s: coffee (duh) - molasses - dark chocolate a: oily black body - almost no head t: rich - pungent - bitter nuts p: roasted coffee - earth - canella o: strong - spice-quotient - burnt sugars 37,5 cL bottle - Knightly Spirits: Orlando (Orange Blossom Trail), Florida - 05-May-2018 - US$4,08! - aged: 5+ years - sampled: 22-August-2023

Pour is a black with a big foamy tan head. Aroma is a slight coffee and some bitter bakers chocolate. Flavor is more minor coffee but the chocolate turns sweet like syrup. Finish is more sweet malt then bitter coffee. OK coffee stout. Not much coffee but a whole lot of sweet malt.

Well I figured it was about time to try an imperial stout. Not for the first time mind you, well, the first time in a long time, in a couple years I'd guess. Of course I'm sure we all know how impies jumped the shark several years ago, and have turned into a bunch of over the top, way too high grav, ingredient-dense, flavor-dense bottles of bullshit. And so when it came time to say I want to drink a beer, such liquid pastries were the literal last thing I had in mind. But now I've got hop fatigue, IPA fatigue, whatever. And so when I found this little 8.3% impy, flavored only with coffee, I thought why not? So I'm giving it a whirl and will decide whether I might drink another relatively soon, or go on another 4 year hiatus. This one gave the classic imperial stout pour - as black as can get, with a surprisingly brown head of foam that lingered pretty good. Yes you can smell the coffee. The flavor is even more coffee, playing with some roasted malt and dark chocolate, leading into a decently bitter aftertaste. The whole thing feels balanced - I'd almost want to say semi-dry but it can't be. Its surprisingly drinkable at first because of that balance and the fact that the coffee thins the body a bit. But then halfway into the glass you're facing a pretty dense dark chocolate and roast wall that forces you to slow down. That is perhaps my problem. I like to drink fast sometimes, well, most times. Like I said, sometimes you want to drink a beer, and that means, drink a beer. Not sip. Drink. Well, just so I'll shut the fuck up and rate this beer, its actually pretty good as an impy, reminds of the impies you'd find 20 years ago. But I'm unlikely to keep going back to this well very often if even something like this leaves me wanting.

12 oz bottle from Tavour. Near black pour with small beige ring. Rich chocolatey aroma. Coffee? Yea, light undercurrents with some sweetnees, but mostly big roast malts. Comes together quite nicely.

Pours black color with tan head. Aromas of roasted malt, coffee, and chocolate. Similar flavors with an ashy finish. Full body with minimal carbonation.