Fish Tale Poseidons Imperial Stout (Batch 5 +)

Brewed by Fish Brewing Company/Leavenworth Beers
Style: Imperial Stout
Olympia, Washington USA

Pours a pitch black with a lovely off-white head and some lace. Great sweet stout aroma - chocolate, fig, & cream. Tastes strong indeed - plenty of cocoa and roastiness and lots of hops with malting which sits somewhere on the fence between oatmeal stout and imperial. Body is creamy, but a tad thin. Carbonation light. This beer is thick and tasty and full of hops, but lacks the warm bite of a true imperial stout - I have obviously been spoiled by other monstrous versions of the style. Still very, very good!

Bottle courtesy of CBA: Poured a deep black (not pitch black) color stout with a good foamy head with some good retention and some good lacing. Aroma of black chocolate with some bitter notes. Taste is also dominated by some nice rich chocolate notes with some bitter notes at the end. Body could be slightly fuller but the creamy texture and the chocolate notes are well balanced.

(bottle - 22 oz: 2006 vintage) Dark black pour with a very thin tan head. Aroma is light and roasty with lots of coffee and burnt malts. Flavor is big and bold with lots of roasted malts, burnt coffee, and some rich dark chocolate at the end. Slightly bitter at the finish with a smooth alcohol burn.

Bottle: Pours a dark brown with a smaller beige head and light lacing. Nose is intially mild, but increases with roasted malt and mocha tones as it warmed. Flavor is smoky and roasty with bittersweet cocoa and coffee. A hint of hops in the tail of the reel ale.

22 oz bottle, purchased several months ago at Bottleworks, Seattle. Pretty good stout. Dark as night, big bold roasted chocolate and coffee flavors, and a smooth finish. Mouthfeel is a little watery, but that’s about the only complaint I have.

(bottle) Pours an inky black with a small tan head that made a ring around the glass. Aroma was initially fruity with some port/raisin, but as it warmed a strong burnt malt,coffee, caramel with some hops came through. Taste is initially sweet up front with some port/raisin but this eventually gives way to a nice long finish of dark roasted coffee that is slightly bitter, along with some chocolate. This is a pretty good beer.

[Bottle] Pours very dark brown with a very small tan head. Aroma is raisin, light piney hops, a little chocolate, and nice roasted malt. Taste is fairly bitter up front--both from hops and coffee, then the hops give way to roasted malt and coffee. Roasted malt and chocolate lingers very nicely in the finish. Medium mouthfeel. A good beer, I would really like to try the barrel-aged.

From a 22oz Bottle, 8% ABV version. Pours a dark brown, mostly transparent color with a creamy layer of quickly dissipating tan head. Charred raisins, dark chocolate, and a hint of smoke instantly jumps out of my glass. There’s also a bit of mustiness lingering among the roast coffee, creating an almost spicy, earthy coffee character. Lots of char characters, but not really rich or complex in aromatic nature. Taking a sip, I find this impression also translates to the flavor. Medium-light bodied, softly carbonated mouthfeel. This is easily the easiest drinking imperial stout I have ever tasted; but at the same time, I’ve also tasted several low ABV dry stouts with more flavor complexity, so that isn’t saying much. Tons of roasted grains immediately come out on the palate, lighted by a touch of tannic acidity. Some gentler, milky mocha flavors follow, but it’s left sitting on the tongue with a bland herbal coffee in the final smack. Nothing wrong here, but not complex or interesting enough to be well heralded. I also hate to rag on a beer for being light and easy drinking, but come on, who brews an imperial stout with that in mind?