Pike XXXXX Stout

Blacker than sin, with a lovely thick cafe au lait coloured head. Aroma of malt, chocolate and smoke. Malty flavour with notes of chocolate, coffee and hops. Nice dry finish that still lasted. It had the complexity of imperial stout without the alcohol befuddling power. This may be the best stout I have ever tasted in my life. It certaily is my first 5.

2002-2003 Edition The color was black as a coal mine.Nearly no head at all.Roasted malt aroma with a sweet malt,spicey,fruity aroma as well.Mild hints of chocolate as it warms with an even milder hint of alcohol.Whoa this is good stuff malty mildly sweet taste,coffee,slightly smokey and a very,very mild fruit presence,there is also a slight hop presence that shows itself at the end of the taste.The after taste is malty slightly bitter with a dark chocolate,coffee bite.This is a fantastic brew and i wish i had bought more then one.

From the bottle, this is one of the three best stouts I’ve had. Dense head. Beer is black as night. Flavor is nutty/coffee. Good aftertaste, not the best. If you can get it on tap, it’s absolutely wonderful.

The Dan Journal #26. Tasted 5/30/06. 12oz bottle vintage 1989! Thanks to Joe at Corral for this absolute gem! Pitch and thick. Toffee and sugary aromas. Notes of caramel grapes port wine and anise. DAMN! This is a complex brew! Full bodied and oily. Flavors of peat and vanilla. port and prunes. Flums and dark fruits. Leather. Damn! This was amazing. This is on the top five all time best!

22 oz bottle via Liquid Solutions. Pours a midnight black with an average size tan head. Nose is espresso and licorice. Taste is the same with some burnt malts. Very roasty aftertaste.Medium body, easy to drink. A very good solid stout.

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...

Pours a pitch black with a modest tan head with great retention. Aroma is lovely and enticing - chocolate & dark coffee. Tastes fantastic - nice and bitter chocolate with plenty of roasted coffee character and just a hint of sweetness, nice and dry. Lingering burnt finish, nice hops, touch of alcohol. Wonderful thick body with plenty of carbonation. This tastes like a much stronger imperial stout, even though it’s just a stout. Tasty, tasty, tasty!

Very nice roasted malt aroma. Not overpowering, but very precise. No off aromas here. Pours very nearly black. Carbonation is light but a good thick tan head forms and sticks around awhile. Nice roasty malt profile up front with a noticeable, but not overpowering hop presence in the finish. Nice and roasty throughout. Creamy, with some notes of dark chocolate and coffee. This is a well made stout that warms you up on a cold January day.