Flossmoor Station Sarge

Formerly brewed at Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Flossmoor, Illinois USA

On tap at the Great Taste of the Midwest (8/9/08): Oily opaque black pour has a small stringy-lacing dark tan head. Aroma of rich sweet dark caramel, chocolate and bourbon oak. Starts with good sweetness and full body with a great balance of bourbon and dark chocolate before a smooth bittersweet finish. A very enjoyable barrel-aged imperial stout.

(Draught) Pours a black body with a small tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, coffee, oak, vanilla, and chocolate. Flavor of roasted malt, coffee, oak, chocolate, and toffee with a dry finish.

Great Taste 2008. Finally a chance to try Sarge after missing this a few times. I think this was just a step behind FFF Vanilla Dark Lord, but excellent nonetheless. Poured a great color with chocolate, oatmeal, dark roast coffee. Coated the mouth like drinking whole milk. Nice bourbon finish, that shows it’s 16 months of ageing.

Black with a dark tan head that recedes to a ring around the glass and has spotty lacing. Aroma of dark cherries, licorice, bourbon, vanilla, and some oak. Taste is creamy milk chocolate, with bourbon, cherries, and vanilla; alcohol is pretty well hidden. Low carbonation and medium to full bodied. I wouldn’t hesitate to try this again, in fact, I would have ordered more, but they ran out by that time at Pre-DLD.

4-25-08 tap at Flossmoor (pre-DLD party)
Pitch black pour with little to no head in my pour. Smell is nice and bold chocolate and vanilla and bourbon. Flavor is big chocolate and bourbon as well. Palate is thick and bold and almost syrup-like. Overall, another Flossmoor winner!

In short: A heavy fruity Imperial Stout. Great body, too much alcohol. Very good but not excellent sipper.
How: Tab at brewpub. Pre-Dark-Lord-Day party 2008
The look: Black body with a medium tan head
In long: Full, big, huge, enormous body. Packed with lots of roasted malts with quite a bit of dark fruits flavours. Light-medium roastiness, less roasted sensation than average for the style. Some black chocolate and some black liquorice. Smooth carbonation. The beer looses points with me because of the alcohol presence. Too much alcohol warmth in the body and an bite in the finish I could have done without. This is a good Sarge but not a great Sarge. Not a great Sarge that would take a bullet for you, but still a good Sarge that will not snitch on you if you take a crap in the Captain’s helmet.

Rating from 01/18/08 under the name of Wooden Sarge. Draft sample at brewpub. Poured hazy black hue with an average creamy brown head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate to heavy roasted coffee and chocolate malt and wood aroma. Medium to ful body with a smooth texture. Flavor was moderate to heavy roasted bittersweet with an average bittersweet finish of moderate duration. Best of the group brew.

Draft... DLD’08... Pitch black ale with almost no head at all. The aroma is of swirling chocolate, coconut, vanilla and sourmash. Medium to full-bodied with a silky mouthfeel and laid back carbonation. Chocolate up front; tart sourmash and wood on the backside. Lengthy, acidic, woodsy, chocolate finish.