Imperial Stout Fino Sherry
Private Landbrauerei Schönram
- From:
- Private Landbrauerei Schönram
- Germany
- Style:
- Russian Imperial Stout
- ABV:
- 9.5%
- Score:
- +7 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 3.71 | pDev: 22.91%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 3
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Mar 15, 2016
- Added:
- Jan 26, 2015
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
-
-
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Texas
2.54/5 rDev -31.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2.25
2.54/5 rDev -31.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2.25
BOTTLE: Brown glass. Uninteresting label art. Branded pry-off crown cap. Best before: 10.12.29. 33cl format.
Purchased at "Craft Beer Store" in Hamburg (Lagerstr. 30A) today. 9.50% ABV.
Reviewed live as a sherry barrel aged imperial stout per the label. Expectations are high given this beer's high reputation on other beer websites (e.g. it's #38 on Ratebeer's Top 50 Germany list). Served chilled into a pilsner glass.
HEAD: ~3-4cm wide. Tan colour. Nicely creamy and frothy, with a full robust consistency and a nice complexion. Soft-looking and inviting. Retention is good for the 9.50% ABV - ~6 minutes. Leaves no lacing as it recedes.
While generally pretty good for an imperial stout, the head could be more appealing still via a darker colour, more thickness, and a shinier sheen.
BODY: Predictably, it's an opaque black, though not quite a jet or ink black. Carbonation bubbles are visible along the sides of the glass, and it has the beginnings of a cola-redolent brown/black colour on its edges (if that makes any sense).
Appears well-carbonated. Overall, it's not as rich or vibrant an appearance as you'd expect of the best imperial stouts, but it's generally appealing.
AROMA: The wine really comes through nicely, though it's not so extreme that I can discern red or white grapes. Given that it's sherry, I think it's safe to say white grapes - but I wouldn't know that in a blind tasting. Mild tannins, rich wood barrel, even a hint of vanilla. I find no toasty white oak or anything like that. But the barrel character seems to complement the simple dark malt profile of the base nicely, and doesn't eclipse it. Raisin, faint chocolate, and prune notes round out this pleasant, inviting aroma.
I will say I'm worried the base beer might offer too little in terms of complexity; all I'm really getting that isn't from the barrel are dark malts and muted chocolate malts.
Aromatic intensity is average. I find no overt yeast character, no hop notes, and no off-notes.
TASTE: I'd definitely guess red wine if I tried this blind...shows what little I know about wines. Tannins, young wood/barrel sugars, a hint of vanilla, grape, prune, raisin, cream. Now that I actually taste it, I find the barrel clashes with the base somewhat - contrary to what the aroma suggested. This is obviously a very young wine, and dareisay a raw one - too raw and rough around the edges to really melt into the background the way any barrel character ought to.
As I feared, the base beer offers little of interest to the discerning drinker - just some run-of-the(-grain)-mill dark malts, and maybe some muted reticent chocolate malt. Slight tartness from the grape/wine is present, which is strange alongside the malt sweetness. If they were going for a classic chocolate covered fruit taste, they failed.
It's imbalanced, with the barrel lending far more flavour than the base, and I'm just not a big fan of the build. I've never tried fino before and I don't pretend to know much about wine, but based on this flavour profile, I'll say fino doesn't seem like a good choice for barrel aging.
Flavour duration and intensity are average. Depth of flavour is below average.
Some roasted barley, coffee, milk chocolate/cacao nibs, hazelnut, vanilla bean, or even burnt or smoked malts would help lend the base needed intricacy. It's just so generic and simple as-is; barrel-aging can't save a beer if the base is underwhelming.
TEXTURE: Supple yet tannic, bending more towards a red wine thickness and heft on the palate. That'd be all well and good if the flavour profile had the cajones of superior imperial stouts, but there's no oomph to the flavours here. This texture seems too weighty and overbearing as a result. Smooth, wet, slightly acidic, full-bodied.
Not an ideal companion to the taste, nor a great mouthfeel in terms of style alone.
OVERALL: I've been underwhelmed by Schönram heretofore, but I hoped this would be the beer that turned things around given its high reputation. Unfortunately, it's anything but excellent, and I don't think it belongs on a Top Beers of Germany list from any source. It's nice to see a German brewery attempting a nontraditional style, but the execution just plain isn't there.
Low C- (2.54) / BELOW AVERAGE
Mar 15, 2016Purchased at "Craft Beer Store" in Hamburg (Lagerstr. 30A) today. 9.50% ABV.
Reviewed live as a sherry barrel aged imperial stout per the label. Expectations are high given this beer's high reputation on other beer websites (e.g. it's #38 on Ratebeer's Top 50 Germany list). Served chilled into a pilsner glass.
HEAD: ~3-4cm wide. Tan colour. Nicely creamy and frothy, with a full robust consistency and a nice complexion. Soft-looking and inviting. Retention is good for the 9.50% ABV - ~6 minutes. Leaves no lacing as it recedes.
While generally pretty good for an imperial stout, the head could be more appealing still via a darker colour, more thickness, and a shinier sheen.
BODY: Predictably, it's an opaque black, though not quite a jet or ink black. Carbonation bubbles are visible along the sides of the glass, and it has the beginnings of a cola-redolent brown/black colour on its edges (if that makes any sense).
Appears well-carbonated. Overall, it's not as rich or vibrant an appearance as you'd expect of the best imperial stouts, but it's generally appealing.
