev -0.2%

Had this at Pike and it was very good. Could drink several of them with pleasure. Feel like they need to make a higher ABV version.

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4/5  rDev -0.2%

4.75/5  rDev +18.5%

3.34/5  rDev -16.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

4/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

3.77/5  rDev -6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3

2001-02 bottle.

This poured dark black with a small caramel colored head. The aroma was of coffee, malt and smokiness. The taste was quite bitter and much like old coffee that has been on the burner a little too long. The mouthfeel was okay. There was a little too much bite for a stout and a strong bitter and burnt taste. I am not likely to try this again in the near future. I think I'd go for the Guiness nitro bottles first. I've really enjoyed most other stouts more than this one from Pike Brewing.

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3.5/5  rDev -12.7%

4.48/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Imagine that...me following bjohnson around.
Another gem on tap at Redbones...you better get there soon.
Arrived jet black with no speck of light passing thru this bad boy...a half a finger of cocoa-colored head. Would have been more if I was pouring, but they like to pour 'em this way...I ain't complaining and I won't dock it any in appearance. This beer was gorgeous and the lacing was so incredibly tight, unlike most...most of the foam sticks around for the duration of the pint.
Milk chocolate in the nose...a touch of sweet malt pierces the nostrils calling me in for closer inspection.
The taste is as good as it gets...perfectly balanced, not overly sweet and even a bit green, drying out the finish. Very nice chocolate profile, a roasty element is there with no burnt or off flavors. Alcohol peaks thru as it hits room temperature, but ever so slightly.
Mouthfeel is full bodied and the carbonation is perfect...I could easily drink this one all evening and appreciate every sip.
One of my favorite stouts to date.

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4.21/5  rDev +5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Had on tap at the brewery. Pours opaque, black in color with 1/2 inch head. Taste is milk chocolate, roasted coffee, cream, and barky hops. Sweet with roasty bitterness, medium heavy bodied, with low carbonation. Makes for an impressive and tasty stout. I will get this again.

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4.32/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Got a 22 ounce bottle on sale. pours a deep black with a small amount of slightly creamy head that disappears quickly. I pick up the roasted malts on the first smell, second i come up with a little bit of coffee and very small amount of black licorice, not too strong of smell but i am definitely interested. first taste goes down nice and smooth, with a very drinkable flavor, easy to pick out individual malts. roasted and darker caramel malts. the finishing aftertaste blends all the flavors and ends with that sweetness and then hint of coffee. Very solid brew, easy drinking with tons of dark malt flavors.

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4.29/5  rDev +7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Rich aroma of dark chocolate, roasted coffee and malts. Good length, bitterness rounded by the sweetness. More dark(er) chocolate and coffee on the palate, with slight caramel. Sweet finish evolves toward more bitter chocolate linger... almost like chocolate with slight charcoal fire finish. Overall, great example of the style. Worth seeking out to try.

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3.93/5  rDev -2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

3.73/5  rDev -7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap poured into a sampling glass.

Pours a dark. Black with a creamy dark brown head, very nice. Nose is malty and smoky.

Taste, like the nose, is smokey and rich, chocolate and coffee come through as w ll. Mouthfeel is light and dry with a light finish.

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4.25/5  rDev +6%

3.75/5  rDev -6.5%

3.38/5  rDev -15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Motor oil black with a light brown head that settles out to a fine cap of foam.

Low aroma of fig, raisin, and some espresso.

Thin flavor upfront, but moves quickly to dark malt, coffee and oak, hints of cocoa. Firm bitterness balances the malt. Could be more roasty and complex.

Full mouthfeel, but finishes tannic with a puckery linger, which detracts overall.

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4.08/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

4/5  rDev -0.2%

3.96/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thick black stout. Beige head.

Aroma of licorice and coffee. No choco smell.

Taste, licorice is more restrained, coffee dominates. Sweet. Hoppy. Bitter. Chocolate more on the palate than in the nose. Dry. Good mouthfeel, everything sticks. Drinkable, but a little pricey.

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4/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a New Belgium goblet black with a one fingered tan head. Minimal lacing. Scents of chocolate and roasted malts. Not much of a hop presence in the taste, mostly smokey dark chocolate with nutty flavors on the back end of the palatte. There isn't a presence of alcohol, which makes this a good drinkable stout.

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3.5/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

2002-2003 limited release...

Big pour, dark/dark brown and opaque. Orange carbonation settles down in about 60 seconds. Laces in looping clumps. Coffee and orange rind-like impresssion to the big aroma. Flavor is somewhat more limited, a dark roasty coffee, slight sense of malted milk and the requisite scant hop. Mouthfeel is about medium to thinnish, but I pick up an offputting vegetable, almost smoked onion, sense to the profile. Not dominant by any means, just slightly annoying. Not an awful beer, but not a first choice to my tongue.

Source: Liquid Solutions

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