Full Sail Black Gold Imperial Stout

Brewed by Full Sail Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Hood River, Oregon USA

A deep red beer with a fast dying light brown head. The aroma is sweet alcoholic and malty, combined with notes of chocolate. The flavor is sweet malty with primary notes of chocolate, leading to a dry end.

Date: 03/04/2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

black, thin fine brown head that can be easily revived, sweet bourbon aroma, rich bourbon flavor with lots of sweet vanilla, a bit fumey
-------- /> Date: 04/29/2006
Source: tasting

picking up a lot of rich chocolate flavor to balance out the bourbon,
-------- /> Date: 05/20/2006
Source: tasting

lots of sweet vanilla in the aroma, nice ripe dark fruit character,
-------- /> Date: 09/21/2006
Mode: bottle

tons of hot bourbon flavor in the first sip, all the sweet vanilla and chocolate from prior samples but over shadowed by the bourbon this time around, the bourbon never slows but the rest almost catch up, a bit of bitterness from the oak
-------- /> Date: 03/22/2008
Mode: bottle
Vintage: 2006

Aroma: sweet chocolate and bourbon aroma,
Body: creamy body,
Overall: lots of sweet bourbon and vanilla aroma balanced with rich chocolate, light bitterness,

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 9/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 18/20
Rating: 4.2/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***+/4

(draft) Creamy tan head atop a body that is black with red highlights. Aroma is moderately sweet, chocolate, coffee, some roasty. Taste is rich, moderately sweet, chocolate, roasty, light cherry, with a bit of alcohol burn in the swallow. Full creamy body.

(Draught) Pours a black body with a medium tan head. Aroma of vanilla, chocolate, caramel, and toasted marshmallow. Flavor of chocolate, vanilla and some dark fruit.

Nearly opaque very dark brown body has a lightly-lacing tan head. Aroma is sweet, caramely and dark fruity with a hint of roastiness. Starts with rich, sweet caramel maltiness and some dark fruit. Finish has a strong roasty, almost ashy presence. Decent balance and complexity, but could lose some of its nearly burnt finish.

22oz bottle, sampled at camp after a bomber of Stone RIS 2005. Body is initially thin, but by the end of the bottle I was digging this one. It seemed more thick that at first, which had some light, dry malts, some cream and some very light dark woody fruit flavors. These dark fruit (plum, black cherries, etc) opened up a lot when it warmed: leaving me with a thick, rich and sweet dark chocolate, raspberry seed, black cherry and oak concoction. But still this imperial stout remains just below the level of being really good. My impressions are mixed, because at first it seems like a mid or high 2, but by the end I could almost give it a 4 or above. I will definitely rerate, but wait until the entire bottle is at a good temperature before I begin. I should also take this moment to bitch a litle bit, because Full Sail has the capacity, creativity and talent to brew a top 10 imperial stout if they wanted to, but their direction is more mass marketed, outside of the Boardhead, which has a loyal following in Oregon.

Bomber pictured at the top left: Opaque black, tan head that looks like the bloom from freshly roasted coffee beans in the french press; clingy lacing. Nose of soy sauce, dark roast and fresh malts, a bit of alcohol, some toddlerish qualities. Brisk astringency, mild bitterness; I’m searching for any sweetness over those two. Finishes medium-well with with light tangy roasty notes. Kupo!

Head is initially small, frothy, brown, mostly diminishing. Body is black (not opaque). Aroma is moderately malty (chocolate, caramel), lightly hoppy (grapefruit). Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. Blah. Nothing Imperial about this one. Sourish, watery, boring.