Oskar Blues Ten FIDY with Cherries

Formerly brewed at Oskar Blues Grill & Brew
Style: Imperial Stout
Lyons, Colorado USA

Dark black with a brown head. the aroma is of malts and lots of sweet cherries. Flavor is dark malts with lots of sweet and tart cherries. A little to sweet for my tastes but still a good stout.

Pours pitch black with a thin foamy mocha head. Aroma of plums, raisins, and cherry, chocolate. Taste of cherry, dark chocolate, plums, and dark toffee. This beer has it all, zen balanced. Mouthfeel is full bodied without seeming heavy, and has lively carbonation. A very nice dessert or nightcap beer, although I had it with lunch... Definitely a winner! Brew more please, I want some at home!

draft @ brickstore. Chocolate covered cherries in the nose! This pours black and thick with a mily red head. The flavor is loaded with coffee, chocolate, roasted malts, the cherry is not very strong, but i think its just right.

Draft @ thhe Brick Store: Opaque black color with a thick brown head. The aroma was of milk chocolate and roasted malt. I was actually a little disappointed in the lack of cherry from the aroma. If you tried real hard you can get some cherry skins. Coffee notes as the beer warmed. The flavor seemed to have 3 distinct stages. First the flavor was roasty, chocolately, and malty with a touch of coffee. This completely changed to a slightly sweet slightly tart cherry flavor. Lastly the beer finished with a long dry hop and roast bitter finish. Creamy mouthfeel for the most part.

On tap at the Brick Store: Pours a viscous opaque with a dense, pillowy dark tan/light brown head. Aroma flowing with sweet caramel malt hint notes of tart cherries and dark chocolate. Palate starts full, malty and sticky sweet with nice, semi-tart dark cherry character with a slight hint of nutmeg. Balance is incredible! Cherry flavor meshes quite well with the dark chocolate and roasty coffee notes, with just the perfect amount of tartness to balance the sweet body, without the slightest hint of alcoholic warmth. A very nice beer. Just wish it came in bottles or cans so I could buy a case.

Draft: Impenetrable black. Tightly packed burnt-orange foam. Artfully integrated nose of cocoa, burnt caramel, black chocolate, metallic char, and dried plums. Hint of grapefruity hops and burnt cookies. Lush and velvety on the palate, but a foamy film coats the palate and slightly collapses. Multilayered waves of velvety cocoa malt and bittersweet chocolate saturate the palate before brightly flavored cherries slyly emerge, richening the chocolate with a soft and juicy kiss of acidity. Light dusting of cinnamon underlines and prolongs the elegant cherries and ample dried-plum fruitiness. Gritty roast peaks toward the latter half, imparting the right amount of harshness which deepens the softer malts. Malt depth is absolutely endless. Dryly powdery, but equally vivid, pure and supple. Cherries are brilliantly utilized, soft, and well-composed, but their refined succulence magically enhances that of the buried yet intense assortment of dried fruits. Finishes just as gracefully as it started, with velvety malts and bittersweet chocolate caressing the palate while black licorice and a tarry richness linger alongside. Burps reveal some malt-derived phenols and pronounced grapefruit. Aside from the slightly flimsy carbonation, this is beefy and luxurious beyond belief, and not even remotely filtered or, seemingly, even whirpooled for that matter. Oskar Blues delivers yet another exquisite malt mammoth. Keep ‘em coming!

Draught (6oz pour). Head is initially small, frothy, brown, mostly lasting. Body is absolute opaque black (based on the flashlight test of the non-cherry version). Aroma is moderately to heavily malty (chocolate/fudge/cocoa, roasted grain, molasses), lightly to moderately hoppy (resin, grapefruit), with notes of vanilla, wood, cherry, cassis, alcohol. Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, moderately to heavily bitter. Full body, creamy texture, soft/lively carbonation, lightly to moderately alcoholic. The cherry addition is anything but overbearing, which was a huge relief (I was worried it’d be something like Weyerbacher’s raspberry Impy). In fact, you have to reach a little bit to find it in the nose, not surprising considering the immense malt character on display. The cherries come out a bit more in the flavor balance, but again, the acidity level is only very slightly increased over the regular 10-50. If memory serves, they specifically requested a ratio of both sweet and sour cherries so as not to make the beer noticeably sour. It’s just a pleasant lightly-tart, fruity-berry character in the background that complements the grapefruity hop aspect. Overall, I don’t necessarily like this *better* than the regular 10-50, but it’s easily just as good.