Pike XXXXX Stout

22oz bomber, 7.0% ABV listed. Pours completely black with only the faintest hint of light penetrating the edges. There’s a small but thick mocha head that leaves only spotty lacing. The aroma is nice with equal measures sweetness and roastiness. The sweetness comes from the dark chocolate mainly and the malts come across heavily roasted with some coffee hints. There are even some fresh green hops thrown in. The taste is more of the same with the initial taste containing a kick of the green hops before the heavily roasted black malts take over. There is some cocoa sweetness on top with a finish that is a mixture of dry roasted malts and green hop bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and extremely creamy with a dry, roasted finish. This is a very good export stout and I like the hop presence thrown in for added complexity.

Courtesy ChzMan. Dark brown, tan head. Typical, but mild, stout flavors and aromas- roasted malt, cocoa, coffee. All rather muted. Medium/full body, balanced, very drinkable. Too strong to session, not enough going on to sip. Meh. From notes.

22 oz bottle. Pitch black with a quick dissipating tan head. Aroma of chocolate, burnt sugar, coffee and smoky wood. The flavor is bittersweet chocolate with some hop bitterness. Full body with mild carbonation and a thick soft mouth feel. This is a very nice Stout, very full flavored and goes down smooth.

Bomber courtesy of LilBeerDoctor. Pours deep black with a half finger brown head that results in nice lacing. The nose is roast, burnt malt, dark fruit and coffee. The taste is ashy cocoa, charred caramel, burnt malt and black coffee with some hops in the finish. Medium creamy mouthfeel. Good stout. Thanks Margaret!

Dark and heavy, with a wonderful aroma of toffee and burnt malt. Not too bitter.

Pours pitch black with a two finger dark chocolate/coffee-colored head with excellent retention, only slowly fading into a lasting cap that coats the glass with chunky rings of soapy lacing. Roasty, smokey malt aroma with lots of roasted coffee bean, bitter sweet dark chocolate, burnt toast, oatmeal, toffee and subtle earthy hops. Silky chewy viscous mouthfeel with a lot of roasted malt, bitter dark chocolate, oatmeal, toffee, biscuit, roasted coffee bean and a huge bitter earthy hop flavor with some citrus notes. This is way hoppier than expected and kind of takes away from the silky maltiness that I liked so much. The finish is long and dry with some citrus notes but mostly earthy bitter hops dominate. Well masked ABV and smooth maltiness makes it pretty drinkable but the strong hop presence kind of hurts it in this area.

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a Pike beer... where will this go? Black beer with a dark brown cap, good consistency, really good lacing with sticky messy lacing and permanent rings. The aroma is damn fine. A bit of sweet and freshness (from the hops for sure - a light citrus), soft chocolate with a bit of bakers bitterness, some roasty stuff from coffee. I like the citrus in here. Nothing here is overpowering. A touch earthy. Man, this is an excellent drinking beer. Very well placed bitterness, creamy chocolate blended with a lesser amount of coffee grinds. I can tell there are citrusy hops (grapefruit) here but they are portioned very well. Maybe a bit too bitter on the finish as it lingers heavily. There might bit a hint of biscuit as well. Smooth with a bit zip, some lingering coffee, long hop finish but it’s good because it takes nothing away while adding some needed complexity. I may be ignoring the coffee. I need more!