Olde Hickory Stick Stout

Black with a creamy finger of tan head with nice falling rings of lacing. Big roasted coffee and malt nose, some chocolate. Heavy roasted malt taste, some chocolate or caramel sweetness.

Draft at the brewpub. Opaque with a small creamy ring that that leaves frosty lace all over. Light coffee and caramel aroma. Tastes of caramel, coffee, split-and-dried hickory and mesquite, light char. Medium-heavy body is creamy smooth with a pleasantly dry finish.

Excellent full-bodied easy drinking stout. Labelled as an Imperial, but definitely is not. Very good nonetheless. Strong bittersweet chocolate and bitter espresso notes, with a hint of sweetness to offset the bitter. Hops are apparent in the nose, along with a strong malty backbone. Very well done, and their best beer when I went to the pub.

Draft at Bayou Smokehouse and GrillI in Banner Elk, NC. I utterly fail to see how this beer is an Imperial Stout. Still the aroma is a fairly rich coffee/chocolate affair with a bit of treacle in the mix. The body is full black and holds a diminishing mocha head. Has a a maple syrup/brown sugar flavor on the first sip along with bittersweet chocolate and coffee and a hint of smoky licorice, which is probably the hickory, but I’ve never had hickory so I can’t single it out. Again this isn’t really and imperial stout, but it is a pretty decent, full bodied tweener of a stout.

Mini Keg courtesy of Degarth. Pours up dark darkness with nice frothy – creamy mocha head. The aroma is of roasted to burnt malts then into ashy-ness. The taste is much the same with highly roasted malts that head toward burnt malts and some hints of coffee. Really roasty brew but far from an Imperial Stout in style.

Mini-keg from Degarth. Opaque body, quickly disappearing head. Mild chocolate aroma. Flavor is somewhat hoppy and roasty with notes of bitter coffee and a thin palate. Decent, but I agree with Degarth that this really isn’t an Imperial.

Mini-keg, courtesy Degarth. Pours a dark reddish brown, with a fizzy white head and wet lacing abound. Caramel maltiness in the nose, with floral hops and some chocolate. Smooth malty flavors, tender caramel...subdued compared to the aroma. Soft and easy to drink, and finishes malty.

Draft sample at Knoxville Brew Jam. Poured a dark brown color with an average frothy brown head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate roasted coffee and chocolate malt aroma. Medium to full body with a smooth texture. Medium roasted bittersweet flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of long duration. My expectations where met.