Bomber @ Shrewsbury Beer Share, Jan 16, courtesy of Simon F. Many thanks. Pours very dark with tan head. Fantastic chocolate fudge cake aroma with a decadently rich and smooth stout character. Good bitter hop presence too.

Clown Shoes’ take on the nowadays overexposed imperial stout style, but explicitly profiled as an ’American imperial stout’ rather than a ’Russian imperial stout’ - intriguing. Thick, dense, creamy, very regular, lacing, pale beige head over a jet black beer which, in pouring and after the head has diminished, shows a beautifully warm deep rusty brown hue. Strong and inviting aroma of espresso and cold black coffee, wet leather, beef stock, black olive, dried seaweed, biltong, black chocolate bars, bourbon, pepper, bayleaf, fresh paint-like phenols, candied fig, mocha ice cream, faint vanilla, black tea and walnut. Restrained candied, raisin-like sweetness in onset paired with a ’deaf’, deep dark fruit sourishness and meaty umami accents, very full from the start with soft carbo fit for the style, thick and oily, creamy mouthfeel, plunging me effortlessly into an abyss of caramelly and chocolatey bittersweet malts with a strong, coffeeish roasted edge filling the mouth cavity and sticking to it for a long time; finish adds further bitterness with deep, leafy, spicy hops and a friendly glow of warming, bourbon-like alcohol. The bittersweet, roasted ’black chocolate’-like maltiness lingers in the throat along with the hop bitterness. In spite of the rebellious attitude and name of this beer, it is in fact quite ’friendly’ (for an imperial stout, that is) and pretty typical for the style; it has no obvious flaws and shows a high drinkability, with a surprisingly supple and smooth (yet obviously still very ’beefy’) body for a 10% stout. Lovely and whether American or Russian, I’d recommend this one as a relatively ’easy’, but very accomplished introduction to this particular (sub)style.

65cl Bottle, thanks Secret Sint! Black colour, beige - brown head. Aroma of sweet molasses, chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, sugar, hops. Flavour is sweet, roasted malts, coffee, chocolate, molasses, caramel, hoppy and malty bitter finish with some grainy sugar. Medium to full bodied. Nice, but quite sweet.

tap - This brew pours black and smells of chocolate, roast malt, licorice, and alcohol. It has a big, sweet, malty flavor with chocolate, mild smoke, and coffee. Full bodied, it’s strong and quite good.

1pt 6 fl oz bottle, rated Halloween 2015. Pours black with a light brown foam head leaving lots of lacing and aroma of smoke, molasses, raisins, roast malt, coffee, booze. Flavour is roasted malty, treacle, dark fruits, chocolate & coffee, smokey, boozy with spicy bitterness. Smooth mouthfeel, medium to full bodied, soft carbonation, dry roasted earthy bitter finish. Very drinkable treat!