Left Hand Oak Aged Imperial Stout

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

This is a good Imperial Stout. Malty, coffee, and oak flavors. Finishes creamy, smooth, and clean.

Bottle care of Dorwart, 2007 vintage. Dark brown with a tan head. Nice and creamy. very subtle aroma. Fantastic, full, and complex flavor. Smooth chocolate, roasted coffee, notes of coconut cream, vanilla/oak, raisins, a bit of plum, just the right amount of piny/earthy hops, and just a bit of pleasant, almost vinous, alcohol. Palate is medium, a bit thinner than expected, very creamy, a little sticky, and surprisingly bitter-sweet.

2007 Vintage bottle. Pours deep, rich, and foreboading; black as a raven’s heart with a rugged tan head. Chocolate, bourbon, citrus, and strawberry do a merry dance of the Damned in the air in unison as the head settles in the glass. Flavor features smoky chocolate, bitter roasted malt, and a slight raspberry. Thick and coating mouthfeel. Excellent; I’ll cellar some and see what happens.

300th rating!!! Pours deep, dark brown with a nice red hue, and a thick creamy tan head. Powerful aroma of candied fruit, raisin, plum, chocolate, strong oak overtones, and a bit of piny hops. Fantastic, full, and complex flavor. Smooth chocolate, roasted coffee, notes of coconut cream, vanilla/oak, raisins, a bit of plum, just the right amount of piny/earthy hops, and just a bit of pleasant, almost vinous, alcohol. Palate is medium, a bit thinner than expected, very creamy, a little sticky, and surprisingly bitter-sweet. I have to get a couple more of these to join my Storm King in the cellar.

2007 Bottle. Pours a deep, opaque ebony with a tall dark tan head. The lacing is dense and clingy. Swirling the snifter creates an aesthetically pleasing cascade under the lasting head. I’m not awed as much by the opacity or density here, it’s the dense lacing, the layers, and the head the floats for the entire duration of the drink.The aroma is much hoppier than I would expect. It caught me by surprise. Strong hints of pine are very apparent along with tasteful oak scents, coffee, and chocolate. Once my nose gets accustomed to this , I’m picking up nice earth and wood undertones. The mouthfeel is not as thick as I would’ve expected, but that flavor sure is nice. It seems the hops are mostly aromatic, but they do add a wonderful drying character to the mix. A chocolate flavor is very present, but it’s nicely bittersweet. Hints of espresso are noted along with coconut, and very tasteful bourbon. Nice work on making the barrel aging tasteful! It just adds the appropriate oak/vanilla flavor without dominating or even standing out. Personally, I enjoyed their regular imperial stout because of its roastier flavors. This one is a bit tamer, but I think it’s just as good if not better. Oh, to make it even more enjoyable, the cashier charged me for the regular Left Hand Imperial Stout: $5.99, I think. What a steal!
[October 4, 2009]
Bottle of the 2009 brandy barrel stuff. This is rather black, barely ruby at all with a bubbly ring on top. The aroma is enjoyable with licorice, raisins, coffee, and a sure enough, brandy. The mouthfeel is medium heavy. Lots of raisins in flavor with oak, chocolate, brandy, and brown sugar. This is not as epic I was anticipating, though it is quite tasteful and well made.Again, the oak aging is moderate and serves to enhance the stout rather than overtake it. This is a great beer. I got it for around $10 at Hop City: not bad. I did pass it up a few times at $15 in NC, however.

From a 750mL Bottle. Pours a dark brown color, borderline black, but has a bit of a thin consistency and a light transparency. A thick layer of quickly dissipating off-white head rests on top. Lots of barrel character in the nose, but comes across as a chocolate covered pretzel dipped in caramel. Smells a bit too salty for my tastes, and has a distinct maple syrupy caramelization. Some dryer chocolates and oak dimensions lay quietly in the background. Medium bodied, well carbonated mouthfeel. Flavors are nice, but a bit on the thin side. Lots of sweet mid-lavibond chewy malts, but not cloyingly sticky. Distinct vanilla bourbony flavors with tons of sweet oak. More pretzel. Some Jack Daniel’s caramel characters as well. Very light on the roast malt characters, and could use a bit more to help balance out the barrel sweetness. Some dry baker’s chocolate helps dry up the palate about 2/3 of the way through the finish, but then it get’s a little too milk chocolate tasting in the final smack. Not bad and doesn’t really have any obvious flaws, but a bit too much on the sweet side to be great. Big thanks to footy for giving me the opportunity to try this one through a generous trade.

2007. black with a small brown head. flavor is milk chocolate and vanilla with notes of maple syrup. aroma of roasted malt pretty good but it’s no yeti. much better than their regular imp stout though.

2007 caged 750ml bottle, pours a thinnish dark brown with a moderate tan head that dissipates to an outer ring, slight lacing. Roasty aroma of chocolate, oak, espresso and vanilla. Taste is chocolatey, with some oakiness, and a bitter hops finish. Palate is fuller than the pour lead you to imagine, with a bit more carbonation than I’d like, but fairly creamy and smooth. Not bad, and maybe some age will help, but I like the regular LH Imperial Stout better.