Aldergrove Empirical Staught

Brewed by Steffans Aldergrove Brewery
Style: Foreign Stout
Marysville, Washington USA

Probably good that it’s not classified as a Russian Imperial. It’s close to one but doesn’t have the malty caramely front end I’d expect. I get some dark fruits, raisins and prunes in the nose. Complex flavors. Not overly fond of the finish, it kinda slinks away with a thin sour bitter finish.

12oz bottle acquired in trade with bitbucket (thanks!). Poured a dark black color with an averaged sized tan head. Aromas of roast, chocolate, coffee, and raisins. Weaker tastes of the same. This one started out well...looked nice, smelled pretty good and then the tastes were a bit of a let down...

Bottle in trade. Think this might have come from Eniskillen. Pour is black with a nice brown head. Flavor is roasty with coffee and chocolate malt. Coffee bitterness with some buttery aftertaste I assosiate with some porters that have gone past their prime. Not bad. Pretty good texture.

Courtesy of Acertain. Thank you, sir. 12 oz bottle. Huge aroma of sweet licorice, caramel, burnt sweet malts, gobs of sweet dark fruits and mild dark chocolate. Very nice aroma. The beer pours full on black and features a thumb thick mocha head that fades quickly. Massively bitter crushed aspirin, burnt malt and dark baker’s chocolate. More black licorice through the middle. It dries out a little in the finish and gets a little red wine like with faint smoky burnt notes. Very nice beer.

Bottle: Pours an inky black with a tan head and light lacing. The nose is bright with licorice, coffee, cinnamon and rich toasty roasty malts. The flavor is balanced; moderate astringency, acidity, bitterness and mild alcohol. Ample roast and creamy notes in the mouthfeel. Bright and chewy, lots of buried fruit; cherry, berries, vanilla. Complex yet so low of ABV. Maybe brash, but it’s hitting the spot.

6/7/08 On draught at the ExBeerience beer festival. Aroma is of low sweet roast. Appearance is very dark brown with a low tan head. Flavor is rich, toasty sourness. Mouthfeel is full bodied with no creaminess or carb texture. Overall, not terrible, but not easy drinking.

Bottled. Poured a lovely shade of deepest brown with a creamy cap of dark tan head. The aroma picked up a hefty dose of molasses to complement dark chocolate and sticky caramel.. lots of roast throughout and enough character to approximate an imperial stout. The flavor opened with pine and citric bitterness that was followed by a rich array of well-roasted dark maltage (dark chocolates, coffee, and molasses primarily).. lively bitterness again on the back that cut into and complemented the roast factor.. warm finish with pine and sticky dark malts. Medium-plus bodied with enough carbonation to keep it moving across the palate (some sharp prickly notes on the sides).. I thought this was quite good, and It looks like I got lucky with the condition of my bottle.

Black viscous pour lightly carbonated with a small brown head. Pleasant roast aroma. Big and malty with subtle notes of coffee, chocolate, and fruit. Lingering bitter finish.