Toppling Goliath Brewing Company Assassin (2016)

Assassin (2016)
(Batch of Assassin)

 

Toppling Goliath Brewing Company in Decorah, Iowa, United States 🇺🇸

  Stout - Imperial Rotating Out of Production
Score
7.63
ABV: 12.8% IBU: - Ticks: 107
Killer Imperial Stout Aged in Whiskey Barrels

After endless hours of scorching in heat, brewing in turmoil, fermenting in angst, the Assassin’s journey has just begun. In the shadow of the temple, he lies in wait, maturing his plot to perfection. He emerges merciless, dominated by darkness, his bite laced with the charred remnants of his victims. No man dares to cross his path. They will forever sleep with one eye open, in fear of the Assassin’s hot kiss of death.
 

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7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

2016 Purple wax bomber, drunk 6/10/17.
Dark, inky, ebony of undetermined clarity, seemingly opaque. Dark tan head atop is initially large and shows moderate retention.
Nose is thick with rich fudge peppered by dark fruits and a liqueur-like character reminiscent of rum-vanilla-chocolate. There’s a good bit of ash and/or char-like "dryness" on the end to blunt some of this "sweet" fudge character and thankfully no sharp alcohol ever hits on the finish; probably a product of its year in the bottle. Nicely aromatic, as one would expect, and though I wouldn’t go nearly as far as to call this a "British-style Imperial Stout" as many apparently do, it does have a good helping of dark fruits that the newer American versions are sorely lacking. Liqueur-like vanilla, German chocolate cake and rich char linger long on the finish.
Rich and quite sweet in the mouth, unsurprisingly. It’s "thick" though thankfully not syrupy or cloying. Still, there’s a ton of base malt here, mixing with the dark malt to provide quite a bit of fudge character. Good amount of dark fruit, adding prunes, raisins, plums, etc...that help add complexity and gentle acidity in concert with the moderate roast and char character. Carbonation is low but engaging while alcohol is held to just a bourbon-rum-vanilla-like character that is quite enjoyable. Strong ash and light vinousness do indeed dry out the finish somewhat, though the beer is still very much on the sweet side. As is usually the case with these "iconic" monster American Imperials, I’d prefer it be considerably more dry, but it’s still pretty well-done/not messy for its size.

Tried from Bottle on 16 Jul 2025 at 12:34


6

Tried from Bottle on 24 Dec 2019 at 00:42



9

Nice lacing, silky smooth.

Tried on 17 Nov 2018 at 19:54


9

No jest zajebisty, zlozony, fajnie ulozony, mega cialo, ciemne owoce, melasa, slodki ale bez przegiec, ukryte alko... no ryli dobre piwerko

Tried at Saska Kępa on 15 Jul 2017 at 19:30