Imperial Gingerbread Spiced Stout
Guinness Open Gate Brewery & Barrel House

 

330ml bottle picked up at Cheap Charlie's in Gresham, OR
Poured into a Coin Toss Belgian-style tulip

Pours a deep chestnut with a small white cap; some translucence; a bit light in color for the style; bold nose of spice and bourbon leads into quite the delicious profile; roast, sweet gingerbread, spice, and bourbon come together; med-bodied, med carb; a bit slick; an excellent imp stout overall- would gladly have again!

review date: 11.18.21
bottle date: not captured

From the bottle, it pours a clear dark brown color with a modest, though long lasting, light brown head. The nose is light gingerbread, vanilla and bourbon. The taste is nicely spicy, with the vanilla and bourbon coming through. Surpisingly light flavor overall.

Served in a snifter glass.

Appearance: Thick black color with heavy brown tint, head is a tan coming off lightly and settles quick after one sip.

Smell: Smells awesome but crazy light, what I mean is that is awesome to inhale but just disappears quickly. Has whiskey scent with a huge dose of vanilla.

Taste: Not your usual [imperial] stout feel, has heavy whiskey tone to it that almost over powers the brew. Not a bad thing, I like the sweetness to it, resembles honey with a touch of chocolate and coffee.

Mouth: soft to full carbonation with a spicy finish which is incredibly offset with whiskey sweet finish.

Overall: incredible beer, complex strong and sticky

I am quickly coming to learn that spiced beers aren't necessarily my thing...

I made my own pumpkin beer this year - I spiced it with pumpkin spice and nutmeg - I shouldn't have. Though it is still drinkable, it isn't a truly enjoyable experience. I can say the same thing of this brew. The smell is actually very appealing and the mouthfeel is full-bodied, but the rest is something I really won't be looking for moving forward.

Clear, dark brown body; lively carbonation; one-finger thick head, light khaki color, dense and foamy. Pleasant gingerbread aroma; brown sugar. Exquisite taste; gingerbread and leather; moderate bourbon note; traditional Xmas cookie spice character. Heavy body; silky; big alcohol heat presence; mildly sticky on the palate.

This is one tasty sucker! The ginger, allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon are nicely integrated into the base beer and nicely counterpoint the barrel-aging character of the beer. Depth, balance, and complexity definitely exist with this Guinness offering.

Poured at 58.3 ℉; no bottling data noted

Pours a dark reddish brown. Light beige (color and amount) lacing that sticks with the beer. Feels a little spicy on the tongue but then the stout finish tones down the bite. It's a little different and I'm glad I tried it but I'm not sure this a beer for the "entire" game maybe just the first half. With that being said , maybe the first half of all the games played before this rolls off the rotation. I'm just really impressed with the layers in this beer. The spicy bite and then the chocolatey finish. Doesn't really match a gingerbread cookie but this is better than most of the crappy winter ales that are produced this time of year. I think the best way I could describe it is it could be a shandy of stout and a good ginger ale. Both tastes sound out in this brew.

 

Pours opaque, dark brown in color with one quarter inch head. Taste is big gingerbread, roasted malt, vanilla and bourbon. Heavy body, moderate carbonation, slightly sweet. The first Taste is a gingerbread punch and is delicious, the beer does not shine as much when the bourbon kicks in. Decent stout. Fine with just one though.

Dark brown appearance with a moderate khaki head, moderate retention, some lacing. Gingerbread, nutmeg, vanilla, bourbon. Medium body, medium carbonation. Seemed to have an artificial flavor to it.

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a thin khaki head that dissipates to patches with light lacing; fairly fizzy at first, but settles into the sparse head. Aroma of dark toasted malt, ginger, bourbon, faint cocoa and allspice. Flavor is dark toasted malt, bourbon, pumpkin pie spicing, ginger. Spicy bourbon finish. Medium bodied with light creaminess. Well, it presents what it promises: bourbon and holiday spices, with ginger and allspice being the dominant elements. Unfortunately, as nice as Guinness stout is, its flavor just isn't quite up to supporting these dominating flavors. I liked the similar bourbon barreled imperial from last year, but I think the spicing put this over the top. Needs a bigger malt body for the additional spicing and barrel flavors. It's OK, but not quite up to some of the fine barrel aged imperial stouts out there.

 

 

Dark amber colored with a moderate amount of light penetration. There’s a fingernail of beige around the rim and covering two thirds of the top. The aroma is of cola and ginger. As it warms I get bourbon aroma. I taste ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and cola. As it warms the cola becomes bourbon. The mouth is warm and busy with spices.

 

 

Pours a med small fizzy head with lower retention, little lacing, decent legs, dark mahogany brown color

Nose brings a ton of ginger and fruity spice mix, almost like a pumpkin beer, a bit gourd like vegetal, a little biscuity cookie wafer and cocoa, a little perfumey alcohol, decent base stout

Taste is thankfully better, some cocoa and dark chocolate, a little roasty malt, fudgey cocoa and some cookie dough notes, fair ginger spice but again more holiday like spice and some fruity gourd characters, a bit of bitterness, and some base Guinness like fruity stout base, little alcohol and a bit of a vegetal gourd mess flavor on the finish

Mouth is med bod, med foamy carb, a bit of alcohol warmth

Overall eh, I expected a bit more from Guinness, spice was not that great, weird vegetal and fruity gourd characters, base stout was decent at least

12oz bottle poured into a snifter.

A: Deep mahogany brown, aggressive pour produces one finger of well-retained beige head. Thin wisps of lacing.

S: Bourbon and chocolate up front. Bourbon ball candy, milk chocolate, caramel, little bit of cola, soft roastiness. Spicing smells balanced and evenly incorporated with nutmeg and cinnamon being most apparent, and ginger and allspice coming through after repeated whiffs.

T: Roasty and slightly sooty up front with only a very mild black coffee and dark chocolate bitterness. Smokiness builds a little as it warms. Estery yeast profile brings stewed fruit, blackberry, and prunes. As in the nose, spicing is perfectly incorporated to the point that it is well apparent without being overwhelming. Warming ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and just a dash of cinnamon. Milk chocolate and caramel flavors meld right into the barrel flavors of sweet corny bourbon and oaky vanilla. Bourbon, milk chocolate, and spicing on a long and easy finish.

M: Medium-Full body with a great silky softness. Very velvety and decadent, but not too weighty. Firm but gentle carbonation prickles around the tongue. Faint bourbon warmth and some mild oak tannin.

O: I went into this with no real expectations, but found myself very pleasantly surprised. Guinness resisted the urge to make a “pastry stout” out of this, and instead produced a beer that is superbly balanced and still retains a bit of that bitter roast and estery house character. Further, in no way does this beer drink like it’s 11%. I actually had to look up the abv midway through the bottle. I had guessed that I was dealing with a beer that went into the barrel around 7% and came out around 8%. There’s just no heat, and while there’s plenty of body, it isn’t brawny in the least. It’s pleasantly full, but perfectly drinkable. The spice character is absolutely nailed too. It’s an awesome beer to have around when the holidays hit, and I really hope they bring it back around next year. I could see it becoming a personal seasonal favorite for me.