Imperial Stout Appreciation Thread (2023)

Grande Noirceur - Dieu du Ciel

Yup! It’s dark. Blackness goes here to hide and gets frightened by how dark it is. Rich charred malt and espresso and coal in the nose. The flavor throttles up on all that darkness adding baker’s chocolate and bitter malt, and maybe rum. It’s dense, with a soft, plush texture and light carbonation. The 9% abv holds up with light heat.

 

X posted from WBAYDN

Synopsis

Always wanted this beer, found a four pack in 2021, it’s good but there is Zero barrel.


Enjoy

 

More board game day beers from tonight

Double Shot by Treehouse

 

Black Out Stout by Great Lakes

 

Last one from last night: 2018 CBS. In honor of it being released again, my buddy brought a bomber. Much to my surprise this one held up great: barrel was solid, coffee present and the maple was (by memory) the same.

 

Maybe “2015.10.29”. Funny thing is that the back label clearly calls it a “Golden Ale,” which I sincerely doubt is correct. Regardless, I detected absolutely no mango, cantaloupe, or citrus essence of any kind. Much less seriously hoppy floral aroma. Maybe I’m just an untrusting skeptic. And the one bottle was $16, so you definitely got a deal!

 

I found a few around, but the store owner is clueless and won’t mark them down. I know it’s probably good, but i’m not shelling out $30 for a 5 year old adjunct stout that hasn’t been refrigerated. So excited for the new release! Hope if finds its way around here again

 

Been quite somtime since I've had something from CW.
A bit thin and watery, lotsa vanilla on the nose and tongue the rye provides some nice heat and balances the vanilla, solid beer for sure.

 

16.1% and it’s pretty hot. This one is actually pretty similar to the Old Rip Medianoche from last night. Thiccc, chocolatey, not sweet. The old rip was only 12.5% though. This is really intense. Like 2-3 hour sipper intense. I pick it up every year but wish they would dial it back a little bit. This is the highest abv I can remember it being

 

Watery may have been a poor choice of words, but it is thin, personallyi like stouts a bit thicker, Expedition, Narwal, and of course Budweisers BCBS......nice to be back......

 

Factoid: My 1st BA Stout was the original Dragon's Milk @11%. I could always find it locally 24/7/365, and I loved it, always had some in the fridge. With the proliferation of BA stouts i don't buy much DM anymore.
So now I see an updated version, Triple Mash, clocks in at a "sessionable" 17.3%, right in my ballpark.
To me, this is thin and "watery", not much of a head. Roasted malts, chocolate, oak and a hefty dose of booze. And yeah, it's hot. Good stuff for sure!

 

It was most likely this or their ‘Votive’ line which is an annual release, but they change up what type of barrels (this year was bourbon and rum). I’ve only had Votive once (2nd release), it was aged in bourbon and armagnac barrels and I still have it as one of my favorite stouts ever

 

Living room sipper
Outstanding, while taking in a quiet moment.
Cheers all

 

Hill Farmstead is probably the last OG mega hype East Coast brewery that's still hard to come by. They've only expanded production once (I think), and the fact that you need to drive several miles with no cell service and eventually an unpaved road through the woods means a lot of people aren't willing to make the trek for 3-4 months out of the year. I need to get back! The stouts are few and far between, though, so you need to get lucky when you plan the trip