11th Birthday Imperial Stout
Cloudwater Brew Co in Manchester, Greater Manchester, England 🏴
Stout - Pastry / Flavoured - Imperial Special|
Score
7.41
|
|
It’s not a proper birthday without some birthday cake! We’ve worked with single-estate bean-to-bar chocolatier Mayoy Cacao to source a blend of Venezuelan cacao nibs, bringing a breadth of flavour to this extra special edition of MCI. We’ve chosen to explore a single cacao variety and how we can harness and enhance the individual flavours of the fruiter and more robust Venezuelan cacao nibs.
The result is an incredibly silky smooth, ice-cream-reminiscent coating of the mouth, a slightly dark berry jamminess on the nose with a perfectly balanced, decedent chocolate flavour balanced alongside a complex savoury umami flavor. True birthday celebration in a can.
The result is an incredibly silky smooth, ice-cream-reminiscent coating of the mouth, a slightly dark berry jamminess on the nose with a perfectly balanced, decedent chocolate flavour balanced alongside a complex savoury umami flavor. True birthday celebration in a can.
Sign up to add a tick or review
8.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8.5
Flavor 8.5
Texture 9
Overall 8.5
Appearance- opaque, black, with a small beige head. Aroma- chocolate, brownie, espresso, boozy dark fruit hints, cocoa, caramel, earthy woody malt, bit of liquorice. Taste is sweet chocolate, caramel, toffee sauce, dark chocolate, chocolate torte, rich coffee, sweet caramel and chocolate sauce, dark malts, bit of roast at the finish. Very sweet and intense, just about works.
Tried
from Can
at
Cloudwater Brew Co
on 14 Mar 2026
at 06:40
7.3/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7.5
Texture 7
Overall 7.5
Keg at Brewdog Paddington, London. A black coloured pour with a healthy beige head on top. Rich, roasty, malty, chocolate, umami aroma and taste. Quite a meaty tasting imperial stout. Decent but not what I was expecting.
Tried
from Draft
on 06 Mar 2026
at 23:01
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
440ml can. Pours jet black with a large head. Aroma is meaty dark chocolate, with a touch of blackcurrant and soy sauce. Taste is quite savoury and meaty throughout, with a dark chocolate finish.
Tried
from Can
on 22 Feb 2026
at 20:37
5.8/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Keg at Brewdog Lothian Road. Embarrassingly thick, muddy brown pour, looks like a vault shitty beer. Aroma and taste is just cacao. Pretty boring.
Tried
on 22 Feb 2026
at 10:39
8.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8.5
Texture 8
Overall 8
Can ftom The Rusty Bucket, Eltham. Nose is coffee, black treacle, sweet tobacco, liquorice toffee. Taste is dark chocolate, coffee, sweet tobacco, toffee, raisin. Rich boozy sweet finish.
Tried
from Can
at
Rusty Bucket - Eltham
on 14 Feb 2026
at 21:08
8.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8.5
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Pours jet black with a dirty tan head that fades to form a ring around the glass. Loads of jammy red fruit, chocolate brownie, cacao, fudge, caramel, a little booziness. Drinks like a rich fruity berry chocolate cake. Loads going on but well balanced. Just a hint of booze on the end. Rather good!
Tried
from Draft
at
73 Enid Street (Cloudwater London Taproom)
on 13 Feb 2026
at 18:18