 WeeHeavySD (1711), San Diego (Hillcrest), California, USA
Apr 19, 2008
This is really pretty hard to call an imperial Stout, its much more of a big sour ale. On Cask @ Hamilton’s 4/18/08 shared with my girlfriend Cyn, BikesandBeer, WeeObese, Darkelf, Bill and Jessica from Alesmith and a crowd unrivaled for 5pm at any bar. Pours reddish black with a tan head with hues of red. This cask spout was different than the blueberry one, which could explain the difference in pour or it could be differences in the two beers. Nose is very big and full of yummy cherrieness. Taste is tart, and gives a big faceful of cherry. Very sweet and sour, with a pleasant mouthfeel, no alcohol can be detected here. Darkelf pointed out and I concurred there was a nice prune flavor that came out towards the end of the glass. This is very good, usually as beer is concerned I prefer cherry to blueberry, but I liked the blueberry better than this cherry. Partially because I prefer blueberries to cherries and partially because that version seemed overall better.
bb (2088), Martinez, California, USA
Aug 20, 2008 Draft. Black beer with a big tan head. Light cherry, light malt aroma. Nice balanced cherry and rich malt flavor. Medium body. LIngering tart cherry with rich malt. Some darker malts show through. Not as much fruit as in the blueberry and thus more balanced.
jimbowood (716), Athens, Georgia, USA
Aug 15, 2008 corked bottle from rodger. Still and bottled straight from the barrel. No carbonation. Huge sour cherry, chocolate, oak, and wine nose and flavor. Excellent.
AgentSteve (747), Livermore, California, USA
Aug 15, 2008 Dark brown pour with minimal head. Nose and flavor are chocolate and very light cherry flavor with some sour funk throughout.
Retorp (2158), Tampa, Florida, USA
Jul 18, 2008 Cask at Hamilton’s in San Diego. The aroma is full of cherry notes, tart brett, oak and boozy alcohol. Very toned down "stout" aromas of chocolate and coffee. Still it is fairly intense. Deep black with ruby hues and almost no head. The fore is ripe with cherry notes, but goes dry and tart quickly and leads into dark chocolate and dry black coffee. Needs more sweetness really, like the blueberry version. Again it is interesting, but not anything I’d pay for again.
|
