Smoked Maple Syrup Imperial Stout

Bottle at level 42 thanks to Leighton. It pours darkest brown with a small beige head. The aroma is sweet, sticky, maple syrup, oak, sweet coffee, cake, brown sugar and smoke. The taste is sweet tangy, toasty, maple syrup, coffee cake, some acidity, charred action, smoke and warming alcohol with a smoked, oaky finish. Medium+ Body and soft carbonation. A bit tangy and imbalanced. Fair at best.

Bottle split at L42, thanks to Leighton, 23/01/17. Light black with a moderate tan cap. Nose is treacle toffee, spice, sticky maple syrup, chocolate, light charr, honey. Taste comprises more maple syrup, toffee, light spice, dark fruit rinds, earthy, charr, cocoa powder. Medium + body, fine carbonation, semi drying close. Average Impy stout ... touch on the sweet side and disjointed.

19th January 2017
Farewell Bespin Bottleshare. Thanks to Leighton. Almost opaque dark brown beer, small tan head. Smooth palate, semi dry and with reasonable fine carbonation. Sweet ans sour dark malts. Mild spice. Mild bitterness. Dry tangy fruits. Light dry finish. Wonky.

Bottle shared in London - picked up in VT. Pours clear brown with a slim, creamy khaki head. The aroma holds toasted brown sugar, some ripening berries, a little wood. Medium sweet flavour with lots of rich, ripe and sugary berries, a little smoked ham, grapes, brown sugar. Medium bodied, oily and chewy, with fine carbonation. Sugary on the finish with light boozy warmth, more ripe berries that impart mellow tang, more smoked ham impressions, some toffee. So so overall.

Bottle shared at Leightons place, 19/01/2017. Huge thanks to Leighton for this one. A reddy mahogany brown coloured pour with a fine tan halo. Aroma is woody vinegar, red grape, woody, spicy. Flavour is composed of semi sweet and tangy sour, woody sour, hint of vinegar tangy red fruit. Palate is semi sweet, moderate carbonation, . Ok.

Bottle - Pours black tan head - nose/taste of maple, smoked ham, bacon, bourbon, sugar coated chocolate, oak - medium body

This was poured into a mini snifter.
The appearance was a jet black color with no head nor lacing.
The smell had a sweet maple syrup up front with a slight smokiness on the back end. A tad of \"meatiness\" wants to blend in to balance and then a slight little bit of sour to almost vinegar-esque sort of thing going on.
The taste was mainly syrupy sweet with the smokiness showing a nice level to back up. Vinegar-esque feels don’t show as much presence as they did in the aroma. There’s a light cocoa to smokey to maple syrupy aftertaste and a quick sticky sweet finish.
On the palate, this one sat about a medium in body with a fairly nice sessionable to sipping quality about it. Carbonation runs super light and allows the sticky syrup to run the gamut. Smokiness doesn’t show a whole lot on my tongue, but I’m not worried, I think I get what Bent Hill is trying to do.
Overall, for an Imperial Stout that Bent Hill did and to \"smoke\" it, for the most part, I believe it worked. I’m not exactly sure where that \"sour\" to almost vinegary-aroma comes from, but hey, everything else seemed right. I’d still have this again.