Pike XXXXX Stout

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

Bottled. Beer is opaque, dark brown wih a small, light brown, frothy, diminishing, mostly lasting head. Aroma is very roasty. Malty with moderate-to-heavy notes of roasted grain, chocolate, coffee and molasses; Hoppy with a moderate note of resin; Yeasty with a trace-to-light note of dusty basement. Miscellaneous light woody note, trace of dried currents/raisin. The flavor is heavily sweet, moderately bitter with a long, lightly bittersweet, trace acidic finish. Nice palate: The body is full, the texture is velvety and the carbonation is lively. Seems more like an Imperial Stout than a standard Stout. Nice richness.

Bottle from Batkins, thanks again Bill. Pours a deep dark brown-black with layer of rich tan foamy head. Roasty toasty malts with flavors of bitter dark chocolate and roasted coffee beans.A very nice brew indeed but just felt thin and a bit watery.

Jet black with rich, frothy mocha head. Big nose of coffee, chocolate malt, and sweet dark sugars. Flavor is roasty with fantastic mix of coffee and chocolate, with out an astringent finish. Creamy mouthfeel. Great stout.

2005: On tap at the College Inn in Seattle; also bottled.

Pours a deep black with a nice tan head.The aroma is the expected coffee and roasted grain, with a lovely full nose of black cherry. Flavor is rich - dark chocolate, coffee, cherry, molassas, plum, with a well-balanced but unobtrusive hop finish - and the mouthfeel equally so, full and satisfying and not the least bit watery like some of its competitors. The commercial description alludes to the "strengh of character of Imperial stout"; this is not an idle claim. An excellent big-beer styling at only 6.2%.

Sampling the ’05-’06 in Febraury ’07, the beer retains a very nice roastiness along with a lactic, almost sour aroma and flavor that is quite enjoyable.

2006: In bombers this year, at 6.6%. The coffee flavors are really heavy, especially late in the flavor profile, but this is really nice stuff. It’s drier than most of the imperial stouts, with a powerful burnt-coffee bitterness in the finish.

Note: This one comes into its own as it warms, and needs to be served at cellar temperature or above.

Bottle thanks to tpd975. Pours a deep black with a tan head. Aroma of maple, oak, vanilla, chocolate, coffee, and some caramel. Flavor is fizzy with coffee, earth, chocolate, hops, and lingering coffee bitterness. Nice beer.

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.

had on tap at the brewpup. Solid dark stout, not overpowered by coffee flavor, more of a good mix between that and a smooth dark chocolate.

On tap at Beveridge Place Pub. First time I’ve tried this, and I was told it’s a "new recipe". Sweet with nice roasted malts. Little carbonation and no head. Better than anything I’ve had from Pike. Tasty. Good hops.