Appearance: Bottled 29/10-2014. Basically black, very dark tan head.
Aroma: Dark malt, burnt, coffee/chocolate.
Taste: Very dark malt, coffee, burnt, tar. Warming and very nice.
Bought: Drinks of the World (Bern), 355 ml, CHF 8.30
Info: 3/4-2015

Aug ’14. A 0.355 l bottle from Systembolaget, Upplands Väsby. In the absence of local imperial stouts I finally went for this classic. It was cheap, too. Poured pitch black body with small brown head atop. First sniff revealed coffee, licorice, some caramel, even lemon. Complex roasted aroma along with secondary notes like cinnamon, overcooked fruits and some volatile notes with it. Flavor was lightly bitter, both from spicy herbal hops and roasted coffee-like malt. Pleasant maltiness generally, wide palette of flavors here, ranging from caramel to fruits and even vanilla. Full bodied with long coffee dominated finish, that showed some herbal and citrus character, too. Very good imperial stout, did not exactly blow me away, but it’s definitely a true classic.

33cl bottle from Systembolaget (probably Sälen some time ago). Pours black, used motor oil looking with a brown head. Lovely, massive aroma of roasted malt, dark chocolate, coffee, dark fruits and hints of licorice, caramel and fruity and herbal hops. Sweet and lovely flavourful with a nicely balanced bitterness. Full bodied with carbonation on the soft side. Complex, but dangerously drinkable with well integrated alcohol and a nice warming and somewhat bitter finish. Really delicious, pure liquid candy and the kind of beer that makes me remember why I love beer so much in the first place. (About time to try this one again and just what I needed after trying to quite horrible new beers)

Beautiful black color with a hint of red highlights and a small brown head that also is a bit reddish. Aroma is coffee, cocoa, vanilla, warm. Taste is rich and full-bodied, mild cocoa, blackcurrants, warming boozy finish with bitter coffee. Carbonation is fine but still very noticeable. Oily texture. A fine Imperial Stout.

355 ml bottle from Systembolaget Passagen, Stockholm.
Pitch black, oily body, with a medium, dense, creamy, tan head.
Aroma of coffee, wood, dark chocolate, earth, dark fruits.
Taste with the same aromas, some more vanilla and surprising amounts of citric hops.
Full, creamy mouthfeel, with a quite lively carbonation.
Finishes warm, roasty, dry, wooden, with bitter chocolate and bitter, citric hops again.

Very tasty! One of the hoppiest Imperial Stouts I’ve had so far, about in the middle of the way to a Black IPA, while the massive, complex dark malts clearly dominate of course. Pretty heavy, but still quite smooth to drink, overall greatly balanced! Not among my favourite beers of this style, but a great one I would gladly drink again.

(355ml bottle from Systembolaget) Pours completely pitch black with a small medium brown head that fades quickly leaving lace. Aroma has semisweet dark chocolate, a little milk chocolate, black coffee, dark malts with fairly strong roast, black licorice, a little bit of orange oil, and hints of pine hops, pretty strong nose. Palate is moderately sweet at first, particularly dark chocolate/cocoa loaded. There is some medium-roast type black coffee as well, and a nice structure of burnt sugar dark malt, but it’s not an overpowering malt bomb. Some orange peel as well. As the sip progresses, roastiness builds and dries the beer, some roast cacao bean character in there, touch of the licorice. Quite roasty by the end, pine hops, orange peel still lingers, nearly dry with lingering malt flavour but not sweetness. Alcohol completely hidden. Fairly full, oily body with light to moderate carb. Very nicely balanced beer that is rich and chocolately but not terribly sweet, with a real drying quality from roast and hops that gives it a nicely American-style character on the finish. Makes it super drinkable white not being a poor "sipper" by any means either, if perhaps lacking the ultimate complexity of some imperials with additions or barrel ageing.