Dahlonega Imperial Stout

Brewed by Dahlonega Brewing Co./Carusos Italian Restaurant
Style: Imperial Stout
Dahlonega, Georgia USA

Pours pitch black in the glass with some caramel colored highlights. 1/4 inch creamy tan head with decent lacing. Smell is deep roasted malt, bits if sweet chocolate. Taste is very well balanced. Sweet and malty. Chocolatey and a bit bitter but mostly alot of sweet burnt malt. Kind of a hot chocolate type of flavor in there. A hint of alcohol in hte finish but really smooth and well done. Big flavor but smooth for a 9%. Probably the best Imperial Stout I’ve had at a brewpub. This is a hidden gem up here in the North Georgia mountains.

Wow, somebody beat me to this one. I have to admit I’m surprised. I had this on cask at the Atlanta Cask Ale festival. Dark brown, but not quite black body. The flavor flaunts the high alcohol and it seems the yeast may not have been too happy with the work they were given. There’s some interesting malt quirks like the licorice and a touch of black chocolate, but overall needs more meat on its bones.

served on tap at the brewpub, I asked what they had on...an IMperial Stout and a spiced Belgian says the waitress, " I don’t drink, but a guy told me that the Imperial Stout is sort of like a cross between Jagermeister and Bass Ale." A fair description, I think. It struck me more like a strong porter than an IS. Maybe just a simple stout, with a nice head. Slightly smokey aroma. Light bodied for an IS, slight liquorice in aftertaste. Drinks well, not a lot of complexity, but no glaring flaws either. Not very roasty, hence the more porter like drinking experience. A few sips seemed boozy, but throughout it didn’t. A nice surprise to find this brewpub and an IS in Dahlonega.