Beer Valley Black Flag Imperial Stout Hop Harvest Edition

Brewed by Beer Valley Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Ontario, Oregon USA

Name: Black Flag Hop Harvest
Date: March 29, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party
Vintage: 2008
Appearance: black, fine dirty white head, sudsy streaks of lace
Aroma: roasted malt aroma, sweet pine and caramel, dark chocolate
Flavor: rich dark chocolate and roasted flavor, touch of hot pine, lots of hops, touch of caramel sweetness
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

22oz bottle. Poured a dark brown color with a huge sized (5 finger) off white head. Aromas of chocolate, floral hoppiness, pine, roast, and some coffee. Definitely still a bunch of hops in the aromas. Tastes of chocolate, coffee, floral hoppiness, roast, and citrus. I found the tastes to be a little bit of a let down compared to the aromas (couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but it was just different). Alcohol content well hidden.

Bottle … Pours very dark crimson with a small, creamy, off-white head. The aroma offers rich chocolate and earthy hops. Full-bodied with soft carbonation. Bittersweet chocolate highlights the flavor. Lengthy, bittersweet, grassy finish. Bottle courtesy of dchmela!

Pours a transparent dark mahogany with a clingy-lacing light tan head. Aroma of fresh piny hops with some underlying sweet roasty dark caramel and chocolate malts. Body starts with pretty good fullness and sticky dark caramel malts and resiny green piny hops. Finishes drier and bittersweet with a good hop character throughout. A nice imperial stout.

Cask @ Front Door: Pours a black thick color with a tan head and nice lacing. Foamy and retentive for cask. The nose is has some subtle roast with maple, coffee, bright astringency and a very fragrant fresh crisp citrusy hop note. The flavor is mellow, a bit astringent with sweet grape and honey flavor amidst the vanilla and coffee notes. Pleasant tail. The finish is bitter and astringent. Another drink relieves this unpleasantly. A roller coaster stout and IPA fest. Ample roasted barley and hops cover the senses. A little brash and lacking balance in the end but it’s bittersweet (pun intended) like a burnt marshmallow.

Hop Harvest edition bottle brought to the tasting by tjthresh, much thanks Tom: Basically opaque with a fading creamy tan head which left very good lace upon the glass. The wonderful aroma displays the hop character big time! Grassy, resiny, grapefruit, clove, pepper are all there. Notes of chocolate, charred and coffee vapours with a quick dash of prune and sugar too. Think Surly Darkness with it’s hop forward traits and you have that on the nose here. The taste is not as impressive but hardly bad either. Herbal and slightly astringent bitterness supported by a iced mocha espresso. Earthy and burnt overtones. Some hop spice and acidic fruit tones as well. The mouth feel is lively and aggressive with a medium-body, a metallic finish is a tad distracting. This is really solid hop forward impy, clearly displaying it’s PNW origins.

Bomber, 2008 Hop Harvest Edition. Poured medium viscosity deep brown with a creamy, well-retained cap of tan head. The aroma had a hefty dose of earth and spicy pine hoppage over roasted coffee and black patent maltage.. the hops really drive the nose, and that’s a good thing because the underlying stout didn’t seem great. The flavor found tart roasted coffee, bitter floral, and pine character of the fore with syrupy, mostly generic black malts rolling onto the middle.. espresso and earthy bitterness around.. resiny bitterness left the best impression on the finish. Medium-bodied with a much lighter feel than I’d like.. the hops have faded some, but they worked well. Just a decent stout overall.

Bottle received via trade with ditmier. Pours opaque with an average, fizzy, light brown head, lasting with excellent lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (chocolate, nutty, toffee), average hops (flowers), average yeast (dough) with notes of dates, wood, vanilla, and prune. Full bodied, creamy texture, average carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, light sweetness and acidity, heavy bitterness.