What do you look for in Stouts?

In a RIS I like lots of dark chocolate and dark fruits like plum and fig. In an American Imperial I like lots of chocolate, coffee, and dark roastiness in the malt profile. I prefer my stouts to have a thicker mouthfeel with a decent amount of carbonation. Stouts that are too thin lose that complexity that I like. Same goes with BA stouts. I like bourbon heat, but not overdone.

 

Smoothness, velvety feel and a lot of coffee and vanilla flavors.

 

Smell/taste.

 

Well I guess the most important thing is a since of humor I mean we all love to laugh am I right or what. Runner up would be honesty and how much money it makes.

 

Right now i'm really digging stouts with chilis. Also first post, woohoo!

 

no off flavors lol

 

Double digit ABV and super rarity.

 

Chocolate and coffee with vanilla.

I also love beers like Hunaphu, Bomb!, and Xocovesa with cinnamon and peppers mixed in. It seems like more breweries are trying these combinations out, so I'm pretty happy.

 

coffee, warmth, body. What I've found I really don't like is bourbon taste/smell, after having a number of these ones that tout it. I prefer beer in my beer.

 

Thick body, lots of chocolate and coffee, and balanced sweetness

 

+1


Blackness, bourbon, cognac, vanilla, sweetness, chocolatey goodness, heat, no hops whatsoever. I like smoke too with a bourbon barrel aged. Bois Fume and Smoking Wood '14 were really, really nice.

 

In addition to reiterating the basics of coffee, chocolate, maple, etc (any combination), the big dealbreaker for me is in the mouthfeel. I don't enjoy 'watery' stouts, regardless of flavor (though it does seem that the better flavors bring the mouthfeel along for the ride in most cases).

 

Roasty, coffee, chocolate. Like many before me, sweet and roasty are nice balance to find.

 

Nothing. Blackness

 

Chocolate and roasty forward flavors.

I'm not a coffee guy at all, so when a stout has that flavor forward I don't like it.