Left Hand Imperial Stout

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

Bottle in Feb 2006. Black pour, dark brown up to the light; head is very pale tan (light for an imp), average-sized, somewhat lasing, and pillowy with lacing noted. Such a sweet nose for an imp; notes of chocolate, molasses, caramelized dark sugar, slight anise and slight roasted nuts, with no hops really noted but some alcohol noted. Flavor is similar but slightly better, chocolate and molasses with some roasted character and ainse; bitterness is medium-low, just enough not allow cloying. Palate is silky, medium-full, and soft with slight warming noted. Finishes sweet and chocolatey. Such a malt-oriented imperial stout, but still well done. Almost like a strong imperial porter with some scotch ale characteristics.

Pours dark with a royal red tint in the light. Smells of sushi vinegar?! Nice grains and oats flavor with a hint of sweet (maple syrup) Smooth with a good palate.

Appears a dense but slightly transparent dark brown/black with a deep crimson hue towards the bottom of the glass. A small tan head slowly fades into a small cap and collar. Smell is of roasted nuts, rich, toasty malt, creamy vanilla, caramel, chocolate milk and malt balls. Taste is roasty version of the aromas with a rich and slightly smokey flavor of toasted nuts and cocoa. Mouthfeel is full bodied, rich, borerline syrupy with caramel and cocoa coming through and clinging to the palate. Decent volume of CO2 in this one. ABV is evident and it’s a sipper but it’s enjoyable.

on tap-pours a creamy tan head that laces with black with red tint color. Aroma is apple juice/acidy, medium malt. Taste is apple juice/acidy, medium malt/dark malt, creamy. Not my taste.

it’s a nice mellow black pour out of the bottle with a creamy head. i underestimated on the glass size, so i had little room to pour a nice head. the aroma is really malty. while i am at the early stages of being a hophead, Left Hand did a wonderful job with this. the immediate flavor reveals an overwhelming amount of chocolate and caramel maltiness. it’s like a liquid malt ball in my mouth, but creamier; it’s almost pudding like. i also noticed a bit of butterscotch in the flavor. the finish was a little salty, but mixed with a touch of sweetness. my overall opinion is that its a nice balanced beer that has a very mellow, calming, complex flavor.

Bottle: Pours a dark ruby almost black with a nice tan head. Smell of malt caramel at first. The first time I tried this beer I wasn’t that impressed, but the second time I was blown away, it was nice and smooth and choclatey. I really enjoyed this beer very much. It really hit the spot on a cold night sitting by an outside fire.

It seemed to pour thin with a 1" small bubbled light tan head. The body was not quite opaque, it passed redish tones when held to the light. The first reaction was: Slightly sweet; full bodied but not robust. Robust is necessary for a classic Imperial. The hops came through finally but not sufficiently to balance the sweetness.The head left in a hurry, so did the aftertaste. It was pleasant, it was enjoyable, it was not memorable.

12 oz bottle via captaincougar (thanks!). Pours a clear thin dark brown/near black with ruby edges and a large tan head. Nose is mild and of subtle toffee, alcohol and chocolate. Taste is sweet, thin, and a bit alcoholic. Pretty simple and starightforward. Much less complex and thinner than i expected...alcohol and chocolate are the dominant forces here....Watery thin mouthfeel and overbearing sweet alcohol burn sort of ruin this....what is the point of having 10.4% alcohol in such a thin body? Tastes more like a Scottish Ale than an Imp Stout...