Holy Mackerel Mack in Black

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

Pours a deep black with a dark bubbly/creamy tan head that left sticky lacing down the side of the glass. Aroma of chocolate, roasted malt, cherries, citrus notes, fruity notes from the mix of pomegranate along with the Belgian yeast strain they used. Flavor of this roasted malt which is followed quickly by the pomegranate, some hop flavor, citrus, piney notes, chocolate, coffee and some Belgian yeast esters. Palate dries out as this one lingers. Roastiness comes forward although the pomegranate juice is still there but not over the top.

Sample from a bottle in the VIP tent at WBF Raleigh on 5/2/09. Multiple samples from this one as well. Black pour. Short, dense brown head. Nose is odd. Fruit notes, roasted malts, dark chocolate, light soy sauce and coffee. Then we were told this had pomegranate fruit in it. That explains it! Taste was more roasted malts, fruit notes, dark chocolate, and light coffee. Light tartness to this as well. Body is medium with a mild carbonation. Ends with more fruit notes, chocolate, coffee and sweet and roasted malts. Very good! Everyone in our party enjoyed this one.

Tampa, Fl. - Total Wines - 12 oz bottle. Charcoal black pour with a thin white quickly dissipating off-white head - not much lace. Aroma starts off fruity and sweet but as it settles it adds a bit of complexity to the mix - hard to put my finger on it - perhaps it is the pomegranates - with some chicory thrown in there. Flavor has some of the same elements with the chicory really coming through strong. Also find some hints of pipe tobacco and very bitter chocolate and a wee bit of soy sauce. Mouthfeel is creamy enough - not by Imperial Stout standards - but hey, it’s from Florida. Reminds me of a British version of a Imp Stout.

12oz via trade with dchmela. 8th beer of the tasting I hosted tonight, shared with bikesandbeer, wetherel and my girlfriend Cyn. Pour black with a tan head. Nose is pomegranite, and eh. Taste is dark malts with some pomegranite juice. weird hard to know what to think.

On tap in Plantation, FL. This is nice. Very nice actually. No real hint of the pomegranate, just a nice chocolate and coffee scented beer with some of the same flavors on the palate. Pours very dark with a very small head. Good amount of hops. Well done.

Bottle thanks to Turdfurguson. Pours thick with a light brown head that fades revealing a black body. Aroma is roasty with leather, smoke and a bit of pomegranate fruit in the finish. Taste is very smokey and choclatey with the fruity rounding it off quite well, Creamy mouthfeel and light bubbles. The fruity finish and Belgian yeast makes it very drinkable.

In short: A modest and soft imperial stout with a not-so-great pomegranate/red apples fruity character. Just ok.
How: Bottle 12oz. Many sources. This bottle from WeeHeavySD. Probably almost one year of age when I drank it.
The look: Black body topped by a dark beige ring of foam.
In long: Nose is lightly roasted, with some black chocolate and red apples. Taste is rather boring. Relative to the style the body is slim. Carbonation is soft, a bit too soft. Taste has some old black coffee, some roastiness, some molasses, some dark fruits and McIntosh red apples (!?). It could have a been a very average Imperial Stout but the addition of pomegranate juice moves it below average. Fortunately the pomegranate thing is not overdone, almost subtle, but even a little of it is too much for me. Pomegranate is as essential to make a good stout as a curry spices are to make a good yogurt.

Nose is coffee and chocolate, black, small cappuccino head. Taste is a rich cocoa, and then fine coffee. Full bodied, balanced, bitter and oily. Terrific! Thank You Beershine and Oakes.