Lost Abbey Serpents Stout

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

Excellent aroma that can be felt from 4-5 feet away. Nice thin head forms about 5 - 10 seconds after the pour. Flavor is very complex. Mixture of smokey sweetness (licorice, earth, and a nutty aspect that make it almost chewable) followed on by a wonderful dark chocolate finish that comes in late. This stout is by far my favorite. If you have the means, I highly recommend it. 2009 Vintage - Bomber. Pours dark black with a late-arriving finger or so of rusty brown head. Aroma is still awesome of mild coffee, cocoa chocolate, anise, and perhaps some dark fruit (a plum?). The flavor is flat outstanding. Matching the nose, it starts with the coffee, follows with the anise and plums, working in a roasted malt character along the way before settling into a "mix me with your Count Chocula instead of the milk" finish that actually just gave me a chill! Mouthfeel is excellent and fizzy (for a Impy Stout) and the booze is all felt in the warm burn going down the gullet, not in the palate. Still, my absolute favorite. For the price, there’s a lot of other crap out there that gets good press but doesn’t come close to the excellent balance and character that this beer has.

Bottle split with Pat. Pours a dark coca cola body with small brown head and good lacing. The aroma is extremely unique - some subdued coffee roast, chocolate malts, and something else that I can’t quite describe. The flavor is incredibly smooth, esp considering the 11% abv. Medium to full mouthfeel, with notes of coffee and chocolate. One of the best stouts.

Bottle. 25.4 oz. Pours deep, deep brown with a thick, creamy, beige head. Aroma of chocolate, coffee, roasted malt, barley, pepper, clove, cinnamon, and vanilla. Extremely unique nose. Firm, tight body with an amazingly smooth, crisp finish. Outrageous stout; one of the best I have ever tasted.

Bottle @ 4:20 for Diego’s birthday...Complessa, fruttata,cioccolato, cacao, caffe, liquirizia,ed anche note di luppolo;un elegante amaro si lega perfettamente con un grande corpo e struttura..undici gardi???io non gli ho trovati!! persistente ed emozionante, una delle migliori birre mai bevute..

750 mL bottle from South Bay Drugs (2009 bottle, purchased February 2009). Black pour with a thick, bubbly tan head. Aroma of dark fruit, chocolate, caramel, and a hint of smoke. Flavor is of espresso, dark chocolate, raisin, vanilla, and booze. This is excellent stuff. Out-freaking-standing.

Shazam! One fine beer. Rich. Got this bottle at Sam’s in Chicago a few months ago. Poured with a nice tan head and some lace. Color is an opaque brown almost black.... hell, maybe it is black. Splitting pubic hairs. Aroma is divine: chocolate, yeast, burnt malt, toffee, and a hint of fruit. Flavor is all a that and more. Add a touch of black walnut and french roast coffee. Finsih is surprisingly mild and easy. Body is great with fine carbonation. Killer beer.

Bottle from Capone’s. Pours onyx with 3-finger deep brown head. Nose is dark malt, prune, chocolate, blackberry, figs, almonds. The palate is very hefty, very complex, and hides the alcohol well, giving flavors of dark malt, dark chocolate, blackberry, prunes, figs, brown sugar, and almonds. It starts, and stays, a bit on the sweet side, becoming more plummy and merloty as it warms, with a bit of a late rauchy edge, and near the end approaching the magical "triple point" of beerdom, when a brew simultaneously exudes characteristics of beer, wine, and spirits. This one is world class, ass.

I have been looking at this one for more than a month, and finally I could stand it no longer. The temptation was too much to bear. Pours out a dark black color with a tan head. Perfect pour. The smell is fruity with dark fruits, plums, some coffee, chocolate, caramel malts, hops, just damn near perfect, but not quite. Perfection comes in the taste, which is exactly what I was hoping it would be. Very smooth and rich, an explosion of flavor. Coffee, chocolate, damn, so many things here. Perfect mouthfeel, plenty of carbonation which is typically a rarity with an imperial stout. This beer is fucking awesome. The good news? I have more. The bad news? I only have 2. Drank this one alone. By myself. Solo. Faced it. And I have no regrets. The next time I drink this I will be sharing it....... maybe.