Holy Mackerel Mack in Black

Brewed by Florida Beer Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Melbourne, Florida USA

2008 Bottle Date; Sampled August 2009 This beer is served lightly chilled with a vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass. The head that forms is a bit bigger than a fat finger and is a nicely browned, dark tan color. The aroma smells of sweet dark chocolate, anise, coffee liquor, cocoa, some umami-driven savory notes (a hint of tamari), ample toasted bread crust notes, a touch of burnt acidity, browned crackers, fresh licorice chews as well as some alcoholic spiciness. The nose is quite a bit more interesting than I was expecting, it can be a touch sharp at times, but the complexity is definitely quite nice. It does seem to lose much of the complexity after a minute or so though and begins to pick up notes of lacquer, acrid burnt grain, and even a touch of acetone.

A prickly carbonation competes with a touch of viscousness in the body; while this is not overly rich for an Imperial Black Ale (whatever that is), it is definitely a sipping beer, it actually seems to have a fairly light body. There is a certain savoriness to the flavor here, but at times it can seem a touch too much like acetone. There is some acidity here from the roast character (and perhaps some tartness from the pomegranate), but there is also a substantial toasted, dark grain character, a dark malt sweetness (which combines with the roast to make me think of a coffee liquor), a roasted whole-grain cracker flavor, some smoked cocoa notes and perhaps even a touch of smoked peat saltiness. There is some solid chocolate character here. The finish has some phenols and fusels that linger on the palate a bit; a touch turpene in character, but with some clove character as well.

An interesting beer, not what I was expecting at all. This does have a fair amount of complexity to it at this point; at times this is a plus, but at others this beer just doesn’t seem to be able to hold everything together in a balanced fashion. Still this is interesting enough that I am quite happy to be sipping on this right now.

Bottled, courtesy TheBeerSommelier. Pours opaque black with a medium-sized light brown head that is partially-to-mostly diminishing. Dark cocoa nose with some light roast (coffee) - rather light aroma overall. Mildly sweet flavor up front, a touch of berry sweetness sneaks in (but barely), followed closely with bittersweet cocoa, black coffee and a bit of tea. Finish is very, very nutty - peanuts and sunflower seeds. With further sips, the pomegranate is quite a bit more noticeable, and the nutty finish remains.

Aroma is all coffee with a hint of fruity sweetness that is almost unidentifiable if you don’t know the beer. The taste is a big fruity sweet malt stout with definite fruit sweetness added, but not necessarily noted as pomegranate. Not too bad, but not amaaazing.

Bottle. Pours a dark brown with a thick and creamy head. Aromas are not very full... a bit of chocolate and roasty malt, some fruit that is almost like blueberries more than pomegranate. and some cream. Pomegranate comes through very strongly in the flavor, however... kind of that bitter flavor that is almost like cranberries or something. Even though they are advertising that there is just a hint of it, it does quite a number covering the other flavors... You get hints of roasted malt and chocolate, but it’s more like they peek through around the edges than anything else. This is pretty decent for a fruit beer, but somewhat lacking for an imperial stout. Thanks Greg!

Pours a dark brown/black with a tan head. Aroma of coffee and alcohol. Flavor of chocolate with some hings of coffee and alcohol. Not very thick, but decent.

Thanks to ucusty. Bottle, 2008. Aroma burnt with notes of cocoa and alcohol. Flavor continues along the same lines with a lot of sweetness up front, alcoholic sort of sweetness, a mild acidity (the pomegranate?), and then an earthy, toasty, bitter finish. Rather thin for the style, also a bit chalky. No other recent ratings seem to note alcohol here, but I kept getting it... Aside from the finish, the beer was largely brash. Overall, ok.

Outstanding!!! Has a great pour with virtually no foam. Aroma has various hints of chocolate and dried fruits. Smooth taste with a little bitter after taste, which is most enjoyable.

2008 bottle. Pours black with a small bubbly tan head. Aroma of burnt malt and sweet pomegranate, which just didn’t mesh together for me. Very odd smelling and not in a good way. Flavor is still burnt with roasted malt and parmesean cheese and a sweet pomegranate finish. Meh, this is very underwhelming. The flavors are just bad. Why would you add pomegranate juice to an imperial stout? It was difficult to take even more than a few sips of this nasty beverage. 5/4/5/2/12 (2.8/5)