Harpoon 100 Barrel Series #12 - Imperial Stout

Formerly brewed at Harpoon Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Boston, Massachusetts USA

(bottle - 22 oz) Dark black pour with a thin tan head. Very dark and rich aroma of malts, coffee and bitter chocolate. Roasty and slightly sweet flavor with hints of nuts, roasted malts, chocolate and some dark fruits. The finish is slightly sweet with a touch of chocolate and leaves a chocolaty aftertaste. Quite good.

On tap, pours a very dark color with a thick tan head. Smells of dark malts, chocolate, maybe some plum or dark berries? Tastes smooth, fruity, malty. Pretty good one.

Bomber. Close enough to being black in color with brown highlights, medium sized tan head. This stout is certainly on the sweeter end of the spectrum with only hints of roast. Plenty of dark fruits, raisin, plum, and some milk chocolate. Medium bodied, actually a touch light, yet quite smooth and very easy to approach. You won’t see this one getting any raves but it’s really not bad in the least and it is very drinkable.

Bottle courtesy of OldGrowth. This is from the 100 Barrel Series and is session 12. Pours black with a small tna head. Nose is coffee, roasted malts, milk chocolate, and chocolate covered raspberries. Taste is surprisingly more sweet than bitter. Lots of chocolate, chocolate covered fruits, light coffee, roasted maltiness, buttered burnt toast, and dark fruits (raisins and plums). Body is light-medium with moderate carbonation. A thinner Imperial Stout, but it doesn’t really detract from this. Finishes with more milk chocolate, sweetened coffee, light roasty mlts, and dark fruitiness. Bit on the thin side and a slight variation on the "standard" Imperial Stout, but still pretty good.

Wow, super fuggles imperial stout. Sweet, almost flavorless malt, with a huge fuggle aroma and taste, like that of shipyard IPA. Strange, not really an imperial stout by my book, but still different enough to at least be considered a good beer.

(22 oz bottle) Pours the color of black coffee, thin tan head. Nose is roasted coffee, plums, sweet maltiness. Nice lacing. Mouthfeel smooth, slightly thinnish, very slightly sticky. Taste is initially very sweet, then kind of settles in to a rich black coffee flavor and bitterness accented by hints of cherries and plums. This is extremely drinkable. Couldn’t get past that it seems a little forced in some way though. Harpoon probably didn’t deliver any knockout blows here but they did make something both with some complexity and easy drinkability at the same time. Seems like a beer that might age well. A good beer.

Nearly black body, small tan head, sweet malty nose. Licorice, burnt malt, chocolate, sweet, medium bitterness.

Sweet and thick-- with a lingering roastedness bordering on smokey. Complex, but not necessarily so for the style.