Fish Tale Poseidons Imperial Stout (Batch 5 +)

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

’06 22oz. Spicey aroma with good hop presence and dark malt. Flavor is a bit thin for an imp. Low sweetness w bitter, tart finish and a touch of burnt malt. Only pushing full bodied. Nice, spicey, hoppy rather dry stout.

Glassy black pour with a quickly retreating head of metallic brown. Crème brulee, dulce de leche and vague candied fruits on the nose. Indistinct coffee bitterness also evident. Syrupy malts and light milk chocolate dominate the flavor profile with a heavy clumsiness. A tint of aluminum and a soapy espresso texture lend a generally unpleasant tone. Finishes on a bittersweet coffeecake note with a rubber smack. Palate is oily but leaves only mildly viscous remnants. Dull.

Vintage 2006: This dark mahogany beer turns black in the glass and is topped by a yellowish tan head. Lots of lacing. The aroma is dark roasted malt, alcohol, old coffee grounds, and a hint of licorice. The latter disappears from the flavor to be replaced by bittersweet chocolate and a quiet citric bitterness. Not bad.

On tap at the brewery. Aroma is chocolate malt forward with some slight coffee tones, some black patent malt and alcohol. Beer is black as they come with a tan head, with some visible thick lacing. Flavor is malty alcohol, medium bitterness, some bittersweet dark chocolate, dry finish. texture has a low body for style, low carb texture and no finish texture. Overall, the burnt coffe flavor did stand out as a bit of a turnoff, but it did show me a bit more of what this brewery was capable of, after being less than impressed with their pale and amber offerings.

22oz bomber: Pours a rich black ale in the glass with a surprisingly small tight-pored sticky mocha cap...but the lacing is great. Aromas: bittersweet chocolate and cascade citrus. Profile: Rich silky creamy mouth feel....exceptionally smooth... big malts, not overly astringent from black malt charred husks...chewy malts with judicious hopping to allow the malts to show but still balance...mid palate the bittersweet chocolate decernment sinks in with some light bittering and dried fruit phenols ( like figs or prunes) ...then off to the finish which is long rich in cocoa malts and wet with a tinge of citrus from the hops. Impression: This has to be one of the smoothest, approachable big bodied Imp-stouts I have ever had. A tad 2 dimensional but very drinkable. Rich, creamy, filling, satisfying and it completely hides its alcohol .

Bottle, poured a deep dark black color, rather thin initial off-white head, diminishing quickly to nothing, very thin (1mm) halo ring around the glass edges, that’s it. Lacing is minimal. The aroma was piney hops, licorice, chocolately roasty malts. The flavor picked up, impressed more than the aroma and appearance: deep roasted malts burried under a firm piney hop presence, yet this is also has a sweetness to it, maybe more sweetness than expected from the initial hits of roast (almost burnt) and hops. Chocolatey slightly lactic notes come out in the aftertaste, dark fruits only mild, figs probably most detectable. Alcohol hides and sits wonderfully in the background. Mouthfeel is amazingly moderate (not thick or sticky) for the style, pretty likeable, although not motor oil sticky impressive if that’s your thing. Having this in June, I’m diggin’ the mouthfeel and body. A nice concoction, not world class, yet good stuff.

Pours a dark brown color with 1 finger tan head. Aroma is of alcohol, light roasted malt, light chocolate and some molasses, also some light whiskey The alcohol really dominates the nose leaving everything else subdued. Taste is roasted meat, charred wood, chocolate, bourbon and alcohol. For only 8%abv the alcohol is really in your face. Finish is a bit thin with again, the alcohol in your face. Not bad.

Bottle. Labeled "Artist Series." 8% Notched "May." 2007 I’m assuming. Pours jet-black with a 2 finger creamy brown head with nice lacing. Interest aroma: like a "light" smoked beer. Roasted malt. Charred wood. Roasted coffee. Dry on the palate. Very dry flavor profile. Oak. Hint of alcohol. Becomes slightly (just a bit) herbal as it warms. Decent imperial stout but may need a bit more time. Perhaps a bit young yet. Nothing wrong, just needs more depth and complexity.