Left Hand Imperial Stout

Brewed by Left Hand Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Longmont, Colorado USA

22 oz bomber. Pours jet black with a creamy, beige head that settles to a thin cap at the surface. The nose is a sweet, roasted malt front with notes of chocolate cake and light prunes. Alcohol is just barely detectable at the finish. Medium to full-bodied and oily with a sweet, roasted finish and just a touch of hop bitterness. The flavor on this impy definitely swings toward the sweet side of the spectrum: dark roasted malt, chocolate and sweet, dark fruit front the profile, with just a enough hop bitterness, at the finish, to keep it from being overly sweet. Fairly straight-forward and quite drinkable, this is a pretty tasty brew. It’s certainly not as complex as some examples of the style, but sometimes all I want is a big, sweet, smooth stout to take the chills off of a winter night. This beer fills that bill quite nicely.

Big sweet coffee icecream nose, dark chocolate. Pours black with a brown head. Very smooth on the palate. Very solid imperial stout, the hops in the finish shows it can age (although still a bit hot), the malts are roasty and release an exciting assortment of flavors for such a young beer. Coffee and vanilla up front, dark chocolate flowing in the finish, a flavor stuck between bakers chocolate and chocolate covered raisins, fading to a bitter cocoa powder flavor in the aftertaste. Great beer that is sure to age well.

[Rerate 5/20/08] Pours near black, tinge of red, with a medium frothy fine brown head, some yeasties as well. Great aroma of chocolate, lots of vanilla beans, rye bread, and some coffee beans, very pleasant. Strong sweet very rich chocolate syrup flavor, deeply roasted coffee malts, very very dark and very very sweet. Somewhat vinous. Sweet but bitter mocha/licorice finish. Sparkly palate, light and quite creamy/syrupy. Pretty good, but not very refined for a style that really requires it. Ill give it another go after a year in the cellar.... a dessert beer for sure

Pretty good impy, but nothing to write home about. A bit nutty in the aroma. Chocolate and licorice in the flavor.

On tap at PP C-Bad. Dark black look with a thin tan head. Smoky nose. On your tongue rich but slight carbonation and a little thin. Chocolate is the predominant flavor with some sweetness, Not bad but not overly complex for an IRS.

Not bad. Pours a dark murky brown with very little head. aroma strong of chocolate but there is some coffee in there. Alcohol taste is well balanced. My taste for other stouts has been ruined since i tasted the bellls.

Bottled. A black coloured stout with a shirt lived tan coloured head. Full rich aroma. Mostly chocolate but also soy and coffee. Some roast in the taste; not as much as some impy stouts but it is there. Again rich chocolate and hints of soy. Good warming alcohol. A big tasty beer.

Dark pour with deep red tinge...thin, off white pour. Aroma is dark chocolate, hints of coffee and roasted malt. Flavor is smooth malts (caramel and chocolate), dark chocolate, roasted nuts, and some hop bitterness at the end. Alcohol burn is somewhat strong at the end as well, but nothing too ridiculous. Overall, this was a pretty good IS for the price, but the combination of a thin body and some odd licorice notes mixed in hurt it a bit for me...still a good drink though!