Wimpy Impy Stout
Great Lakes Brewery

Pours black, no noticeable head. A sweet sweaty and hoppy aroma. A good experiment, me thinks, grapefruit hops on a RIS, kind of like a black IPA, with some roasted malt in there. Maybe next kick at the can maybe can be tuning down the wimpy RIS part to enjoy the hops with less distraction. I sort of liked it, liked the hops, liked the change of pace.

Glad to see this listed as a regular stout. The brewer was aiming for an imperial with this one-off, but it ended up falling considerably short, hence the lower ABV and the wimpy impy name.

Pours tar black with a huge yellow-tinged mocha head. Lots of stickly lace and superb retention, with several islands of creamy foam maintained by a steady stream of bubbles. Aroma is interesting, and very fresh for a stout. Quite a lot of coffee and dark chocolate, but also a strong hit of pine and some mild citric notes.

For an imperial the flavour falls short, but for a regular stout, its surprisingly intense for its weight. Coffee, dark chocolate, licorice, mint and green hops all feature prominently. As assertive bitterness shows all its 80 IBUs, and its difficult to discern how much is coming from the heavy dark roast, and how much from the high hopping. There's some great flavours going on, which seem to really open up closer to room temperature, but something is making me drink it slowly. I think the bitterness from both the hopping and the roast is just a little too raw, and a slight smoothing out would really elevate this to the next level. The same applies to the body, whose medium carbonation and weight is satisfactory, but not superlative.

This is certainly one of the more intriguing offerings to come from the Project X experimentation line. The beer was a mistake, but it holds a lot of promise, and some minor refinements could turn this into a superior brew. As it is, its still a pleasant sipper, in spite of its defects.

Bottle: Pours a deep black turbid ale in the glass. Massive puffy mocha-colored cap that lasts and laces.

Pleasant impy aromas, big roast, some dark fruits and coffee, grassy hops.

Moderate body, sandy mouth feel,

Profile sees big roasty malts in front, very pleasing bittering balances, mid palate a little complexity, fruits, smoke, licorice, walnuts, pipe tobacco. Lingering bittering finish.

Has a very bright freshness to it that is uncommon in the style but compliments this brew. Very nicely carried off and the low ABV but big fresh roasty flavor makes it a very approachable Impy

Pours pitch black with an astonishingly tall mocha coloured head reminiscent of the large foam bubbles you get from a cola. Really, unusually large bubbles. Laces well enough.

The aroma is citrus hops and dark chocolate, licorice, roast, with the carbonation imparting a freshly cut unripe pear aspect to it. Some espresso.

The taste is a bitter burst of black licorice and chocolate with a minty, grassy lingering bitter finish. Very roasty and bitter, with the same minty bitterness I find in Great Lakes' Miami Weiss and Canuck Pale Ale. I kind of wish they focused less on hop bitterness and more on hop flavor in all of these beers. I don't know what they are doing to get this odd mintiness in them, but I for one am not a fan. It tastes like drinking an imperial stout right after having a Halls Mentho-Lyptus. Or brushing your teeth and rinsing with stout. Or I don't know. It's not as unpleasant as I make it sound, but neither is it great.

I'm surprised I taste and feel the alcohol in a 6.5% beer as much as I do.

Medium bodied with a good lift of carbonation.

I applaud what Great Lakes are doing with Project X, I just wish they'd spend some time at Three Floyds, Troegs, Sierra Nevada, Russian River, etc, so that they might learn how to brew with hops in a way that isn't just all crass minty herbal bitterness.

Sorry. I know they're local and the custom is to rave, applaud and inflate my opinion of their efforts....but I can't. I don't know why I seem to be unimpressed by Great Lakes when so many others seem to be fans. But yeah. No. This needs work.

Bottle samples from Adil. Thanks again! Pitch black in colour with a brownish tan head and dots of lacing on the tulip. Smell and taste are burnt plastic, smoke, maple sugar, strong roasted malt, black coffee, dark chocolate, pit fruit, a little tart and sour. Finishes with a bold citrus hop bitterness that sticks to the palate. Excellent. Fullish medium mouthfeel, chocolaty in texture, prickly hop tang, toasted and chalky dryness to end. 80 IBUs are evident in a good way. Awesome American style stout from Great Lakes Brewing. Reminds me of Rogue Shakespeare, given the ABV, full flavour, and ballsy hop presence. Keep doing what you're doing Simon and Crew!