Lost Abbey Serpents Stout

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

(Bottle thanks to TheCheeseMan) Pours dark brown to black with a medium brown head. The aroma is medium roasted and light to medium yeasty with clear tones of milk chocolate, dark chocolate and dark bread alongside strong notes of fruits (fresh/dark/dried) and berries like prunes, fresh figs, rum raisins, gooseberries, black berries, blue berries, ripe pears and some subtle notes of ripe yellow fruits. Vinous with blue grapes. Also notes of molasses, brown sugar, cold coffee, sweet liquorice, mild tar, light smoke, tobacco, wet stone, milk, roasted nuts, salt, soy sauce and shellfish. Hints of grassy and spicy hops. The flavour is light to medium sweet, light to medium roasted, medium salty with a balanced sourish/vinous sting. Tones of tar, smoke, salt liquorice, dark chocolate, black coffee, black berries, red currant, prunes, raisins, dark bread, milk sourness and blue grapes. Some grassy and light floral hops. The mouthfeel is well carbonated with small bubbles caring the somewhat silky and light sticky, medium to full body. Aftertaste of salt, sal ammoniac and tart grapes with the tiniest touch off wood. Both the aroma and flavour is layer upon layer complex. Yet another fantastic beer from LA. Marsi thinks the saltiness along with the sourness is somewhat too much while Blursi is just thrilled and since Blursi is a man with eighteenth century values: he off course decides the scores. Marsi bows her way into the back of the salon.

Goblet at O’briens pub. Silky smooth, while delectably heavy, this has to be one of the best and most complex stouts I’ve ever had. The beer presented flavors of smoke, dark chocolate, fruit, and spice, much like a darker, stronger abbey-style dubbel. There was no alcoholic bite at the finish, while grassy, spicy hops and the darkest roast malts were ever present.

Dark black color with a light brown head. Alcoholic nose with chocolate and toasted aromas. Flavors of coffee, dark chocolate, and a hint of vanilla. A good beer, but there are better impy stouts out there. However, I am glad to have had the chance to try another fine offering from Lost Abbey.

Pours super black. Licorice aroma. Flavor has quite a bit of cocoa with a nice hit of sweetness to it.

750mL bottle. Poured pitch black, capped with a big brown head. Aroma is on the sweet side, with notes of cocoa, yeast, chocolate cake, coffee, roasted malt and berries. Roasted chocolate malt is the primary flavor, with coffee, dark fruit and charcoal. Dark chocolate finish. Nice stout.

Courtesy SoLan. Jet black pour, thick dark tan head that sticks around for a while. Ton of roast on the aroma, but still clean and no real apparent alcohol is present on the nose. Super roasty taste, alcohol well-hidden, hops come out a bit in the finish. More chocolately notes come out later. A quality, smooth, reigned in imperial stout.

750ml bottle. Fairly standard but altogether onoffensive impy aromas of roasted malt, chocolate, toasted vanilla, a touch of coffee, black liquorice and a mild hint of alcohol. Dried, sugared fruits as the beer warms. Pour is nearly pitch black with a lasting and very creamy reddish khaki head. Balanced on the tongue with the liquorice flavor being the most dominant. Belgian chocolate, charred malt, alcohol and a noticeable hop bite as well. Mostly full bodied and creamy with lively carbonation. The finish is vibrant, lively and full of alcohol hotness. A well put together example of the style.

First impression was the candi sugars I think they use. Nice roasty aroma, but not enough of it. Pops with a frothy Belgian-like head (or this might have been the bottling) and pours black with frothy brown head. You get a nose of chocolate, sugar, chestnuts and toffee. It’s missing just a touch of bitterness - but it’s good.