Moylans Ryan OSullivans Imperial Stout

Bottle from Andronico’s Market. Pours beautiful pitch black like motor oil. Feels dense and thick, pouring with some lacing and minimal head. Aroma is largely roasted malt, almost burnt, with notes of espresso. Palate is full and oily, a bit creamy, with light carbonation and bitter hops. Espresso and bitter dark chocolate that didn’t show up in the nose are assertive in the flavor, with a subtle sense of the high alcohol content in the finish that comes around rather quickly. Intense and complex while it lasts. Quite enjoyable.

Poured a nice black hue with a nice brown head that had good retention and lacing. Aroma was a mix of leather and strong coffee notes. No chocolate aroma. A rich coffee flavor initially and some bittersweet chocolate notes in the finish. Malts aplenty. Smooth and dry finish.

Strong expresso and chocolate aroma. A regular beer mocha! Flavor matches aroma with a good malt backbone. And then, an explosion of hop bitters, at least for an imperial stout. One I need to have again just to get that sweet malt and bitter hop combo again.

Sweet chocolate aroma. Not much of a head, but I poured it rather cold. Really nice roasty molasses flavor to the malt with some bite from the alcohol at the end. Stronger hops than I’m accustomed to in a stout, but it’s probably needed to offset the alcohol a bit. Mouthfeel could have been thicker, but my palate is biased to oatmeal stouts. Overall, a very good stout. Packs a mighty wallop too.

Black, sweet, dark chocolate, coffee, molasses, roasted malts, alcohol, nutty, slight dark fruit.