Pike XXXXX Stout

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

Draft at Pke Pub & Brewery, Seattle, WA. Tan head that was mostly lasting with absolutely beautiful lacing, opaque, no visible carbonation, and a black hue. Nose was roasty, coffee, some smokey notes, malty. Flavor was roasty, coffee, lightly smokey, and lightly bitter. Mouthfeel was smooth and somewhat thin. Light-medium bodied. Needs a little more body to it to be a true stout IMO. Quaffable, easy drinking and worthy of a try.

Opaque black color with a dense kahki colored head. Roasty aroma with some plum and coffee. Lots of dry roasted barley flavor, very light sweetness and a light mint note. Some cocoa in the finish. Pretty nice stuff.

Bottle. Pitch black color. Meager brown head forms and then fades rather quickly to a slight ring. Aroma of kalamata olives and dirty ashtray initially. As the beer warms it takes a more pleasant aroma of moderate smoke and wood. Medium bodied and quite smooth as Oakes notes. Lower carbonation level which is befitting. Pleasant roasted grain flavors. Not overly astringent, decent hop levels. Chocolate and dark coffee. Quite nice.

2002 Vintage. Pours black with brown head. Lots of roasted malt and molasses in aroma with a litte coffee and chocolate as well. Exactly same on flavor. Was a little bit thin, otherwise a fine stout.

22oz bottle. pours black with tan head. aroma of oats, bakers chocolate, piney and citrus hops, roasty. flavors are chocolate, a tad astringent roast, grassy and piney hops. med body, a pretty nice hoppy stout.

In short: A superior chocolaty stout with a wide range of supporting flavours. Tasty and refreshing.
How: Bottle 22oz, age unknown but consumed with a week after receiving it from after4ever. Thanks a lot Tom.
The look: Black body with a short-lived tan head
In long: Upfront I found a lot of roastiness and quite a bit of chocolate. There’s a creamy taste/texture, almost lactic, reminding me of chocolate ice cream. Black liquorice joins in with some dark fruits and a very light roasted coffee beans taste. Although the taste has very little coffee, the after-taste had a lot of sweetened black-coffee and chocolate cake. Medium-strong bitterness. I felt a little warming alcohol presence which is surprising for a below 7% stout. Although very tasty, almost aggressive, there’s something about this beer that makes it refreshing even if these are not the usual “refreshing” flavours. I liked it a lot. The annoying thing is that I couldn’t enter my rating from work as usual because I got a “Porn Block” from the firewall because of the XXX in the name. Not only do the network admins see me on ratebeer all day long, now they think I’m a drunk and a pervert. That’s just great.

12oz bottle.
Bonus from acertain. Pours a dark and gloomy brown-black with wisps of creamy tan head. Aroma is straight from the School of How A Stout Should Smell -- rich, roasty, chocolaty, caramel-y, topped of with vinous alcohol. Flavor is, not surprisingly, rich, roasty, chocolaty, caramel-y, topped off with vinous alcohol, only the dry toasty grain plays an appropriately larger role than in the aroma. Palate is disappointingly thin for a beer that smells and tastes this big. Still, I wouldn’t turn one of these down just for its weak mouthfeel. A fine brew.

A nice full bodied ale. This is a very hoppy stout, and upon the first sip, it almost had grapefruit notes similar to an IPA. This particular stout has a strong flavor to it, very potent in regards to the style. A decent beer that I wouldn’t mid buying again.