Kona Imperial Stout
Fort Garry Brewing Company Ltd.

 

 

 

Poured from can, got a great head, dark beer super good!

 

Pours a near-squid-ink black, with moderately creamy, tan head; medium retention, no lacing; intense coffee aromas dominant, roasted but not burnt; very smooth; alcohol hides behind a mid-palate sweetness, but it finishes dry, with moderate carbonation and medium-plus body; some caramel and dark cocoa notes flesh out an otherwise coffee-dominated flavour profile.

Overall, a great coffee stout, though I'm not sure "imperial" is warranted here, given the relatively low alcohol.

 

Poured from a bomber into a stemmed tulip glass.
Thanks to kjyost for the bottle.

Pours very dark brown, black with two fingers of creamy, persistent, mocha head that’s a bit of lacing behind as it settles. The nose is really nice and forward with coffee, milk chocolate, cocoa nibs and sweet malt. On the palate, the taste starts off with coffee, chocolate and roasted malt, but it quickly transitions to a very dry, metallic and bitter flavor that is off-putting. The finish is absent on this brew; it just falls off. The body is medium (light?) but has good carbonation; unfortunately, the mouthfeel is light and way too light for an imperial stout. I notice no other comments on some of the off flavors I found so I am wondering if I just have an ‘off’ bottle.

 

A: Solid black brown like a good stiff black coffee, topped with 2 fingers of creamy tan head that holds well and leaves a solid creamy ring around the edge.

S: The scent of the chocolate, dark malts and chocolate mix to to give that distinct scent of Ovaltine, topped with creamy coffee and just a subtle acrid hop scent at the end.

T: Tastes leans more to the coffee, with notes of roasted coffee beans, slight nuttiness and hints of cocoa.

M: Light to medium bodied with low carbonation.

O: While not overly complex, Kona delivers on what it offers with strong coffee notes. Especially enjoyable if you enjoy Ovaltine.

An imperial stout at 6.5%!?

Thanks to kjyost for this one.

Poured from a 650ml. bottle, no freshness info.

Appearance: Very dark pour, almost black. Dark tan head that holds steady with some lacing.

Smell: Nutty, chocolaty, creamy coffee.

Taste: Burnt & roasted coffee, nutty in a natural way (if that makes any sense, it does to me!). Hops in the finish don't mesh too well with malt.

Mouthfeel: Nothing imperial about this. Astringent bitterness gives it some bite but no depth to the feel to make it more than a regular stout.

Overall: Doesn't warrant the "imperial" label. Flavor tried but the body itself is quite regular.

 

 

Fort Garry Brewing 'Kona Imperial Stout' @ 6.5% , served from a 650 ml bottle purchased for $6

A-pour is a very dark brown with a small tan head which is quickly dissapating leaving a spotty lace along the pint glass

S-fresh fine ground roasted kona coffee

T-slight sweet start , smooth middle , with a bitter finish

MF-low carbonation , medium body , bit thin for an imperial

Ov-ok/good beer , needs some more craft

prost LampertLand

Poured from a 650ml bottle. Pours an impenetrable black with a bit of iodine coloured head. For an "imperial stout," this doesn't have much alcohol. The aromas and flavours are huge, however. Big scents of acrid smoke and dirt dominate the aromas. A lot of black malt must have gone into this. The taste is similarly dominated by notes of extra dark chocolate, dirt, coffee and smoke. It's very intense flavour-wise.

 

Got this one from Kjyost in a recent trade. Cheers man!

From a bomber into a snifter
IBU: 50
Stout brewed with coffee

APPEARANCE: A black pour produces a small, medium looking, mocha colored head with good retention. Head slowly fades to a faint wisp and ring. Opaque black body and next to zero carbonation evident. A ring remains until the end but leaves no real lacing down the glass. Pretty thick looking body on this one.

SMELL: Definitely roasted coffee beans, sweet cream, with some light vanilla and dark chocolate notes. Lots of roasted coffee steals the show though. Quite aromatic.

TASTE: Roasted coffee and caramel notes up front, with roasted and bitter coffee and dark chocolate at the swallow. Medium but lingering aftertaste of roasted coffee, sweet vanilla cream, and some nice dark chocoalte bitterness as well. Quite flavorful and lingers nicely on the palate.

PALATE: Medium body and medium levels of carbonation. Perhaps a little light on the palate, but creamy and smooth enough, goes down fine and finishes slightly mouth-coating. Decent here, though could be a little heavier.

OVERALL: This was surprisingly good. It's obviously not quite an imperial stout at 6.5% ABV, but it is certainly bigger and more flavorful than your average stout beer. A very enjoyable and well made brew for sure. Glad to have tried this. Thanks again for the trade kjyost!

Bottle from kjyost, 650ml into a tulip.

Black body, dark red around the edges. Brown head, good retention and moderate lacing. Nose has sweet creamy coffee (Kona coffee for sure, having had this in beers before), baker's chocolate and a light roast/tartness. Taste is roasty and dark chocolate, creamy, sweet malt, light coffee tartness and chocolate way into the finish. Medium body, smooth texture. Not really an imperial stout, but a nice coffee beer nonetheless.

 

650ml bottle. I was just in Kona for my honeymoon, and this is a nicely immediate reminder upon my return.

This beer pours a quite solid abyss of black, with only the very slightest of basal cola edges, and only when pressed to a light source, with two fingers of loosely foamy mocha head, which leaves a low, and commendably consistent vista of broken ruins lace around the glass as it genially recedes.

It smells of very pleasant and mildly roasted coffee beans, with a strong milk chocolate component, a soft lactic edge, and mild leafy and earthy hops - Coffee Crisp with a wisp of beer - yum! The taste is more of the same, in a very agreeable manner - moderated earthy coffee, wafer grain, baker's chocolate, and nicely bitter leafy, earthy hops.

The bubbles are a bit astringent for a spell, but not overly so as acclimatization sinks in, the body just a tad light for the style, but only in the recent American sense, so, let's be sensible and move on to its generally smooth, and quite surprisingly creamy nature as a talking point - there, I talked about it - it's good, so onward and upwards. It finishes still pretty sweet - the chocolate malt doing an end run around the other principals, even the coffee, who even I, the avowed java agnostic, can apprise as ever so temporally agreeable.

Wow. I wasn't sure if I was all that ready to draw back my beer geekery bias against those Canadian brewers who have fallen short for so long. OK, so I am - this is a very capable and crazily drinkable coffee stout, wherein the cuppa joe notes actually add to the discussion, and the malt and hops do their own thing to keep the beer side a more than pertinent enterprise. Damned tasty, and that's all there is to it.