Imperial Extra Double Stout
Harvey's in Lewes, East Sussex, England 🏴
Stout - Imperial Regular|
Score
7.10
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Imperial Extra Double Stout is regarded as one of the World’s most unusual and prestigious beers. The recipe contains a dense concentration of varied malts and hops to produce a bottle conditioned stout of 9.0% ABV.
This brew will improve and develop complexity up to one year and has an intense flavour which is distinctive. The roast, alcoholic and spicy notes combine in this unusually sweet & sour beer.
This brew will improve and develop complexity up to one year and has an intense flavour which is distinctive. The roast, alcoholic and spicy notes combine in this unusually sweet & sour beer.
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7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 7.5
Texture 7
Overall 7.5
Reviewed from notes.
Bottle to snifter.
Appearance: dark brown close to black with a quarter finger of eggshell white foamy head which trickled off nicely to leave some light lace
Aroma: dark roasted malts, some black coffee, some bitter dark chocolate, tart dark berries, vinous tones and some vinegar sharpness
Flavor: seems to blend the prior noted aromas somewhat nicely to a slightly tart to sour to roasty quality flanked by a light sweet tone from the dark chocolate; finishes semi-sour/tart with the vinegar punching out the chocolate tones
Texture: medium bodied; this is a sipper; quaint smoothness but plenty of roastiness and vinous to tart sharpness being as aggressive as it is
Overall: honestly, initially, I didn't know what to think when I first had this and thought "oh, this was cellared wrong." Nope, after further research I see that was intentional by the brewer for the tart to vinous character so with that in mind - well, I somewhat liked this for me but this will fool a lot of people if they don't read what the brewer intended.
Bottle to snifter.
Appearance: dark brown close to black with a quarter finger of eggshell white foamy head which trickled off nicely to leave some light lace
Aroma: dark roasted malts, some black coffee, some bitter dark chocolate, tart dark berries, vinous tones and some vinegar sharpness
Flavor: seems to blend the prior noted aromas somewhat nicely to a slightly tart to sour to roasty quality flanked by a light sweet tone from the dark chocolate; finishes semi-sour/tart with the vinegar punching out the chocolate tones
Texture: medium bodied; this is a sipper; quaint smoothness but plenty of roastiness and vinous to tart sharpness being as aggressive as it is
Overall: honestly, initially, I didn't know what to think when I first had this and thought "oh, this was cellared wrong." Nope, after further research I see that was intentional by the brewer for the tart to vinous character so with that in mind - well, I somewhat liked this for me but this will fool a lot of people if they don't read what the brewer intended.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Mar 2026
at 15:25
3.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 3
Texture 2
Overall 2
Bottle from the brewery shop. Hoisin sauce and Worcestershire sauce on the nose. Viscous and thick. The sourness is like an Ouid Bruin sourness, but the ending was absolutely horrific. Gross - had to throw away....
Tried
from Bottle
from
Harvey's Brewery Shop
on 13 Mar 2025
at 09:03
4.8/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5
2001 vintage. I couldn’t get the damn cork out of this bottle, i had to dig it out, so i ended up with a crap load of cork in my beer, but i don’t think it did anything. Well pitch black pour, with zero head. Aroma is loaded with burnt malt, burnt molasses, burnt soy, and lots of booze. The Flavor isn’t that bad, lots of licorice, and more burnt everything! This reminds me alot of the sam adams triple bock, just not as thick, and a little more drinkable. I can’t see myself finishing the bottle though.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Feb 2025
at 12:10
5.2/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 5
Pulled out of my cellar. Dayed 2012. Dark brown no head. Aroma is nasty funky. Taste is like a bad Brett. Must of been too old. Kind of nasty.
Tried
on 21 Jan 2025
at 05:38
5.6/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 3
Texture 4
Overall 4.5
I had one of these a while ago and I really didn't dig it, so I thought I'd give it another try. And I still don't dig it! It's got a backbone of sourness and sour is not my thing..... at all. Looks good in the tankard though.
Tried
on 13 Oct 2024
at 18:11
6.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
275ml bottle bought from the Offie, Leicester and drunk at home. Pours extremely dark brown, almost no head. Medicinal aroma, bitter cooking chocolate, yeast extract, raisins, balsamic vinegar. Sweet taste, some winey sourness. More bitter chocolate, salted caramel and liquorice on the finish. Oily body, zero carbonation. It's complex and perhaps I'm being unfair but I feel the vinegary/vinous notes don't gel with the rest of the beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Apr 2024
at 14:51
7/10
Olen tahtnud seda proovida sellest saati kui antud isendit fatphili kapis/keldris nägin (ta eidzib seda vist tänaseni, pudel on 2000ndatest). Igal juhul natuke hapukas röstine puuviljane tummine õlu, kerge oud bruini vaib isegi, alks on kaetud. Huvitav
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Aug 2023
at 23:00
Historic check-in
Tried
on 16 Nov 2022
at 06:04
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7
275ml bottle - Pours a deep dark brown almost black colour with a tiny tan head. The aroma is complex, dark fruit, roasted malts, burnt sugar, toffee and treacle. A moderately sweet roasted taste, burnt sugar, toffee, deep roasted malts, dark fruit and treacle flavours with a warming alcohol and bitter roasted finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Jul 2022
at 20:22
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle of around 3-4 years old. Black and oily with thin creamy head. Aroma and flavour have a complex mix of dark, roasted malts, dark red fruits and a little umami too. There's lots to this. Nice to have the complexity without any adjuncts. Oily texture with a woody and very dry finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 Jul 2021
at 21:29