Pike Entire Wood Aged Stout

Brewed by Pike Pub & Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Seattle, Washington USA

Bomber from Liquid Solutions. Pours black with a 5-finger creamy/foamy/clingy dark tan head. Aromas of chocolate and wood. Medium plus body with foamy carbonation. Flavor is oak, chocolate, burnt malt, and arguably vanilla. Or something. Really mouthsmacking. No heat. It just seems to get more chocolaty with time. Quite tasty. Seems to be alive. Seems to oscillate between oak and chocolate. Just can’t get "bourbon" though.

Let me get two annoyances out of the way: First, the wax coating over the bottle cap was very difficult to remove. Second, I’ve never seen a more explosive head--it overflowed my 24 oz glass and the bottle at the same time. Needless to say, there was a huge, beige head that settled slowly. Some chunky lace. Smells of dark chocolate and brandy. The taste is rich, but the body is not. Strong alcohol warmth to the swallow. Again, dark chocolate with a cognac-like touch of raspberries and strawberries. The aftertaste is like unsweetened cocoa. There’s also a bit hop spiciness in the background. I like the complexity but it good use a fuller body to get to great status.

Deep, thick black pour with dark tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, oak and coffee. Very bitter chocolate flavor with notes of wood and coffee.

22 oz bottle. Pours a flat black body with a small fizzy brown head that left some thick lacing. Very woody nose with a little bourbon, burnt malt, light alcohol, and a touch of smoke maybe. Very woody and tannic flavor. Almost too woody. Burnt coffee, heavily roasted malt, and some moderate alcohol stick out first. The bourbon is really in the background, and doesn’t pop out at all. Very dry with a good bit of astringency on the finish. Not as good as what I was expecting. Somehow they managed to make an overly woody tasting beer with only half of it aged in barrels. That’s a new one for me!

Blind tasting. Roasty, maple syrup, pancakes, floral hops. woody, lighter bodied, complex but little cohesion

Tasted blind. Nose is vanilla, some apple, coffee. Flavor is big caramel, a little almost buttery coffee, malt. Lingering cocoa in the finish, dark fruits, roasted cherries.

Bottle.
Pours a deep, rich mahogany with a thick, olive-green head that leaves thick chunks of foam on the inside perimeter of the glass. Aroma is a not-so-subtle of cedar wood and sour cherry and dark strawberry. Flavor is a foamy rush of bourbon, oak, cedar, coffee bean with an earthy finish. Nice and lingering on the tongue; not as thick and chewy as I would like but the flavors are intense enough to overlook that. Fine stout; I’ll have to buy more to see what this beer does over time.

Beautiful dark brown with large, long-lasting tan head. Aroma of bourbon and coffee beans and a hint of vanilla. Flavor similar.