Pike XXXXX Stout

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

Black color; Small head; Bitter chocolate in the nose. Lots of bitter flavors early in pint. Mild sweetness. Standard borderline Imperial Stout. I am surprised by the higher rates from other well respected raters. I will put back a bottle for a few months and re-rate.

Bottle Pours a black with a modest dark tan head that settles into thick sticky lacing. Aroma is stron Molassas, nutty, coffee and bittersweet chocolate. Bittersmokey molassas is at the front, with a charcoal aftertaste that is quite bitter. Less sweet than most of its type. Feel is moderatley thick and very smooth. Nice but the harsh bitter trailer puts me off a bit.

bomber from SamuraiArtist. viscous black colored pour with reddish edges and a thin woody brown head. the aroma is a mix of milk chocolate and dry ashy roasted malts. flavor is robust...dark ashy malt, lots of chocolate, wood and some lacto sweetness that is kept in check with a dry bitter finish and lingering coffee notes. full bodied creamy texture is cut nicely with more bitterness. smooth and dangerously easy drinking

Bottle from Kegs & Barrels in McKinney, TX. Pours a deep black with tan head...Aroma of dark roast, faint dark fruit, baking chocolate. Flavor of dark roast, baking chocolate, nice bitter to complement. Mouth feel is heavy body, medium carbonation. Overall a good, strong stout.

Courtesy TheCheeseMan. Black pour with a dark tan head. Head leaves after a bit. Moderate cocoa aroma, light chocolate, some vague earthy hop character. Slight lactose character on the taste, a good amount of roast but there’s some astringency to the roast that detracts a bit. Still nice overall.

Bottle and on tap at Pike: Pours deep black with a light brown head. Mocha, smoke, chocolate and roast in the nose. Full roasty flavor, dark cocoa, espresso, coffee, chocolate and a slightly charred finish - which isn’t ashy. Light caramel sweetness. Full, round and creamy with moderate carbonation. My favorite Pike beer.

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...

Pitch black appearance. Tall brown head. Nice caramel aroma. Big notes of brown sugar with roasted notes. Tasty dark malts are heavy upfront. Toasted flavors with a touch of alcohol. Pretty solid through and through.