Fish Tale Poseidons Imperial Stout (Barrel Aged)

Formerly brewed at Fish Brewing Company/Leavenworth Beers
Style: Imperial Stout
Olympia, Washington USA

Sample from 750 ml bottle dated 2000 at RBSG. Near-opaque black with dried blood hints at the edges, thin lasting head...fine, subtle roasty nose with vanilla-vinous hints only apparent on deep introspection...wonderfully rich body full of dark burnt chocolate, anise/licorice and light fresh grapes...very smooth, liquor character apparent in the silky mouthfeel, strong and sensuous, alcohol warming, not singing. Lovely, everything I hoped for.

2000 Bottle at RBSG05. Aroma has vinous bourbon-like aroma with lots of booze. I don’t detect any roasty stout-like qualities. Mildly tansparent dark brown color with a yellowish head. Very sour flavor with tons of bourbon notes up front with some late roasted chocolate notes. Too carbonated. I swear this was aged with Jack Daniels from the flavor, but I guess that’s what cabernet tastes like...

Thanks go out to my SS for this gem. Pours a dark, deep brown. Carmel colored thin, fairly quickly disapating head. A little carbonation. Complexities abound. Oak, berry, a hiint of vanilla, smoke. Well balanced. Not overwhelming. Alcohol well concealed, but lets you know it is there. A masterpiece of stoutery.

Batch 4 2002---- POursa deep brown hue with no head or lacing. Aromas of chocolate, wine, (red), raspberries, cherries and cabernet. Mouthfeeel is thick, with some corbonation lost from the aging. Flavors of oak, rasperries, chocolate, a light tobbacco note....Oh my lord....this is nice. Like a fine wine......

(750 ml bottle: $11.99 at Bottleworks in Seattle, WA) Batch No. 3 from November, 2001. I’ve been looking forward to this beer for a year now, as it’s been sitting in my beer cellar/bedroom taunting me, but I’ve held firm until the time was right. I’ve rated many of my Imperial Stouts in a series of sessions, and it’s now time to start breaking out my most highly anticipated brews in this category. Poseidon pours a very dark brown out of the color, which in sum appears fully black in my large tulip glass. The light brown head rises to about an inch in height, making for a most beautiful beer. The head bubbles like soda as it forms, and then settles to a thin layer fairly quickly, leaving no lacing. Like many of my aged Imperial Stouts, this one smells wonderfully earthy, pungent and mushroomy, with quite a bit of alcohol present in the nose as well. I’m really not getting any roast in the nose though. That earthy, mushroomy character follows through in the flavor as well. Quite sweet, very fruity and roasty, but a really nice woodiness from the barrel aging also shows strong presence. I wouldn’t characterize the fruitiness as truly cherry per se, but it’s close. Modest smokiness in the finish. It’s not syrupy, but the mouthfeel is certainly full and round, a little sticky and somewhat viscous, and plus, it’s playfully carbonated, so the overall palate is close to perfect. At least for me, I would call this a dessert beer, kind of like port in the beer world. And since I love port, it’s safe to say that I love this beer!

750 mL, 2002 Vintage: Pours pirch black with a dense somewhat lasting brown head. Aromas of malts (roasted, chocolate, coffee), faint alcohol, not as sweet as some of the review I have read. Flavor was well balanced between the cocoa/coffee malts and hops, port wine and an alcohol bite also show.

thanks to maibockaddict i think for sharing this, poured a solid black with a thick creamy coffee colored head, aroma is strong of molasses and chocolates. flavor matched the nose, put add in some burnt coffee tones. an unbelieveably thick rich mouthfeel, and a long lasting chocolate aftertaste, with just a hint of bitter hops to offset a little bit of the sweetness

Pours black with a thick coffee head. Smells strongly of sweet chocolate, malts and hops. Rich bittersweet coffee taste but a weaker taste than I would have expected from an Imerial Stout. Thick long lasting syrupy aftertaste.