Pike XXXXX Stout

[2006 GCBF] This is a textbook stout. Not too thick, pure black, really coffee flavoured, not watery at all. Exactly what you could want from a stout.

Draft at Brouwer’s Cafe Hopfest ’06. Opaque black with a light tan head. Aromas of coffee and dark chocolate. Full, oily body. The taste starts lightly sweet with coffee, chocolate, burnt toast, roasted nuts, but cleans up on the bitter and slighty smokey finish.

Draft at Brouwer’s Cafe Hopfest ’06. Always a pleasure. Absolutely solid black--a real shut up and drink me if you dare beer. Lovely creamy off-white head. Big coffee and chocolate nose. Sweet, chalky, chocolate body--smooth and rich but not overbearingly thick. Filling. Long sour bitter finish, but not by any means excessively so. The GF says "a little half and half in there would be good." I guess you don’t have to love stout to pick up on the coffee flavor notes. I’ve loved this beer for ages.

Tap @ Eichardt’s Sandpoint, ID. This stout is full bodied. At no time did I think thin or watery. Minimal sweetness with nice bitterness that seems to come from the almost burnt malt as much as from the hops, alcohol is just slightly noticable. There is a very slightly burnt rubber taste on the very dark, almost burnt roasted malt. The hop flavor is there but not overdone. Dark chocolate and black coffee are in the mix. This stout is a bit monotoned, lacking real complexity but it’s consistant full body is a big plus. Looking foreward to enjoying this again.

Inky black. Medium hefted chocolate milk foam sits for length before settling to a hairline skim and crumbly edging. Lacing is thick and all over the place making a mess of blobby sheeting across the glass. In a word for appearance - pinnacle! Aroma is tarry and roasted with heavy black malt dryness with some dark chocolate scuffing. Taste is bold, rich, and gradually building across a wonderful, medium to heavy roastyness of black malt. Chocolate intercedes into the middle areas, then the fun begins with one fantastic drying length and character. Slight molasses tang sweetens the pot for a stint, notes of burnt/charred edges creep in there while the chocolate gets supurbly darkened, heavy, and dry with a solid smack of bitterness thrown in. A very solid smack! That’s some of the most bitter dark chocolate I’ve ever encountered in a stout. It’s awesome! The body of this beer is quite nice. Full, round, roasted and textured as so with a substantial girth of roasty malt all the while maintaining a heavenly smoothness. Its just sweet enough on the underside for most of its length, gliding the roasted stuff along the path to the finish where the dark bitter chcoalte takes over and does its thing. An excellent drinker as well as being damn tasty. What more could you ask except for more. And at 6% this blows the sessionable competition away as far as other big stouts that taste like this are concerned. Not that I don’t miss a little kick like those found in most Impy’s or Dbl’s, these Foreign/Export stouts are just too damn tasty and drinkable not to be in the same league as some of those big boys. Most are loaded in the ABV dept. This on the other hand says drink up and enjoy! And enjoy, and enjoy...

2005-2006 release. Thanks Chuck. The beer pours to a very dark brown/black body with a tan head. The aroma is smoky coffee and light soap. The flavor is smokey chocolate, dry black malt. Dry, medium-light body.

Thanks Chuck for the sample. Has a pleasant roasty aroma to it. Deep black color with a tan head. Pretty weak flavor, very slightly bitter. Also thin body and texture. Maybe we got a bad bottle, because this seems like XX instead of XXXXX.

05-06 vintage Pours a pure black color w/ a thick brown small bubbled head w/ some thick lacing. Smells farily mild a dark roast malt w/ hints of coffee & smoke a bit light. Palate is very light, not very viscous. Flavor is lightly smoky and coffee dry roast malt, too light. Possibly starting to show infection as the beer was much smaller in palate than it should have been.