PASTE: Best (Non-Barrel Aged) Imperial Stouts

God, I love lists, can't get enough of them. That said, I've only had 15 of the Top 40 and I'd have put Yeti and Stone's RIS above several of them

 

Founders at 23, Spiteful at 11, Darkness at 2? I'm in.

Any time you put Darkness in your top 3, you gain some points in my book.

edit: The only thing I'll say as a demerit is that their #1 pick almost sounds too generic to interest me. Almost.

 

Man, I still really want to try Darkness. Especially if it's that much "better" then Founder's. Founder's is one of my all-time favorite beers.

 

Oh, I know and love some of these beers! In fact, had BA #17 last night.

 

I'll have to re-try FIS soon, to compare to Darkness again. I haven't had it in a year, and it's a fave of mine, also. Had a bottle of Darkness last night, and it seemed thinner than I remembered (not too thin, but not as thick as I hoped). Darkness in the past has reminded me of an "amped up" version of FIS--More complexity, more sweetness. Both have a hoppy profile I really like.

 

Woo Colorado holdin it down

 

Darkness sounds great! I have just had FIS from last year, and I drank it fresh. I have a few bottles in my cellar and I'm excited to see how they have aged.

Was the thinner Darkness beer you tried a different version from before?

 

The first time I had Darkness was 2013, and it was love at first sip. 2014 was okay, but was that weird half-barrel-aged version. 2015 (non-BA) seemed like a return to form, but both times I've had 2016, I thought it was a little thinner. It's entirely possible my expectations have gotten too high thanks to all the BA stouts (especially BCS) I'm drinking more and more these days, so take the thinness with a grain of salt. It's still delicious.

 

I would have preferred if they had not included Imperial Stouts with added flavors.

 

I'm surprised to see Plead the 5th at only 19

 

If you think about it in a different way, it's good when something generic rises to the top of a style tasting. That means it succeeds in embodying the style.

 

Oh no, I agree, which is why I said it almost doesn't interest me. If it's generic to me in the same way that Heady Topper tastes generic to me (because there's so much else similar or that has aped HT), that's fine, because Heady Topper tastes like a fully-realized version of that particular IPA. When I think about a generic stout, though, I think about something that isn't too hoppy, isn't too roasty, isn't too sweet, isn't too full, etc., and that just sounds boring to me (but I tend to like my stouts to play up the sugar and hops).

Hopefully I'll give it a try sometime, and see which version of generic I think it is.

 

Unfortunately a lot of my favorites weren't available for the testing... no Dusk Trill Dawn, no Outside the Lines, no Triple Shot, no Perennial 17 (although they had Sump and Abraxas, so limit of 2 entries, I get it), no Yellow Belly... liked seeing 4 Hands get in on the contest, even if they didn't make the rankings. I'm a little surprised Stone didn't send W00tstout as one of their entries.

I also wish Pretty Things were still around and could send a bottle of Fumapapa.

How DARE Paste Magazine not drink literally every Imperial stout in the world? How dare they? I mean, they could always recruit more testers to drink them all. I'd be willing to make the sacrifice.

 

Isn't that one partially barrel-aged, which would render it ineligible for this particular tasting?

 

What an undertaking, love what they do. Really good list IMO, some old classics finally getting recognition they deserve, and some new ones to try.

 

Wow, I've seen that Westbrook 6th Anniversary around. I guess I need to try it.

 

Now let's see a list that is only traditional to style: no spices/ flavor additives.