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Left Hand Oak Aged Imperial Stout

Percentile
98
overall

bottled
common

on tap
common

Broad Distribution
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RatingsAverageScoreSeasonalABVStyle PctlServe in
4793.9/5.03.88/5.0Special10.4%78.2Snifter
Commercial Description:
2008 and prior years: This 10th Anniversary celebration Imperial Stout hibernated in our cellars in French oak wine barrels since deep in the winter 2002-03. An ambitious blend of rich, dark malts and a wild variety of aromatic and bittering hops yield a beer that is large in character. Available in cork-finished, bottle-conditioned 750ml bottles.

2009 release: Thanks for purchasing another offering in our Big Mo’ Series. Russian Imperial Stouts gained popularity as a British export style from the late 1700’s through WWI. It catered to the Russians’lavish and opulent tastes and was well suited to the rigors of shipping across the Baltic Sea. Hibernating in brandy barrels for nine months before being blended to woody perfection, it is then bottle conditioned for an authentic old world experience. Imperial Stout is the perfect warmer for chilly winter nights. Enjoy the complex flavors that develop during the cask aging, including raisin, cherry, licorice, and toffee. It finishes with earthy, herbal hop notes. If discontent is the fuel of revolution then this brew is sure to keep any Bolsheviks sitting quietly by the fire. 75% Malt Beverage & 25% Malt Beverage Aged in Oak Brandy Barrels
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 PhillyBeer2112 (2087), Orange Park, Florida, USA
3.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/56/103/514/20
May 14, 2007  
Pours a dark brown but not necessarily really dark, but it is opaque in the glass, with a 1 finger khaki colored dense head. Aroma restrained, with notes of oak and raisins, a touch earthy. Neat, a really big body but very soft and pillowy. An oaky astringency follows the rounded start, alongside a very long hoppy and tannic finish. It seems a citric hop wants to become apparent in the nose once I get in to drinking this. Well built for its strength, but not terribly interesting nor complex. Its just there. Deeper into it, the tannins become a bit much, and the palate seems to thin out some.


 ford9719 (369), Vilseck, Germany
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/519/20
May 13, 2007  
22oz. Poured a very dark blackish color with a very small whiteish tan head. Aroma is rasions and chocolate. The taste is very nice and full body the taste of rasions is present and oak is nice very well made beer.


 hophead75 (1954), Boonton, New Jersey, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/59/104/517/20
May 12, 2007    Updated: May 13, 2007
750, pours completely black with a tan/light brown head. Aroma: a nice mixture of chocolate, vanilla, light oak , and alot of roast. Taste is extremely full bodied, a ton of chocolate, dark fruits, roast, moderate notes of wood, light notes of vanilla, with a roasty and hoppy bitterness in the finish.


rsauermann (38), Arlington, Texas, USA
4.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
10/105/59/105/518/20
May 9, 2007  
Oh yeah. Black color with beautiful tan head. Roasty and creamy taste. Oak adds just the right amount of vanilla flavor to mellow out the bitterness. On of the best Impy Stouts I’ve had, second only to Yeti.


 keith0718 (159), Olathe, Kansas, USA
4.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
10/105/59/105/520/20
May 6, 2007  
I would drink this every weekend, but for the hefty price tag. A damn fine imperial stout. WAY more drinkable than Great Divide’s Yet Imperial. Sweeter than other imperial stouts. Alcohol is VERY well hidden. I LOVE this.


 drainey (231), Chicago, Illinois, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/518/20
May 4, 2007  
Bottle. Very nice. Dark brown-black body with a large brown head. A sweet but not syrupy aroma with chocolate notes. Very smooth tasting with the chocolate taste well ingrained in the beer, rather than laid on top. Alcohol well hidden.


 sersdf (1000), chicago, Illinois, USA
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/104/514/20
Apr 30, 2007  
thanks nhorween. this was really surprisingly carbonated. probably 3 parts beer to 2 parts head. aroma was pretty decent but i didn’t get any wood at all. instead it was your typical coffee/chocolate. the texture was fantastic and the beer was reasonably good. it was much better than the twin sisters DIPA we had right before it. i thought it was a tiny bit astringent, but still drinkable. at 10.5% i detected no alcohol.


 nhorween (640), Chicago, Illinois, USA
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/58/104/515/20
Apr 29, 2007  
Bottle. Either I poured this horribly or it’s a bit over attenuated. Decent aroma, but subdued for what you’d expect from the style. Coffee, smoke, chocolate. Flavor is very smooth and chocolatey which works well with the velvety texture. Above average, but it doesn’t taste very barrel aged to me.



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