Middle Ages Dragonslayer Imperial Stout

Brewed by Middle Ages Brewing
Style: Imperial Stout
Syracuse, New York USA

Deep black, brown and blood red head. Coffee roasts, some licorice, a bit nutty. Thick enough. It’s generically imperial stout-ish.

22 oz bottle from beastiefan2k. Year unknown. Pour is solid black with a firm 2 inch tan head. Aroma is roasty malt, coffee and hop bitterness. Taste is the coffee roasted malt, some licorice in the middle and a smoky hop bitterness to the finish. Initially, a touch thin on the palate, though this picked up / improved as the beer warmed to room temperature. Overall, very nice IS. The coffee roastiness really hangs around a long time.

22oz bottle from moejuck - thanks, Joe! As we finally had some rain - and a slight cool-down - last night, I convinced myself that summer was over and cracked this bad boy open. Very nice looking beer, thick black body with a nice cafe au lait colored head. Nice roasty aroma, even if nothing particularly powerful or distinct. The taste surprised me, though, with extremely intense hops and a very dry finish. Not much in the way of evident chocolate notes, more like intense espresso all the way through. So while enjoyable, a bit one-dimensional.

Rated while drinking: Pours a thick charcoal black color with maybe some ruby headlights when the light glances off the side. A huge fluffy caramel head lays on top leaving espresso-like lacing. Aroma of rich cocoa, baking chocolate, and maybe an old treasure chest found in some long forgotten sealed basement. Alcohol comes through as well. Flavor starts off light with notes of chocolate, then quickly builds up in complexity. Long lasting flavor notes of rich thick coffee lie near the end. Alcohol burn comes and goes, but bolsters the rest of the flavors. For the 9.5%, this beer goes down quite quickly. It should be sipped, but I would just buy a few bottles more. This is definitely on par with Middle Ages’ Wailing Wench, and goes to show that Middle Ages can brew a wide variety of quality beers.

Poured a deep black with a foamy tan head. Aroma of roasted malts and chocolate. Flavor was sweet with chocolate and dark cherries, finish was heavy and oily. I expect more complexity out of an imperial stout, but on it’s own it was nice to drink.

Date: 03/04/2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

black, lasting thin tan head, roasted malt aroma with nice sweet chocolate, very rich chocolate flavor, light bitterness

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

Twenty-two ounce bottle pours a dark and inky body with an attractive light brown head that splashes some beautiful drapes of lacing on the glass. Aroma is chocolate, crushed red cherries, and Columbian coffee beans. Taste is bitter and roasty with some interesting fruit and berry notes. Alcohol is well hidden and there is an interesting fruity sourness in the middle. Finish and aftertaste have a huge bitter roastiness. Quite good overall.

Poured black with tan head. Aroma of coffee and roasted malt. Flavor was harsh cold but mellowed out nicely as it warmed. Coffee, chocolate, and fruit hints present.