Pisgah Vortex II

Brewed by Pisgah Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Black Mountain, North Carolina USA

22 oz. while watching game 7 of NHL finals, Go Wings! Dark brown pour with black swirling around in there. It has that interesting layered head when looking at it from the side, going from a light tan to a brown. Really chocolatey aroma, some maltiness but not a lot of roast. Taste has slight roasted malt, chocolate, vanilla and a little caramel. A hint of sour, it fades into the sweet tones though. Almost feels and tastes like there are some oats in there. A bit creamy. Dry cocoa finish. A little biased to the sweet side, which I don’t mind. Drinkability is not hurt and is pretty high considering the abv. I think this fits more into the Double Stout category, my fav., a bit better, with the less prevelent hopping. Sounds like this can get sour in a hurry from some I’ve talked to that have had nearing a year of age on it.

This pours up big and black, like a good RIS should. A nice, one-finger thick, head of dark brown foam forms and then recedes, fairly quickly, to a spotty, filmy, surface covering. Lacing is in medium sized strands and fairly sticky. The nose, while somewhat muted, has a nice amount of sweet maltiness, along with a touch of roastiness. It has light hints of coffee and a touch of chocolate. A big dose of rich malts are what dominate here. This is blended, in a wonderful way, with a nice lacto sweetness and some very nice dark fruit notes. Cherrys and plums mostly, with a touch of raisins. There is a mild presence of milk chocolate and some light hints of smoke and roastiness. Very full-bodied, almost qualifies as thick. It has a medium-to-high level of carbonation, which is just a touch overdone, IMO. It’s mostly smooth, but has a touch of sharpness. I think that the mild level of creaminess could be boosted and the whole brew would benefit from it. The abv level of almost 12% is extremely well-hidden, flavorwise. The bad part is that it’s already starting to hammer me and I’m only almost to the halfway point. (It is a bomber, though.) Time to sit back and enjoy the ride...

Pours dark brown with a tan head. Smells of chocolate, roasted malt, some licorice, molasses. Tastes of roasted malt, chocolate, some spice, peppery, bitter.

Bottle at the release of Flaming Fury. Pours black with a thin tan head. Chocolate, chalk, oats, and dust. Sweet. Very. Tasting of cookies and candy. Light cherry and caramel finish.

Bottle shared with Plovmand. Black body, with a large light brown head. Aroma is Coffee, dark fruit, roasted malt and sweet. Flavor is sweet, dark fruit and coffee. creamy body. Nice.

Bottle at Chriso pre GBBF tasting 09. Black, very dark brown colour. Really good impy stout, bit grainy, but not overly boozy, I really quite like it. Malty rather than grainy. Cool

Pours black with thin tan head. Minimal lacing. Aroma of licorice and chocolate. Taste has tons of dark fruit, chocolate, roasted malt. Too thin. Decent but was expecting more.

Long lasting tan head gives a little creamy texture. Aroma has some toasty almond and a little bit of musty yeast. Flavor is less complex than what I was expecting after the view and the aromas. A little hot as it leaves a bit of purple fruit and sweetness on the finish. Before all of that though is a full bodied lightly roasted malt experience. Decent drink but would like a little more complexity from an impy stout.