Narwhal Imperial Stout
(has 14 batches)
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California, United States 🇺🇸
Stout - Imperial Rotating|
Score
7.71
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Narwhal Imperial Stout is inspired by the mysterious creature that thrives in the deepest fathoms of the frigid Arctic Ocean. Rich with notes of espresso, baker’s cocoa, roasted grain and a light hint of smoke, Narwhal brims with malt complexity. Aggressive but refined with a velvety smooth body and decadent finish, Narwhal will age in the bottle for years to come.
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8.9/10
—
Appearance 9
Aroma 8.5
Flavor 8.5
Texture 9
Overall 9.5
Imperial stout by this famed and highly influential craft beer pioneer; launched in 2012, but from a brewery with roots in the eighties I expect old school style throughout. Thick and dense but quickly thinning and eventually dissolving, membrane-lacing, mocha-beige head on a jet black beer – so far so good. Aroma of melting ‘fondant’ chocolate, espresso, burnt blackcurrants, dried blueberries, sweet pipe tobacco, toasted walnut, dry leather, brown bread crust, peppercorns, dried grapefruit peel, whisky, blood-like iron faraway in the background. Dried-fruity onset, fig, old raisins, restrainedly sweetish with a very light black olive-like umami touch somewhere, full and deep from the start with that typical roasty sourishness running underneath, medium carbonation, full oily body. Caramelly malt core under additional layers of bitter black chocolate, toasted walnuts and eventually black coffee, with leathery and blood-like aspects on the sides; generally more bitter than sweet, an overall impression reinforced by old school dry citrus pith- and peppercorn-like hop bitterness joining the coffeeish roasted bitterness in the finish. Warming, whisky-like alcohol in the end too, but largely absorbed by those masses of malt, with a roasted bitterness lingering on for a long time. It seems I got what I was hoping for, and I’ll take this kind of old-fashioned, almost ‘English’ style imperial stouts – with a classic American twist of course – over all those pastry stouts anytime. After this one, I felt satisfied and comforted that this kind of late-twentieth- and early-twenty-first century brewing style still exists.
Tried
on 14 Oct 2021
at 12:22
8/10
A bit nutty and whisky flavour.roasty,coffee.smoky.world class. Canned:12/11/2020
Tried
from Can
on 08 Jul 2021
at 22:03
7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
37.5cl Fles van Bierwinkel Alkmaar. 2020 versie. Zwart, beige kraag. Zoet, drop, geroosterde mout, stroop, wat pure chocolade, donker fruit, bittere finish. Medium tot volle body. Lekker maar niet de topper waar ik op gehoopt had.
Tried
from Bottle
from
Bierwinkel Alkmaar
on 04 Jun 2021
at 21:37
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Backlog March 2019. Black body under a dense brown head. Aroma of dark malt and coffee. Taste is sweet, roasted malt, coffee and fine bitterness. Fine body and long lasting pleasant aftertaste. Nice one.
Tried
on 08 Apr 2021
at 18:28
7.4/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7.5
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
35,5cl bottle (2020) from Sip, Tallinn. Pours pitch black with a dissipating, beige head. Roasty aroma with dark dried fruits, cocoa, mild coffee notes and hint of herbal hops. Smooth, sweet and flavourful with a solid, but balanced bitterness. Certainly enjoyable.
Tried
from Bottle
from
SIP veini- ja õllepood - Tallinn
on 08 Apr 2021
at 16:45
8.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8.5
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9.5
Fles 35,5cl thuis. Bitter, koffie, roasted malts, zoeten, cacao, melasse, wat houttonen, licht boozy, licht syrup, hint van vanille, wat liquorice, vrij droog, beetje as. (5-4-2021).
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Apr 2021
at 15:43
7/10
LCI
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 Mar 2021
at 11:18
8.2/10
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Mar 2021
at 19:50
7.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7
Wieder mal ein Bierchen aus der Brauerei Sierra Nevada, eine der ersten großen Craftbier-Brauerei aus Amerika. Es wird auf dem Etikett auf den namensgebenden Narwal eingegangen, aber nicht warum dieses Bier seinen Namen trägt. Man könnte interpretieren, dass die schwarzen Tiefen der Arktis, wo sich dieses Tier aufhält, der Schwärze dieses Biers entspricht. Etwas schwierig ist für Europäer die 12 Unzen-Flasche, das ca 0,354882 l entspricht... Geschmacklich ist es klassisch bitterschokoladig und ordentlich trocken. Nichts einfaches oder leichtes, aber aufgrund der tiefen Aromen wirklich gut gelungen und interessant zu trinken. Es hat mir wirklich gut gefallen.
Tried
on 06 Feb 2021
at 22:33
8.5/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
Thuis uit een flesje. Zwarte kleur. Stevig bruin schuim, mooi. Geroosterde mout, chocolade en wat koffie in het aroma. Smaak koffie, bittere toets. Volle smaak.
Tried
on 05 Feb 2021
at 16:28