Golden Valley Black Panther Imperial Stout

What a chocolate aroma! Smooth combination of coffee and chocolate malts. Anything cask aged tends to meld much more. A bowed head and raised fist for the Black Panther Stout.

Bottled. A pitch black beer with a thin brown head. The aroma is sweet with notes of alcohol, wood, and soy sauce. The flavor is sweet with notes of alcohol, pinot noir grapes, and roasted malt, which also lends it a slight acidity, before a dry woody finish sets in.

From a 22oz. bottle obtained at GVB in McMinnville. The 2008 batch was definitely hotter than previous efforts. Very nice color. Dark and bold with a small, but strong off-white head. Nose of sweet fruits, Pinot Noir, and bold dark chocolate. Medium carbonation, pretty rich mouthfeel, but nothing like some of the more syrupy Imp Stouts. Multi-dimensional beer that hits several angles of the palate. Scrumdittiliumptious!

I was excited about tasting this brew (as I am with all imperials). This beer was very big and very bold but it was just not in balance. The alcohol stood out way too much. I’ve had imperial stouts with much higher alcohol that were much better balanced. The oak flavors were a nice touch. But where’s the roasted malt? Why is there no burnt, roasted, coffee, or chocolate flavors??? This does not resemble an imperial stout. Maybe a mediocre strong ale but definitely not a stout. They just have the proportions all wrong.

2005 Vintage, Lucky Lab beer festival. Very rich chocolate flavor with a ton of carbontation. Sadly the high carbonation took away from the body, I enjoy my imp stouts more heavy and creamy, but the carbonation really boosted the flavors. Very roasty and dry with a woody finish and still very hoppy after a few years. Light smoke flavor shows in the finish giving a nice complexity.