Pike XXXXX Stout

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!

Bottle from the Majestic on Eastchase.Pours black with a healthy brown head. Big coffee aroma. Heavy roasted malts, a little chocolate, and more coffee. Great thick feel.

A deep dark stout with a super thick lacing dark moka head. In aroma, dark chocolate over roasted coffee grinds, some vanilla beans, and some wooden notes. In mouth, a beautiful and classy stout, with loads of black coffee, herbal qualities, light licorice, and some nice light C-hops. Turely interesting. On tap at brewpub, Sept. 12 2009.

This beer gets with age, no question. I’ve had this aged a few days ago, and a fresh bottle today, so i’ll rate it with a happy medium between the two. Aged it has all the things that make an imperial stout great, red fruit and licorice, and a full oily mouthfeel. Young it’s mouthfeel is a little watery, with hops being very evident in both nose and taste, with not a lot of fruit but a bit of chocolate and coffee. To have this young you would probably say its a stout like any other, but with a year’s time (at least, i’d like to drink it after 3) it becomes absolutely freakin amazing. Its a toss up between this and old rasputin russian imperial as to which is the best stout in alberta. I’ve had both aged, and its close. This is great.

On tap at the Alibi Room - pours jet black with a coffee and chocolate aroma. Thick, roasted malty, chocolate and oatmeal flavour. Full-bodied and smooth. A wonderful stout.