Fish Tale Poseidons Imperial Stout (Batch 5 +)

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

Bottle from Beermouth. A very nice stout but the aroma is making a promise the taste is not fulfiling.

12oz, no date. Pours brownish black with a little bit of tan film of a head into my snifter. The first two aromas are ETOH and coffee. Next I smell some dark fruit and dark chocolate, even a little licorice. Damn that alcohol is strong. Charred wood and licorice up front, ETOH is ever present, some coffee and roasty malts being up there as well. That said, there is some molasses and dark chocolate. Dry roasty finish. Maybe some earthy hops in there at some point. The ETOH did distract a little, but wouldn’t bug me as much if this was 15%ABV. I think I remember this being a problem with the other beer from FT--the Leviathan. Full bodied, soft carbonation. Overall not too bad.

Batch 5, Nov. 2004 vintage. Pours dark dark brown to black, though not impenetrable with a decent dark tan/light brown head. The nose is very malty and chocolatey with a milky bit of sweetness. There’s also some hops hanging around as well as relatively subdued alcohol. Perhaps a hint of bandaids? The palate is really truly perfect. Viscous, though not to point of decreasing drinkability, with perfect carbonation levels. This foams in the mouth up to just over the approriate level for the style. Really nice. The flavors are big in this beer. The alcohol doesn’t stand a chance against the big malty creamy chocolatiness. Sweet, along with the alcohol, almost to the point of cloying However, this is entirely balanced by the roastiness (though not bitter) and the fairly liberal hops for the style (appropriately a bit bitter). I really liked this beer and first gave it a 10 for flavor before the sweetness got to me. My only regret is that this was our only bottle. Next time I’m out west, I’ll keep an eye open for this.

Bottled in 2004. Batch 5. Wow this is great! Its like chocolate flavored whipped cream, because its smooth creamy, and almost fluffy on the palate, with a rich chocolatey taste. It also has some roasted malt, caramel, a bit of fruitier sweetness in the finish, some noticeable alcohol but mostly in the aroma, and some hops in the flavor. It looks pretty nice too, super dark with a dark brown head. I dont really have anything bad to say about this beer, aside from the extra alcohol that takes over a bit too much in the aroma. Delicious!

Bottle. Pours a dark deep black body with a small mocha ring of head. The aroma is potent - cheesy, roasty bourbon, raisin, and plum. Very big chocolate flavour, sweet toffee, etc. Chalky palate among some green leafy hops. A slow sipper considering the high alcohol content.

650ml brown bottle, 2006 edition. Bottle states abv as 8%. Near opaque dark brown colour with some red orange highlights. Head was deep tan, but loose, rocky and sadly short lived. Beer appears slick and oily.Layered aroma of chocolate/cocoa and roosted malts, slight woody note (spruce or pine perhaps). Flavour contains quite a bit of cocoa-y malt, coffee notes. Bitter finish, very nice grapefruity hop accents, roasted aftertaste. Light carbonation, medium, oily body. Very little trace of alcohol.

Pours opaque with a tight but dissipating brown lacy head. Aroma is coffee and chocolate with a touch of currant. The body is med.-heavy but fuller in CO2 than I would like. The flavors are harmonious, very balanced. Lots of toffee and dark chocolate. Finishes fairly dry and bitter. Nicely crafted eer. While balanced, the beer really lacks a complexity inherent in the style.

The aroma has chocolate, sea water (brine), and toasted malt. The appearance is black with a thin head. The flavor is like the aroma with lots of alcohol. The palate is smooth and nice for a stout. This is a good one to try.