Pike XXXXX Stout

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

Black color with a thin head. Interesting aroma of barley and black currant. Totally unexpected flavor that reminded me of madiera. Sour and malty with a strong bitter finish. Syrupy.

05-06 bottle. A somewhat average stout. Maybe I should have let this sit a little while longer, but I couldn’t help myself. The aroma is a little light. Mostly semisweet chocolate and some roasted toffee. Can toffee be roasted, or does it just melt? Very roasty mouthfeel. A little bit of hoppiness and some chocolate join in as well. Thanks Secret Santa!

’03-’04 Version - Nice black body with a tan head. Aromas of roasted malts w/coffee and chocolate. Burnt malt flavors and bitter dark chocolate with maybe a hint of smoke. Excellent Beer

2005-2006 release A decent stout. Pours dark with small head. Coffee aromas. Thin feel. Good taste, slightly smoky. Nothing outstanding but plesant. 8/4/6/3/14

2006-2007Wow. New recipe for sure. Aroma still dominated by coffee, but a hint of sourness. Much more hops in both aroma and flavor, like the 3F Black Sun. Dry and slightly bitter at the end. Thicker in the mouth as well. I like the change! 7/4/8/4/16

I don’t know why, but this beer taste way better than it smells. It smelled of hops and rotten, infected beer, yet it tasted so divine. I poured a deep, dark black drink into my snifter. I let it warm a bit took a whiff and WHOA, this beer has gone bad..... or has it? I took a drink and to my pleasant suprise a i got a mouthful of chocolate, roasted coffee, smirling smokey caramel, and a good dose of finishing hops. I just can’t understand how a beer that smelled so foul could taste so good. Another mystery to explore.........

big dark tan head, black body, not a lot in the stank dept. good bitters, roasty and dry, chocolately, oddly tart, i’ve always wanted to drink from a bottle with lots of x’s on it, feels like the cartoons

Bottle - Limited Release 2005-2006: This is a stout worthy of props. It is a thick black color and the head resembles dirty motor oil bubbles. Cool! The head is also fluffy and the lacing is clingy, like a cheap suit. The aromas fill up the nasal cavities with burnt malts, coffee and dark chocolate. The flavors are equally tasty: chipotle like roasted flavors with a strong espresso presence like Pike’s neighbor, Starbuck’s. What I liked about this stout is that it wasn’t too sweet - it had a semi-bitter aftertaste. The feel is comforting as the thick & creamy liquid ricochets off the inner cheeks and down the throat. This one is definitely in my top five for stouts. Yummalicious!

Bottle. Pitch black color. Meager brown head forms and then fades rather quickly to a slight ring. Aroma of kalamata olives and dirty ashtray initially. As the beer warms it takes a more pleasant aroma of moderate smoke and wood. Medium bodied and quite smooth as Oakes notes. Lower carbonation level which is befitting. Pleasant roasted grain flavors. Not overly astringent, decent hop levels. Chocolate and dark coffee. Quite nice.