Carolina Brewery Imperial Stout

Brewed by Carolina Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA

Date: 12/19/2006
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub

black, fine tan head, lots of drippy lace, creamy body, sweet malt aroma with some nice ripe fruit that emerges upon warming, rich malt flavor, smooth roasted character, nice chocolate starts to emerge as it warms, the roasted along with some bitterness just keeps intensifing, and then it swings back to rich chocolate

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

Clearly by nose and taste this is an American style Imperial Stout, which makes it a bit thin to me. The body is a solid, dark, dark brown, nearly black, and it sports a creamy light brown head. The aroma is roasted barley and roasted barley malt with bittersweet chocolate and some coffee grounds. The flavor is much like the aroma, stirred with a black licorice stick and having a light touch of alcohol in the finish.

<font size=-4>On tap at the <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Brewery, Chapel Hill, NC.<font size=-1>

Bravo to big craft beers in North Carolina! This one was on tap at MacGregor’s in Cary. Deep obsidian pour, with a great roasty chocoffy malty aroma. The mouthfeel was nicely dense, with solid flavors of chocoff and some molasses. Very well made.

12oz bottle, dated 1/24/07. Poured medium brown with really nothing going on for head.. kinda murky. The aroma was coffee-based with a medium roast to it.. semi-sweet chocolate and roasted barley as well.. worked fairly well. The flavor picked up some soy in addition to coffee and lesser chocolate.. tacky feel at the edges with a little bit of coffee bitterness and a little peppery alcohol.. bit hot as it wamed up. Medium-bodied and again tacky at times on the palate, impeding the flow a bit.. showed mild oxidation especially on the back. This was an OK stout, but not a good imperial one.

Draught at the brewpub. Served fairly cold in a small snifter. Dark bown color with thin brown head. Moderate carbonation. Roasty nose and flavor with licorice undertones. Not as much alcohol flavor or aroma as I had expected.

Via trade with OldStyleCubFan, 12oz bottle, cool to see a cbc cap this week during CBC in San Diego. Pours black with a light brown head. Chocolaty and malty nose. Taste is sweet and chocolaty. Pretty good not bad.

Draft at the Durham World Beer Festival. Black with a brown foamy head. Big roasty malt, coffee, something like teriyaki notes. Flavor follows the nose. Rich thick mouthfeel. Odd about the teriyaki, but somehow it seems to work. I liked it.

On Tap at the brewpub. Poured ice-cold into a small snifter. Tried to catch a whiff of this brew but ended up getting a little stout up my nose. After waiting for it to warm up a bit, was finally able to catch some of the aroma. Typical to the style, lots of roasted malts, chocolate, and coffee beans. Some alcohol, but not overbearing by any means. Might even call it a bit light for the style..Or at least the way many American brewers are interpreting the style nowadays (the extreme being Dark Lord) Overall very quaffable, although I wished it was a bit warmer when served. Small side note: The owner of this brew-pub was my basketball coach in a rec-league in middle school. I just found it funny.