Pike XXXXX Stout

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

22oz. Bottle (at 7%ABV): Aroma of chocolate, slight roasted malts, and a hint of cream. Poured pitch black in color with a small, rocky, dense, solid brown head that lasted throughout. Opaque. Average lacing. Not sparkling. Flavor is lightly sweet and medium bitter. Tasted of chocolate, bitter coffee, roasted malts, slight piney hops, and a slight hint of vanilla. Medium body. Lightly dry texture. Average carbonation. Roasted, chocolate, coffee finish is lightly dry.

Black color with a thin head. Interesting aroma of barley and black currant. Totally unexpected flavor that reminded me of madiera. Sour and malty with a strong bitter finish. Syrupy.

[Bottle, thanks Skyview] Pours dark brown with a dark tan head. Aroma is light hops, roasted malt, some chocolate, leather maybe?. Taste is hoppy, long roasted taste. Slightly bitter at the end. Thin with a long finish. Average, but too hoppy for my liking.

(bottle, thanks Skyview) Pours black with a dark tan head. Aroma is somewhat subdued, but there is some dark chocolate and roasted malt present. Taste is of roasted malt with dark chocolate, with a coffee bitterness on the finish. Not bad, but a little thin.

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.

(Dry-hopped version from Brouwer’s Hopfest ’08) Interesting attempt. The addition of hops mellows the malt and smoke but doesn’t amount to much pine/floral in the taste, more so on the nose and finish. A bitter stout.

05.11.2008. On Tap at the brewpub. The Pike Brewing Co, Seattle, Wa. The colour is black. Aroma is rich with a strong mouthfeel. Some coffe aroma.

Pours a khaki head with legs and a dark brown body. Smells of smoke, roast, and caramel. Flavor is the same. Little thin. Finish is a little sour, some bitterness, and smoke.