Great Lakes Blackout Stout

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Cleveland, Ohio USA

Deep black beer with a thick creamy tan head. Rich sweet cocoa/chocolate aroma. Heavily toasted with a rich deep caramel middle and a soft vanilla character under the very rich chocolate sweetness. Big and intense yet surprisingly restrained. Soft roastiness with a bit of soft licorice aroma as well. A little bit of ashy/charry flavour Really lovely, balanced sweet imperial stout. Lingering tar and a salty roastiness.

12oz bottle thanks to pantanap. Best by 8/2/07. Pours Black with a small mocha colored head. Decent retention and beautiful lacing. Aromas are a bit subdue but there is some coffee, chocolate, caramel, and roasted malt. Flavors up front are sweet malt with a bitter coffee finish. Palate is rich and velvety.

Bottle: Shared by JoeMcPhee Thanks! Dark pour, opaque with a dense tan film of head. Lots of dark malt in the aroma- dark chocolate notes, gritty without being overly burnt with a touch of ashy character. Slick, silky feel. Big but smooth. Oily dark chocolate flavor- tarry, lightly salty. The initial huge body is balanced by a solid bitterness. A big, easily drinkable Imperial Stout. Well made.

Pitch black coloured body with a nice dense light brown head. Aroma of strong roasted malt, milk, sour cherries and a bit of fresh hops even! Full-bodied; Super chunky with an incredible first taste of oatmeal and coffee. More flavour shows a lot of roasted malt, chocolate, raisins and molasses. Aftertaste shows tons of alcohol, a bit of warming sweetness and a hint of fresh hops. Overall, a very well delivered imperial stout - not overpowering, yet showing all of the good qualities! I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Merchant’s in Dearborn, Michigan on 03-August-2008 and drunk on 06-January-2009 at home in Washington.

Black/brown pour with a small brown head arising. Smells nice and roasty with some coffee. Full bodied with little carbonation. Bakers chocolate, burnt malt, coffee. Finished surprisingly dry. Charcoal lingering. Not the most complex, but very good at what it does. Safe to classify this as worthy.

A clear dark brown stout with a thick moka head. A lightly chocolaty aroma. In mouth, a quite nice IS with lots of burned chocolate, notes of wood, a bit of coffee grinds. Very rich and enticing. Flour City brewfest, August 15 2008.

Bottle@Home. Peat, vanilla, licorice wood and chocolate aroma. Black coloured, light brown beautiful head, very nice lace. Sweet, very bitter, lots of hops, coffee, chocolate. Powerful and flavourful. Yummy.

In short: A big fruity and moderately roasted imperial stout. Above average.
How: Bottle 12oz, about 6 months old
The look: Black body topped by a very small tan head
In long: The first thing that stroke me about that Impy Stout is how juicy and fruity it was. Dark grapes, figs, dates, and more lying on top of graham cookies. Full body and rather smooth carbonation. Medium roastiness level for the style. Some floury cacao and very distant coffee beans. Almost no alcohol presence. This brutal stout is easier to drink than it should be, too easy to drink really for such a big bad boy, after six of them the its name took all its meaning.