Left Hand Imperial Stout

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

At the 2007 Big Beer, Belgians, & Barleywines Festival in Vail. Pours black with a light brown head. Lots of coffee, chocolate, anise and raisins. Flavor has lots of big syrupy roasted malts. The hop balance is well done and this beer balances out the sweetness well. Delicious. UPDATE 4/2007: At my 2007 Impy Stout Tasting. In the bottle, I don’t like this as well. I subtract 0.5 for the bottle version. It seems thinner with a harsh tongue burn. Dark brown in color and not black. Candy sweetness with a medicinal taste.

Bomber. Black with a ring of brown for a head. Sweet dark molasses nose, hints of chocolate and alcohol. Flavor is more dark molasses, some roastiness, sweet, thick malt. Some black bread notes. Rather rich and boozy overall, from nose to finish. Full, satiny body. sweet roasty malt finish with tinges of herbal bitterness.

Pours a thinner than expected black with a thick dark tan head, great lacing. Aroma was more complex than expected, with oak/wood, bittersweet chocolate, roasted malts, and espresso. Taste was thicker in the mouthfeel with the aroma profile following through. A nice warming finish that left a lingering bittersweet chocolate aftertaste with hint of espresso overtones. My expectations weren’t the greatest on this Impy and I was pleasantly surprised by this one.

The color was chocolate/black. It had a thin body for an imperial stout. The head was barely there, fizzy, and medium brown. The aroma was roasty, alcohol, coffee, chocolate, and maybe some oaky hints. The flavor was very dark, roasty, coffee, alchol, bitter, and chocolatey. The palate was nicely carbonated and the finish, a warm/bitter.

Poured much too thin for an Imperial Stout, looked like a normal stout. Dark but not too dark, light had no problem showing through. The head was also light for an impy, thin, sort of dirty white. The aroma was sweet, had some alcohol, chocolate, coffee, molasses. The flavor was mostly roasted, slight alcohol, chocolate, coffee. The palate was a tad thin with a burnt feel. The finish was warm and roasted. Probably the least impressive imperial stout I’ve had, but still good compared to other beer in general. You come to expect so much from this style and this just doesn’t deliver compared to its counterparts.

Poured with a thin light brown head that didn’t last for long. Strong roasted malt charecteristics with a subtle sweetness. The Alcohol is a bit fresh but stays well hidden throughout the sample. One of Left’s finest.

Bottle Black pour with decent tan head. Rich aroma of roasted malts, some sweetness, and a whif of barleywineness. Flavor also has a touch of roasted malt and various sweetness, alcohol is not well hidden. Overall, great brew.

sampling a bomber laid down for 2 years.. .Chocolate, roasted barley, bourbon Black pour with slight ruby hints when held up to light, tan, meringue-like head, Sweet, malty Roasty chocolate bitter in the finish with a smooth smokey aftertaste silky texure, chewy Quite smooth and complex. Ageing makes a difference - the Alcohol strength is pronounced when ’fresh’ (although it’s aged 6 months at the brewery). Highly recommended - definately get a supply and put it in your cellar