Great Lakes Blackout Stout

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

Pours black...really black, with a thick brown head that quickly diminishes to a surface ring. Aroma is amazing - dark roast coffee, baker’s chocolate, and malt. Taste follows, but adds a touch of hops and an extremely boozy finish. Maybe a wee too much alcohol considering how well most of its peers hide their ethanol. Heavy body, but nice velvety mouthfeel. May just have to put one of these away for a bit to see if it calms down with age.

Pitch black with a solid tan head that settles quickly and leaves some thick lacing. Caramel-chocolate aroma with some very faint hints of blueberry. Smooth but heavy mouthfeel. Sweet, malty flavor with some nice coffee notes and a slightly bitter finish.

I have two bottles in the cellar that I plan on opening in a few months.

Finally getting around to rating this. Bottle from my secret santa. Thanks! Says on the bottle: For freshest taste, enjoy by 7/15/07. So Im guessing this is at least a year or two old. Pours black with a thin cream colored head. Nose is strong dark chocolate, coffee, hops. Flavor has a lot of coffee, more chocolate, and heavy molasses which is a bit cloying on the palate. I thought this would be better with age, but it seems to have gone downhill. Almost like a molasses/coffee bomb at this point. Can still taste a bit of the hops in the finish which balances things out a bit.

Poured from a 12-oz bottle. A dark black body on this beer with limited head. Smell of dark chocolate, burnt coffee and roasted malt. Taste was a little more bitter than expected with chocolate, roasted malt and coffee really coming to the forefront. Could also detect some nice hops.

One of my Michigan staples. Pours a rich black with a trim head of tan foam from the bottle. Balanced flavors of coffee and cocoa in it’s aroma and flavor that give this the sort of consistency that any beer lover will appreciate.

12oz bottle. Pours black with a tan head which dissipated quickly. nose is of roast coffee grounds and some ash. Taste is of coffee grounds and molasses. Mouthfeel is medium and fairly smooth to drink. Not as good as some other Impys i’ve had.

Bottle courtesy of mreusch. True to its name, it pours jet black with a creamy, light tan head that diminishes to a thin skin @ the surface. The nose is of roasted, chocolaty malt and light alcohol opening up to some dark fruit notes as it warms toward room temperature; not overly complex for this style, but sometimes, less is more. Medium to full-bodied and lightly creamy with a warm alcohol and lightly bitter-hopped finish. Sweet chocolate, dark roasted malt and Kahlua concluding with mildly woody hops. This is one helluva beer. I won’t hesitate to buy some more of this one when I get the chance. Thanks a ton for the bottle Matt!

Thanks Santa! Poured a very dark near black, shows brown at the edges in light, but otherwise opaque. Spotty lacing. Full creamy head. Aroma is chock full of rick roasty malt, touches of espresso. Flavor is also roasty and espresso, but a floral hop breaks through, and leaves a long resiny hop finish that rather complements the dark malts. Medium bodied and easy on the palate, almost shocking that its 9%, as it reveals virtually none of its potency.