Royal Impy Stout
Portsmouth Brewery

 

 

On tap at the brewery. A big, bitter, malty RIS with an impressively luscious mouthfeel that is mouth coating and velvety without being cloying. Warming and filling. I figure this is roughly the same recipe as for Kate the Great, and they just changed the name after Tod Mott left in 2012.

85/100

2021 vintage. 16oz. bottle into a Founders snifter. Shared with schen9303.

Classic look. Pours pitch black with a 1 finger light mocha colored head with moderate to low carbonation. Thin legs with stringy lace. Nose is liquorice, roasted malt, cocoa powder, dark chocolate, and semi-sweet chocolate. Aromatic and rich. Beer opens chocolate, roasted malt, and liquorice. A light tartness in the middle with cocoa powder, light coffee, and semi-sweet baker's chocolate. End is more layers of liquorice, sweet cream, and a light coffee. Body is medium with low to moderate carbonation. Smooth and soft on the palate and goes down warm, slightly chewy, and slightly oily. Messy, lingering finish.

A very classic representation of the style. I'd expect nothing less from the makers of Kate.

Poured from a 16.9oz bottle into pint glass in August 2020. Bought it (and some other of their beers) during a trip to Portsmouth, NH. There was a bottled on date of February 2020, so the beer was about 6 months old.

Appearance: Very dark black with a thick dark brown head. Head was about 2 fingers high, and lasted a minute. It leaves only a little lacing on the glass, and ended with a thin tan head still on the beer.

Smell: Nice aroma mix of coffee, chocolate, and also a sweet alcohol. There is also some caramel, and some other sweet aroma like black licorice, but overall the coffee and chocolate dominate the others.

Taste: This is a tart tasting beer, with a nice balance between the coffee, roasted malts, and sweetness like chocolate and licorice flavors. There is some vanilla flavors, and a little amount of bitter hop flavors to enhance the taste and add some complexity. There is a strong alcohol presence, which matches the 9.2% on the label, but it is balanced nicely by the other flavors. The taste is a good mix.

Mouth-feel: Thick like liquid licorice, but with a smooth body. Not overly smooth like a Milk Stout.

This is an good, complex, Imperial Stout, and it has a variety of flavors that adds a nice complexity to the beer. Although this is a big beer, it is very smooth and enjoyable to drink. This chocolate sweetness nicely contrasts the tart roasted malt flavor, and is a nice balance to the high alcohol content. This is my favorite Portsmouth Brewery stouts.

Purchased a Feb 2020 vintage while visiting the the brewery last month. Has a nice chocolate/coffee flavor, with some underlying notes of barrel aging in there. Very well built.

 

Finally get to try this one. Happened to be in Portsmouth during its release but missed out on bottles. This is everything it's cracked up to be.

Super aromatic nose of maple, barrel, chocolate, roasted malt. A more bitter but stronger taste of dark chocolate, espresso, and some robust maple syrup. Deliciously creamy feel and finish. A sweet but heavy treat that I'm really happy to have tried. A proper Imperial Stout!

Poured from a 375ml bottle dated 2017 into the test glass
A - Black saddle leather in color, hides the steady stream of tiny spheres that collect at the surface to form a mocha cream colored cap.
S - Dark fruits are up front, then equally strong is the bakers chocolate and dark roast malts, woven in the mix is a thread of blackberry jam, finally the slightest hint of mint ,and tawny port.
T - A bit of coffee, Madagascar 80% cocoa, some wonderful lightly smoked malt, cigar wrap, a kiss of molasses, and dark brown sugar.
M - Exceptional, soft and creamy while hiding the 9+% very well, the fell is rich, with carbonation ushering in the semi dry close, Lingering on the palate is cocoa powder and the slightest dark berries.
O - A wonderful offering, excellent body, head retention, feel and aromatics, I am thrilled to have had this experince

 

 

 

On draft at the brewery. Black as night. Tons of roasted malt, dark chocolate and black cherry skin. Medium to light bodied. Somewhat bitter in the mid-palate, but ends up being balance in finish. Pretty solid non-barrel aged stout. Worth the hype? Probably not, but it is good.

 

 

 

2017 batch released on February 25, 2017. Sampled out of a bottle on February 26, 2017.

The pour is jet black with a small, lasting tan head that laces as it fades.

Big aroma of chocolate malts, dark roasted malts, raisins, molasses, house yeast, wood, and a low to no hop profile. The alcohol is fully integrated into the aroma.

The body is medium to full. Quite chewy.

The taste is again a big chocolate sweetness with no booze to speak of, a hint of dark fruit, and a mild to moderate bitterness. If you like chocolate or cocoa in your Imperial Stouts then this one is for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2016 bottle, so about as fresh as can be.....

A - Not much in the way of head, pretty thin type of pour with a moderate amount of lacing, obviously black as night

S - Dark chocolates, black licorice stands out

T - Fairly bitter hops, lots of roasted malts, high percentage dark chocolate, vanilla cola on the finish

M - Medium body, low carb, smoothened up as it warms

O - This was real fresh as stated and you could tell it tastes pretty young with the upfront bitterness. Some of that subsided as it warmed in the glass but I think some time with balance this one out. Unknown labeled ABV but drinks really easy in that regard. Nice overall stout!

 

 

Sampled at 2014 Boise’s Imperial Stout get together, over 120 bottles to choose from. Going with the flow on this rating. Nice crafted stout, better than average.

 

 

 

 

 

Very good Beer

 

 

Draught @ Brewpub: This one pours an opaque black color. There was no head or lacing to it. Good, but somewhat lighter nose than expected. Some chocolate, dark fruits, caramel. There was minimal sweetness. The taste is very good. There is some sweetness to the taste. Chocolate malts, some fruits. Very nice.

 

 

350ml corked and caged poured into snifter

A: pitch black as stouts are wont to be had a pretty nice light chocolate head that disappears to nothing

S: chocolate, licorice, smells sweet

T: a lot of sweetness, some roast nice stout flavor some licorice and chocolate

M: A full mouthfeel but not lush or creamy a little thin

O: This is a solid stout if not a tad bit too sweet, it needs a little more mouth and a little bit more complexity to make it great. It's solid big not memorable