Pike XXXXX Stout

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

Draft at the brewpub. Sweet, roasty aroma, plenty of dark cocoa and brown sugar to go with light touches of flowery hop and espresso. Very nice. Thoroughly opaque black color with a lasting tan head. Flavor is full of roast and cocoa as well, bittersweet, with a good dosage of fresh, leafy hop flavor, not much in the way of bitterness, though, as the bittering balance in the equation seems to belong solely to the dark, coffeeish, grainy malts. Good blend. Piney, very lightly fruity hoppiness, malts are very darkly roasted and sweet, working well in conjunction. Very full-flavored, makes for an appropriate dessert beer or digestif. Creamy mouthfeel, smooth and full. Nearing Imperial caliber. This is just a great stout, and I need more of it.

lots of bitter chocolate - almost burnt flavor. little coffee. pitch black. little bit of hoppiness. pretty good - but doesn’t have the complexity of say stone’s imperial.

Draught sample. Great toasted grain aroma. Molasses and caramel. Coffee and hit of chocolate, with light fruity hops. Dark black clear with tan head. Heavy bodied with medium carbonation. Thick and rich with coffee and chocolate bitter tang. Light smoke. Sweet toasty grains with deep bitter finish and creamy smoky after. Nice stout.

Sampled from 50 deg to 55 deg F.
Pours a deep dark brown color with a dark tan head. The aroma went from intense smokey to a nice raosted coffee bean, bittersweet chocolate, hops bitterness character. The flave was at first intense smokey and woody, and then became more chocolate in character...some hops bite...definite roasted coffee bean tone. The feel was, as the bottle says, velvety, silky smooth. Interesting stout. Very good.

Draught pints at Redbones, 11/7/06 and 12/10/06
Deep, deep raven-black beer is opaque through the middle, but upon settling, and against the light, shows garnet-auburn tints on the edges, with some clarity at the sides. Creamy, beige/light-tan head sits atop the beer, not very much of it, but quite well-retained, providing moderate lacing.
Very interesting bittersweet nose has a cohesive mix of cola, prunes, raisins, brandy, dates, maraschino cherries and moderate roast. It smells fluffy....with vanilla cream notes lingering long on the finish and medium sweet cherry notes really adding a great strength of aroma. Not sure what’s creating the cherry vanilla-like nose, but it’s tastefully done. Some light milk chocolate and very light bakers chocolate give additional balance, while a light, fruity hoppiness emerges with warming. Probably the responsible party for the cherry notes, and sure enough, some light citrus notes emerge as well, over time. But aromatic and juicy are the hops, only lightly done and not bitter in the least. Promising is the aroma.
A combination of chewy, almost caramel-molasses-like consistency, well-placed jabs of dry roast and then a softly sweet cherry vanilla flavor certainly pleases. Very well balanced, though tending somewhat sweet, the initial chocolate-caramel-vanilla flavors evolve in to a vast sea of dark fruits. Raisins, prunes, dates, cherries...A faint bit of tartness, be it dark malt or lacto induced helps nip the sweetness and the finish ends with a toned-down roastiness, that incorporates more light chocolate and a touch of leafy, juicy hops. This beer is all about warming. Though it’s good cool, the complexities that emerge as it breathes/warms are just plain impressive. All the interesting, unique flavors of a foreign stout, even something like De Dolle’s, but with plenty more chocolate, light hops and vanilla creaminess bringing back in to the American realm. None of the sugary sweetness of a foreign stout and more complexity than your usual oatmeal or standard brewpub stout. No alcohol noted in aroma or flavor. Fairly engaging carbonation is low to moderate, fitting the bill aptly.

On tap at the brewery. Black mud. Brown head. Dark roast aroma. Thick black coffee stout. Very black. Very good.

From the 650 ml bottle with no obvious lot code or expiration date. Everything about this suggests it is something solid and firm. It pours from the heavy weight bottle an opaque brown with creamy brown head and decent lacing. The aroma is alive with smoky chocolate malt with the strength of an Imperial Stout. The mouthfeel is creamy and bold. The taste tingles with coffee, chocolate and hops and settles fine on the palate. This was a topnotch stout.

Bottle in trade from thethrone. Thanks man! Pours black with a nice creamy tan head. Smell is dark roasted malt, coffee, a touch of burnt ashiness, some dark chocolate and and some creaminess as well. Very nice. Taste is very much along the lines of the smell with some bitter dark chocolate, burnt malt and rich dark, dry coffee flavors abound. Just a slight twinge of faint fruitiness near the end, but bitterness takes it over and lingers subtly in the end. Very flavorful for what it is, and a solid mouthfeel and drinkability. Very nice stout.