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Black Belle Imperial Stout
Blackstone Brewing Company
Beer Geek Stats
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- From:
- Blackstone Brewing Company
- Tennessee, United States
- Style:
- American Imperial Stout
Ranked #1,093 - ABV:
- 13.2%
- Score:
- 93
Ranked #3,479 - Avg:
- 4.2 | pDev: 7.62%
- Reviews:
- 21
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Sep 06, 2022
- Added:
- Apr 17, 2014
- Wants:
- 16
- Gots:
- 29
Black Belle™ is a limited special release Imperial Stout; it’s collaboration between Blackstone Brewing Company® and Nelson’s Green Brier™ Distillery, makers of Belle Meade Bourbon™. Aged for more than seven months in bourbon barrels, the beer is smooth and sweet, with definite notes of bourbon, oak, and dark chocolate.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by AmeriCanadian from Tennessee
4.3/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.3/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
I have this every year it comes out, and it is consistently great. Arguably the best beer made in Nashville on a regular basis.
Pitch black and medium viscosity on the pour and in the glass. Minimal mocha head, but what's there is very creamy looking and provides some nice lacing down the glass. Plenty of alcohol legs from the swirl of the glass.
Aromas are absolutely fantastic. Dark fruits, dried fruits, dark chocolate, light espresso, tobacco, barrel char, coconut, molasses, big caramel and toffee, huge nuttiness -- roasted pecans and walnuts -- and gooey fudge. Smells sweet, but not as decadent as a lot of big BA dessert stouts. There’s certainly plenty of alluring sweetness, but it doesn’t come off as confectionary or adjunct-centered. Much more barrel character and chocolate-dominated stout than roast or bitterness. I absolutely love it. It's perhaps not BCBS level good, but it's not very far off.
Taste follows initially -- huge notes of fig, raisin, and plum, chocolate-covered cherry, dark cocoa nibs, medium-roast coffee, chocolate malts, toffee, rye, red wine tannins, mild coconut, a little black licorice, and some bitter hops -- but it drops off really, really quickly. Shame, because the layers and complexity is there, and you'd love to roll this one around in your mouth and take in wave after wave of different flavors that sync perfectly with the aroma notes. But the drop off to roasted malts, semi-sweet chocolate, dark berries, and a little lasting hop and coffee bitterness is abrupt. Still, I love the consistency between nose and tongue.
Feel is an interesting mix of soft and silky and what initially feels thin, but coats and sticks like a much thicker, chewier beer. Honestly a really nice combination that makes this dangerously drinkable while you're still aware that this is a big beer (though there's almost zero boozy heat).
Kudos to Blackstone for an outstanding beer that is consistently exceptional. I will happily buy a bunch of bottles every year (regular and variants), both to support a pillar of the local Nashville beer scene but mostly because it's an outstanding beer.
Dec 19, 2020Pitch black and medium viscosity on the pour and in the glass. Minimal mocha head, but what's there is very creamy looking and provides some nice lacing down the glass. Plenty of alcohol legs from the swirl of the glass.
Aromas are absolutely fantastic. Dark fruits, dried fruits, dark chocolate, light espresso, tobacco, barrel char, coconut, molasses, big caramel and toffee, huge nuttiness -- roasted pecans and walnuts -- and gooey fudge. Smells sweet, but not as decadent as a lot of big BA dessert stouts. There’s certainly plenty of alluring sweetness, but it doesn’t come off as confectionary or adjunct-centered. Much more barrel character and chocolate-dominated stout than roast or bitterness. I absolutely love it. It's perhaps not BCBS level good, but it's not very far off.
Taste follows initially -- huge notes of fig, raisin, and plum, chocolate-covered cherry, dark cocoa nibs, medium-roast coffee, chocolate malts, toffee, rye, red wine tannins, mild coconut, a little black licorice, and some bitter hops -- but it drops off really, really quickly. Shame, because the layers and complexity is there, and you'd love to roll this one around in your mouth and take in wave after wave of different flavors that sync perfectly with the aroma notes. But the drop off to roasted malts, semi-sweet chocolate, dark berries, and a little lasting hop and coffee bitterness is abrupt. Still, I love the consistency between nose and tongue.
Feel is an interesting mix of soft and silky and what initially feels thin, but coats and sticks like a much thicker, chewier beer. Honestly a really nice combination that makes this dangerously drinkable while you're still aware that this is a big beer (though there's almost zero boozy heat).
Kudos to Blackstone for an outstanding beer that is consistently exceptional. I will happily buy a bunch of bottles every year (regular and variants), both to support a pillar of the local Nashville beer scene but mostly because it's an outstanding beer.
Reviewed by WunderLlama from Massachusetts
4.22/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.22/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Bottle poured into glass
Motor oil , no foam cap
Bourbon aroma, chocolate, roast malts
Bourbon taste, roast malts
No sudsing , syrupy ,
Good beer
Dec 28, 2019Motor oil , no foam cap
Bourbon aroma, chocolate, roast malts
Bourbon taste, roast malts
No sudsing , syrupy ,
Good beer
Reviewed by TerryMills from Tennessee
3.38/5 rDev -19.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
3.38/5 rDev -19.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Has all the flavors listed on bottle but not balanced imo .. I want to like it but there are do many others that are better imo , especially for the price...
This was a 2018 bottle btw.
Dec 22, 2018This was a 2018 bottle btw.
Reviewed by WoodBrew from Ohio
4.1/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 3 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.1/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 3 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
I'm trying this at the brewery. It poured an opaque dark with no head and no lace. The scent was bourbon galore. The taste was a nice combo of molasses and bourbon. The mouthfeel is fuller in body with subtle carbonation. Overall this is a big beer and is great for sipping on cold Nashville nights.
Dec 30, 2017
Black Belle Imperial Stout from Blackstone Brewing Company
Beer rating:
93 out of
100 with
113 ratings
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