Imperial Stout Appreciation Thread (2022)

I'll be out of town and away from my regular beer access for Christmas so I thought I'd open something nice while I'm around.

This one drinks nicely. Definitely on the sweeter side, but not as cloying as other some big stouts with coconut (*cough* Medianoche).

Cheers!

 

Thin Man BBA Awesome Jenkins aged three years in Blanton’s wood. Super heavy barrel, dark slightly spicy sweet bourbon. Heavy mouthfeel. Some alcohol bite. Starts to open more after a lot of breathing.

I’ll have to buy more. I’m hoping they made more 3 year aged versions from the various barrels from last year’s two year aged release.

I’d buy more BBA Peanut Butter Jenkins but they only have magnums. $60…soooo good though.

 

This one starts like a lamb, but 30 minutes of breathing…oh hell yeah. It’s an excellent sipper, bringing on such a super mellow buzz. Flavor shines with bourbon and wood. Viscosity is crazy high. Sticky AF. Reminds me of 2014 BCBS from the bottle, when I didn’t know better. One needs to find its way to your house. LOL!

Just had a piece of 8-year aged cheddar cheese with it. Call me a happy boy.

 

I drink a lot of stouts, but I try not to waste your time unless I come across something remarkable in my opinion.

I have drank and sent out many Odd Side Ales over the past couple years. They have a world class barrel program, producing many flavored stouts as well as those free from additives. This one, I’m particularly fond of.

Pours and oily pitch black with a finger of oatmeal head. Nose is cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, and oats. The barrel shines in the taste as all the components of an oatmeal cream pie combine with the burnt oak flavor of a top shelf bourbon. I’m really happy with this. Cheers BA.

 

are we finding more and more that breweries are leaving the “imperial” descriptor off their labels? feel like i see it all the time these days, especially on their ig / social media posts. perhaps for new craft beer drinkers the label “stout” means barrel-aged and 12+% but for me i look at that can @BigIronH posted and think “oh that’s a 6% oatmeal stout”

guess i just feel like adding one more word (or 2 if it’s a RIS) isn’t that hard and kind of important.

 

I'll stopped calling stouts and IPAs imperial a couple of years ago. The ABV percentage is perfectly descriptive. RIS is only helpful for assessing the fullness of the body since ABV tells you what you need to know about the horsepower. If people like the imperial shortcut, okay. I don’t think it’s necessary but to each their own.

 

i had that thought after posting. “i guess you can always check the ABV easy enough.”

the IPA one is a little different since 90% just get labeled as NE IPA which could mean anything from 5% to 10%..

 

Not that the missing abv is common… still.

Personally, I think “Imperial” really aught to remain with RIS, and only with RIS, which might be the original usage. Demonstrating my conservative feeling about the issue.

However, why should “Imperial” only apply to abv? What’s wrong with using that word to describe any of the amped-up dominating characteristics of a beer? Like say - Imperial Sour? Demonstrating my flexibility (weird, yet still flexible) feeling about the issue.

Either way, my leaning is towards keeping the descriptor.

 

Two more beers from yesterday's samplings
Enorme | île Sauvage Brewing | BeerAdvocate
3.94/5 rDev 0% , look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Ile Sauvage/Twin Sails collab 'Enorme' Imperial Stout @ 10.1% , served from a 355 ml can
A-pour is black from the can to glass with a small size tan head , dissipating into a minimal lace ring along the tulip
S-hints of almonds (sweet smelling)
T-smooth start , big tasting Imperial stout ,
MF-mild carbonation , feels full bodied
Ov-big beer for such a small can , prost LampertLand

Molinillo | Steel & Oak Brewing Co. | BeerAdvocate
3.94/5 rDev 0% , look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Steel & Oak Brewing 'Molinillo' Imperial Stout @ 10.0% , served from a 355 ml can
A-pour is a dark cola brown from the can to black in the glass with a small size tan head , dissipating into a minimal lace ring along the tulip
S-hints of cinnamon
T-smooth cacao start , sweet cinnamon & chocolate follows
MF-mild carbonation , feels full bodied
Ov-very easy drinking Imperial stout , not feeling the ABV (yet) , prost LampertLand

 

BCBS Coffee

 

Wasssup?

Abomination Santa's Black Blood




Imperial Milk Stout with vanilla beans and eggnog spices.

@Resistance88, be on the lookout for this 13.3% ABV......abomination.

 

Being in CT, I have regular access to their stuff. I’ve actually never had a stout from them because they all sound way too sweet for me. They make some really good hazy IPAs, though

 

I'm still reticent to buy their bottles if I may not drink them immediately. OG Baptista was amazing, but apparently it aged out like shit. I want to buy more versions, baptist in the rye sounds great. But I've cut my drinking back quite a bit recently, and have quite a few beers just sitting right now. It would likely sit for a year at this point. So it's a no go.