Basic Becky
(has 2 batches)

12 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled on 9/6/2019. Pours dense pitch black color with a small dense tan head with solid retention, that reduces to a minimal spotty lace cap that lingers. Minimal spotty lacing on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, coriander, clove, caraway, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, anise, raisin, fig, date, smoke, char, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Minimal booze in the aromas as it warms. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/black/roast/bready malts, pumpkin, spices, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with big strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, coriander, clove, caraway, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, anise, raisin, fig, date, smoke, char, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Very mild herbal, grassy, roast, charred bitterness; and cinnamon, coriander, clove spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, coriander, clove, caraway, toasted biscuit, dark bread/crust, licorice, anise, dark fruit, smoke, char, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts, pumpkin, spices, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitter/spiciness balance; and no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Slightly increasing dryness from lingering bitter/spiciness. Light-medium carbonation and very full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety/bready, and lightly slick/sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is fantastic. Mild increasing warmth of 11%, with minimal lingering booze after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic fruit/spiced imperial stout. All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts, pumpkin, spices, and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the big ABV, with the mildly bitter/spicy/drying finish; fantastic soft/silky feel for the ABV. Amazing balance of super rich malts, pumpkin, and spice complexity; mild hops and fruity yeast. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and outstanding experimental style example as expected. Not overwhelming on any aspect.

$7.25 bottle, GTGSP. Pours black and damn is it thick. Small brown head. Holy cow that aroma is lovely: clove, nutmeg, cinnamon sugar... about the perfect pumpkin spice. Flavor is... whew! Wow. Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, chocolate - milk and dark mixed perfectly, pumpkin -YES! you taste the actual pumpkin! - caramel. At the first sip I thought this was going to be sweet, and where it has a bit of sweetness to it, it's subdued. Numbing effect from the clove. This is outfuckingstanding and getting an extremely high rating, perhaps the second highest I've had. (editing to add: looking it up, this is tied for second place in my overall ratings, and this is #5751).

Bottle from Holiday Market. Pours a pitch black with a finger of brown head that dissipates. According to Prairie this is a new base stout and right from the pour it's easy to see. Pours very thick and viscous compared to recent Prairie imperial stouts. Huge pumpkin pie nose with fudge, vanilla and all the nutmeg, clove and allspice you need. Thick, viscous and rich full-flavored mouthfeel. A thiccboi through and through. Loads more fall spice: clove, allspice, nutmeg & cinnamon with candied pumpkin, marshmallow and fudge brownie all present. Yes, there is a pumpkin mocha latte vibe going on but it all works and the spices are loud, but not too overbearing imo. One of the best non-barrel aged stouts from Prairie in recent memory. Nice work!