Pike XXXXX Stout

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

2001-2002 - Black as coffee and strong as espresso, a huge creamy head that never quits with incredible lacing. Big, full bodied chocolate flavor, that was very thick and creamy and very tastey.

A decent roasty stout with a nice smokey coffee flavor. Very full-bodied, with a dry finish. I like.

Black Coloring with Tan Head. HEavy Load of Sweet/Dry Barley. Pretty Crazy Tasting Stout. Really Sweet Barley Taste That Quickly Becomes Bitter and Dry at the End. Syrapy Mouthfeel. Really Tasty but Wimper at the Thought of Having Another.

It was the Great Mastertrader Sham that supplied me with this stout! My buddy Sham must really enjoy Mastertrading, I think he Mastertrads whenever his women goes out of town. He’s also a damn nice guy, Thanks for the beer Sham!

Release: 2003-2004
Pours as black as the night in the jungles of Borneo with a fluffy toffee colored head of foam. The nose introduces notes of toffee, raisins, mocha, and cappuccino. The flavor is VERY toasty! Highly kilned chocolate malts, oily French Pressed coffee to no end, a bitter / sweet shock to the palate on the first sip! Rather smoky and chocolaty…. Large suggestions of oak and even some bourbon like submissions. Probably the most black coffee resemblance I have ever had packed into a beer, and I like it!
The palate is phenomenal, Creamy as chocolate moose… and that’s GOOD Stuff!

(bottled). This bottle was at least two years old. Very deep mahogany color with a tan, proud head. Rich, sherry aroma with background roasted malt. Full-bodied, strong malt with a phenolic twang and lots of roasted character. Lingering, firmish bitterness makes a nice finish. I'd love to try this fresh!

Opaque with frothy tan head and brown ring, good lacing. The aromas hint of smoky burnt dark and chocolate malts, espresso, touch of molasses, mild berries, aromatic hops, and dusty yeast esters. The taste is bitter and twangy, coffee and chocolate at the forefront (piney notes show up at the end). Undertones of peat and salt, wood, and chalky yeast. The finish is a tad too short but some bitterness and smoky characters do linger around a bit. The mouthfeel has a crisp and lively nature, very dry. Interesting to say the least, more a dry stout than anything else, and a darn good one at that. Be ready for a surprise, a love it or hate it brew. Not an extra stout however. Another stout via Acrodizer, thanks buddy!

A solid pour produces a cresting, almost four-finger thick, rich, creamed chocolate brown colored head in my 25cl tulip glass. The head leaves lots of sticky lacing as it slowly recedes. The beer is just about perfectly black and doesn’t pass any light no matter how close I hold it up to my desk lamp. Sharply acidic roast notes mix with a rich cocoa aroma up front. Other aromatic notes of salty smoked peat, burnt toffee, a rich toasted grain base, a concentrated cocoa note and an almost meaty rich malt driven note that I can’t quite pinpoint (lots of Maillard browning and an umami effect), but it really boosts the richness of the aroma and provides a substantial foil to the up front burnt acidity.

Lightly sweet, but significantly rich, towards the middle the roast malt provides an acidity and dry burnt flavor that almost drowns out the malt sweetness, but in the finish the malt sweetness makes a comeback. Ultimately this beer finishes dry as a sharp, softly acid, burnt bitter roast character is what ends up lingering on the palate. Burnt, dark chocolate notes envelope the tongue for a time as the malt sweetness lingers and this beer has a certain velvet-like texture that helps boost the chocolate notes as well. This really is pretty thick and rich (especially for a beer of 6.6% abv), it is quite chewy, though the burnt, acidic, slightly acrid, roast malt definitely cuts through the richness a fair amount. Lingering in the finish is also a significant hop bitterness that couples with the roast bitterness. As the beer warms I begin to notice an almost salty, smoky character to this beer.

Despite being so roast dominated (and by this I mean the sharper, harsher notes), I am really enjoying this beer, there is enough other rich, offsetting / balancing flavors that this beer is just quite enjoyable. Just a fantastic, rich, stout that isn’t too strong; in fact it is much richer than its alcohol might suggest and this is actually quite nice.

Purchased: Liquid Solutions

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.