Imperial Stout
Ferment Brewing Company

 

gorgeous brew, lovely packaging as always from these guys, big thanks to my homie for sharing this bottle, 2022 vintage, i think all of this is barrel aged no? slightly syrupy deep brown pour with a short light brown head that ends up just a thin ring of little bubbles around the edges after a few minutes. leggy, not real carbonated, huge nose. i pick up cigar, milk chocolate, raw honey, light smoke, and a lot of raisin type sweetness, less roast, coffee character, and overall deep intensity than a lot of these have, but it works, and i like that to me there is some english essence that can be appreciated in both the malt and in the ferment, less common in the style these days, but i get the breadiness and heartiness, makes this more complex even without bitter roast, and whether this is properly english or not, it certainly feels that way. the flavor is good, sweet most of the way and admittedly a little one note until it warms, woody more than whiskey forward or anything from the barrel, this aspect is somewhat light, but i still get a vanilla hit in the oak, and perhaps a black tea thing alongside it. major tobacco, molasses, and brown sugar as it opens, bread yeast and baked crust, faint maple maybe, light spiciness on the back end, some mild oxidation creeping in, and it feels super heavy because of the sugar and the low carbonation, but thats more than fine in a big stout to me. the wood is an accent, the richness is high, and i think this plays a little differently than most. enough generic stouts out there in this space, i appreciate this being even a little bit weird, good winter sipper, a bit boozy too, warming from the inside out. love these guys and surprised at the poor overall ratings this has...

Picked up a bottle of this at my local Zupan's tonight. Kind of wish I hadn't done that.

The beer looks nice enough, as it pours a blackish brown color with good head retention and lacing. Unfortunately, this was to be as good things would get. On the nose I'm picking up considerable licorice, vanilla and char. It's pretty hard to believe this beer saw any barrel aging. On the palate this beer is even less impressive. It's quite dry and ashy, with lot's of licorice and vanilla. Again, I'm not getting any barrel character, and mouthfeel is a bit thin... Especially for an 11% abv impy stout. The finish is dry and a bit short, but at least the alcohol is well integrated into the flavor profile. Not that it really matters. There's nothing enjoyable about drinking this beer.

This is one of the least impressive ba impy stouts I've had in some time. At least I didn't pay too much for this beer, and thankfully it only came in a 500 ml format. IMHO, this is a beer to be avoided.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. 2020 version with 11% ABV. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque black in the glass with a three finger brown head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, licorice and baker's chocolate; a bit boozy. Flavor is dark toasted malt with light char, bitter chocolate, leather, woody oak. Astringent woody finish. Medium bodied with sharp carbonation. Lots of barrel character, but it overwhelms the malt a bit. The fizziness and leathery notes are not a good sign for a barreled stout. Dark malt and good char notes, but the finish was a bit too stark for me.

Coconut chocolate. But some mould.