AROMA: The wine really comes through nicely, though it's not so extreme that I can discern red or white grapes. Given that it's sherry, I think it's safe to say white grapes - but I wouldn't know that in a blind tasting. Mild tannins, rich wood barrel, even a hint of vanilla. I find no toasty white oak or anything like that. But the barrel character seems to complement the simple dark malt profile of the base nicely, and doesn't eclipse it. Raisin, faint chocolate, and prune notes round out this pleasant, inviting aroma.
I will say I'm worried the base beer might offer too little in terms of complexity; all I'm really getting that isn't from the barrel are dark malts and muted chocolate malts.
Aromatic intensity is average. I find no overt yeast character, no hop notes, and no off-notes.
TASTE: I'd definitely guess red wine if I tried this blind...shows what little I know about wines. Tannins, young wood/barrel sugars, a hint of vanilla, grape, prune, raisin, cream. Now that I actually taste it, I find the barrel clashes with the base somewhat - contrary to what the aroma suggested. This is obviously a very young wine, and dareisay a raw one - too raw and rough around the edges to really melt into the background the way any barrel character ought to.
As I feared, the base beer offers little of interest to the discerning drinker - just some run-of-the(-grain)-mill dark malts, and maybe some muted reticent chocolate malt. Slight tartness from the grape/wine is present, which is strange alongside the malt sweetness. If they were going for a classic chocolate covered fruit taste, they failed.
It's imbalanced, with the barrel lending far more flavour than the base, and I'm just not a big fan of the build. I've never tried fino before and I don't pretend to know much about wine, but based on this flavour profile, I'll say fino doesn't seem like a good choice for barrel aging.
Flavour duration and intensity are average. Depth of flavour is below average.
Some roasted barley, coffee, milk chocolate/cacao nibs, hazelnut, vanilla bean, or even burnt or smoked malts would help lend the base needed intricacy. It's just so generic and simple as-is; barrel-aging can't save a beer if the base is underwhelming.
TEXTURE: Supple yet tannic, bending more towards a red wine thickness and heft on the palate. That'd be all well and good if the flavour profile had the cajones of superior imperial stouts, but there's no oomph to the flavours here. This texture seems too weighty and overbearing as a result. Smooth, wet, slightly acidic, full-bodied.
Not an ideal companion to the taste, nor a great mouthfeel in terms of style alone.
OVERALL: I've been underwhelmed by Schönram heretofore, but I hoped this would be the beer that turned things around given its high reputation. Unfortunately, it's anything but excellent, and I don't think it belongs on a Top Beers of Germany list from any source. It's nice to see a German brewery attempting a nontraditional style, but the execution just plain isn't there.
Low C- (2.54) / BELOW AVERAGE
Reviewed by drmeto from Germany
4.51/5 rDev +21.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
4.51/5 rDev +21.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
L:
-pours the darkest of brown with a big,creamy,mocha head
S:
-chocolate,plum,figs,strawberry,oats,vanilla,cherries
T:
-chocolate cake,toast,slight coffee,vanilla,mocha,cherries
F:
-medium carbonation (overcarbonated)
-medium to full Body
O:
Fruity Sherry notes really coming through here.Coffee takes a backseat.
Very good overall
Aug 02, 2015-pours the darkest of brown with a big,creamy,mocha head
S:
-chocolate,plum,figs,strawberry,oats,vanilla,cherries
T:
-chocolate cake,toast,slight coffee,vanilla,mocha,cherries
F:
-medium carbonation (overcarbonated)
-medium to full Body
O:
Fruity Sherry notes really coming through here.Coffee takes a backseat.
Very good overall
Reviewed by aleigator from Germany
4.08/5 rDev +10%
look: 5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4
4.08/5 rDev +10%
look: 5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4
Pours a huge, froth, slightly bubbly head with a completely black color.
Has harmonious aromas of subtle cherry, wrapped up by bready malts, chocolate and a hint of oak. The sweet, sugary cherry finds its counterpart in fresh pressed, slightly bitter coffee beans.
Outstandingly smooth beginning with scorched malts among amarena cherries and whipped cream. The roastiness gets enhanced by earthy, crushed coffee beans and a hint of tobacco, yielding to a sweet cherry peak, bringing back the cream to the palate. Drinks fairly easy, while revealing a decent complexity, with a fantastic, smooth mouthfeel. Cherries blend into roasted malts, with a recognizable metallic hint from the carbonation with a bit of ash, wood and a slightly dry, warm, alcoholic note. Reveals only a glance of barrel and cherry with a fitting, glazed sweetness, countered by coffee and ash, smoothed by a huge amount of cream.
Feb 09, 2015Has harmonious aromas of subtle cherry, wrapped up by bready malts, chocolate and a hint of oak. The sweet, sugary cherry finds its counterpart in fresh pressed, slightly bitter coffee beans.
Outstandingly smooth beginning with scorched malts among amarena cherries and whipped cream. The roastiness gets enhanced by earthy, crushed coffee beans and a hint of tobacco, yielding to a sweet cherry peak, bringing back the cream to the palate. Drinks fairly easy, while revealing a decent complexity, with a fantastic, smooth mouthfeel. Cherries blend into roasted malts, with a recognizable metallic hint from the carbonation with a bit of ash, wood and a slightly dry, warm, alcoholic note. Reveals only a glance of barrel and cherry with a fitting, glazed sweetness, countered by coffee and ash, smoothed by a huge amount of cream.
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