Lost Abbey Serpents Stout

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Imperial Stout
San Marcos, California USA

(bottle thanks Stine!) Pours dark brown with a dark tan head. Aroma is very dry with a lot of cocoa, dark chocolate, and dark roasted coffee. The taste was a little sweeter than the the aroma hinted at, with a taste of dark fruits in the beginning, which was quickly replaced with a lot of roasted malt that carried over into a long roasty finish that changed into more of a green bell pepper flavor, and the mouthfeel was full. A solid impy, but it didn’t really set itself apart from other imperial stouts I’ve tried.

From 750 ml bottle, shared by Stine, pours a near opaque dark brown brew with an average sized beige head that slowly dissipates with some spotty lacing and a beige ring. Aroma of roasted dark malts, some dark chocolate, black licorice and some raisin. Taste is full bodied, light carbonated with flavors of dark pitted fruits, roasted dark malt, chocolate, and a touch of cream. Finish has a nice roasted dark malt, chocolate and a touch of vanilla aftertaste that slowly disappears. Nice treat!

Many thanks to Stine for bringing this one in. Black color with a meidum head. Big chocolate and milk aroma. Lots of sweet malt and pounds of roasted barley flavor. Dried milk. A little metallic towards the end. Finishes with a dry pine hop. I’d sin for it.

Snifter. Got home from work late and didn’t feel like cooking, so I ’ate’ this guy for dinnner. Pours tar black with huge two finger brown head. Aroma is powerful, and noticable upon uncorking. Plum, raisin, licorice, molasses and of course loads of roasty malt give this brew quite the aromatic qualities. Flavor is roasty with lots of dark fruit evident. Hop character pokes in there quite a lot as well, but the bitterness if just the right amount to balance the chocolate and molasses sweetness of the malt. Vanilla and alcohol poke through as well, but are wholly welcome. Palate is rich, but not overly so. Not quite as viscous or syrupy as many other examples of the style- a tad too thin. Aftertaste is sweet malt with a slight hop bitterness. Where this outstanding brew shines is its intense flavors and aroma- a well crafted brew indeed.

750 ml bottle poured into tulip glass at the Drafting Room, Spring House, PA. Quite good, but what else do you expect from Tomme? Had this today, the hottest and most humid day of the year, so it packed a heck of a wallop. Beautiful dark brown pour with thick foamy head. Definitely syrupy in texture but smooth going down. Reminds me a lot of JP’s Madrugada Obscura, but with higher alcohol which is very apparent. Doesn’t have JP’s mustiness but more of a straight-up stout. Definite recommend!

Syrupy black pour, with a tall brown frothy head that fades slowly leaving behind beautiufl tan lacing. Silky milk chocolate nose and malted maltballs. Nutty hazelnuts, chocolate milk, roasted coffee and toasty hints of caramel and butter pecan. Finishes with a toffee honey sweetness and is reminiscent of ice cream. This is one of the best stouts I have ever tried. Thanks Bryan!

Poured a dark black color with a huge almost too big brown head. Aroma was very complex with hints of chocolate, coffee, fig, nuts, and some vanilla. Flavor was deep and roasted but also sweetened by the chocolate and molasses flavors. Excellent stout.

750 ml bottle. Pours black with a nice big very dark tan head. Aroma has more alcohol in it than even most big stouts that I’ve had, with a lot of chocolate and some roast. Flavor is like a nice bitter dark chocolate, very nice. There’s a little bit more acidity to it than I’d prefer, but all-told VERY tasty.