7.3

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5

500 ml bottle, as Spey Valley Bring Out The Imp!!, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 7.5%. Brewed with Belgian yeast. Malts are pale, crystal, chocolate and roast barley. Hops are Simcoe and Cascade. Pitch black colour, moderate to small brown head. Aroma of roast malts, chocolate and mild coffee. Flavour with the same elements, medium dry. Moderate bittering hops.

6.6

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

330ml @ Ryan's.
Aroma: coffee, some sweetness, roasted malt, Belgian esters.
Taste: along the same lines, very low carbo, some caramel.
Overall: feels diluted, lacks intensity. It is a meh, but not a real disaster.

6.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Poured from 330mL bottle (bb 10/08/2026). Dark brown with small off white head. A thin-ish bodied oatmeal stout with Belgian yeast. Inoffensive, not all that interesting, but it's fine.

7

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 6.5

7

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

500ml bottle from Aldi Inverurie. It pours darkest brown to black with a small, but lasting dark tan head. The aroma is dark roasted malt, charred, bitter - sweet, cookie dough, burnt treacle, cacao nibs, toasty brown sugars and a splash of cola. The taste is dark roasted malt, nip of spicy alcohol, slightly charred, burnt toast, slightly phenolic, umami, liquorice, toothy, cooking chocolate, earthy and toasty with a toasty finish. Medium body and average carbonation. Decent enough double stout. Good bang for your buck.

6.5

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

500ml bottle (Bring Out The Imp !!, not 11), a present from my mate Gordon. Poured into my Gordon thistle shaped glass (twice) at home on 17th October 2025. Black with a fast fading tanned wispy head. Malty, woody and slightly yeasty, interesting and different.

7

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

500ml bottle at home ...dark black ..thin tan lacing ...soft dry chocolate Roast malts nose ..dark woody chocolate roast malts

5.6

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5.5 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 5.5

330mL bottle, pours a deep dark brown with a small white head. Aroma has a very pronounced English bready malt character upfront, some earthiness, and light oats. Flavour is almost more like a Scottish ale in malt character, sweet esters, light oats, and toasted bread. Very thin-bodied, too estery, and just not convincing as a stout. Okay.

5.3

Appearance - 5 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 5

It's brown. Like amber-brown, and bright. Wrong colour for an imperial stout. Estery yeast profile, maybe some phenols on there. So not enticing but whatever. The palate, however, is a bit of a miss. That is to say there's a thin body, more issues with the phenols, just comes across weak and I really don't know what direction it's going other than throwing in some random bubble gum.

5.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 5.5 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 6

330mL bottle. Pours dark brown with a white head. Gentle brown sugars and bready malts on the nose. Flavour has thin brown bread malts and a weird sweet estery character. This isn't really coming together for me.