Berkshire Imperial Stout

Brewed by Berkshire Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
South Deerfield, Massachusetts USA

Dark brown color with a nice off-white head. The aroma was absolutely delicious...rich chocolate, sweet raspberries and blueberries, and gentle vanilla. The flavor was almost as great...blueberries, raspberries, chocolate, hint of hops bitterness, hint of coffee. The feel was medium thin with a crisp, bubbly feel. I don't know about this being an imperial stout, but it is one of the best sweet stouts I've had!

From a 1 pt. 6 fl. oz bottle. Pours brown-to-black with cola-like carbonation and about 3/4 inch of foamy tan head. Considerable lacing. Immediate aromas of florals and chocolate. Mouthfeel is creamy and chewy. Flavor is like chocolate, liquorice, and coffee with a good smattering of hops. FInishes slightly dry. A really top notch Impy Stout in my opinion.

This was really a great Stout. Black and hearty, but not too thick. Hints of chocolate and coffee in the taste, there was also a hint of sweetness that doesn’t overwhelm like Sam Adams Imperial Stout, and a very subdued bitterness, which makes this a smoother beer than most Imperial Stouts.

Pour is a very dark almost black, slight garnet tinge at the very edge, Head is thick and dark tan, diminishes to a lasting dollop that laces nice on the way down. Aroma is dark roasted coffe, chocolate, grape, and cherry. Flavor is dominated with some sweet chocolate, followed with some of the cherry from the aroma. Body is full and strong, goes down smooth, and has great lasting complex flavors.

Pours black with just hints of mahogany - looks like an espresso coffee - with a light tan head that leaves a good lace. This a chewy, sweet imperial that is very smooth. Good carbonation. Nose is roasted coffee. Flavor is roasted coffee and chocolate with just a hint of hops. $4.19 for a 22oz bottle from Ruggeri & Sons Greenfield, MA.

THOUGHTS: A gift from a co-worker. It seemed more like a sweet stout than an Imp., but still a great beer. I’m really behind on my rating. Had this in the middle of June and noted that it would probably be the last Imp I’d have until the summer heat was over. I was right. It wasn’t the most complex Imp. A little one-sided, but when it’s flavors like this that I love, I don’t mind much. Hid alcohol well. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark brown that appeared opaque black in the glass with a small, tan head that mostly diminished and left fair lacing. The flavor was moderate dark chocolate, dark fruit and maybe some raspberry. It was very sweet smelling. The flavor was mostly sweet with a little hop bitterness at the finish, which was average to long. The was tons of bitter chocolate and dark fruit with just a little hop bitterness at the end, the way I prefer my stouts. But it was mostly sweet. The full body was dry and creamy, but a little sticky on the lips. The carbonation was lightly fizzy. The finish was lightly astringent and lightly alcoholic.

Bottled, 22oz (BBD 12/2002) Dark brown, not quite black, smallish lasting head. Excellent aroma of dark chocolate, maraschino cherries, and Kahlua. Flavor is just as good, with a more milky, sweet chocolate dominating, slight roasted coffee bitterness, and perhaps a hint of buttered rum. Just enough carbonation to keep it all together, keep it from being too milky-sweet; as Venom says, a touch of raspberry at the end. Like velvet on the tongue and going down. Oh God how long will it be before I am able to try another new Imperial?

Dec 2005, bottle from the same batch, now 3+ years old. This is an Imperial that doesn’t age particularly well...it’s still decent certainly, but has thinned out quite a bit and offers much less on the nose...sherry qualities and oxidation replace the coffee...would rate about 3.3-3.5 were I inclined to rerate, but I am not.

Darkened maple brown. Consistently sized gray-tan foam. Rum-soaked plums aroma with delicate hints of roasted wood, chocolate, coffee, and burnt toffee. Tingly and airy, but deceptively lush. Initially mellow with burnt sugar grittiness smoothened with a melted chocolate silkiness and a nutty java bean accent. Flash of burnt malt hulls appear midway, but the body is unaffected. Deeply toasty, as well, with a palate-clinging bed of toffee covered nuts. Gorgeously conditioned body reveals a touch of snappy phenols and gentle black cherry fruitiness, which perfectly highlight the sweetness. Finishes flavorsome yet subtle with bittersweet chocolate, vinous acidity, and burnt toffee as spicy alcohol and airy roast wipe the palate dry. A voluptuous Imperial, and the fact that it’s on the mellower side of the spectrum makes it even more so.