Pisgah Vortex II

Brewed by Pisgah Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Black Mountain, North Carolina USA

Bottle shared by CaptainCougar? at Joe’s place (man, he brought a lot of beer to this thing) - hey, I found more notes from this tasting - hurray! - coffee, coffee, and more coffee all over this one - vanilla bean, dark chocolate an leathery notes also in the aroma - flavor is equal parts coffee roastiness/bitterness, and cream sweetness - the interplay between these qualities creates some dark fruit and woody notes - not as complex as some imperials, but pretty tasty.

Dark brown beer. Very toasty aroma, vanilla, chocolate, caramel, and molasses. Some soft cherry/plum fruitiness and a heavy chewy maltiness. Leathery dark chocolate over a rich plummy character. Strong, lingering roast.

Black with no head. The aroma was of molasses, deep roasted malt, chocolate, and light dark fruit. The taste was the same with sweet thick after taste.

Big thanks to both jayg and DragonStout for each of them bringing a bottle of this tasty brew. Pours a dark mahogany with thin tan head. Big molasses and burnt malt aroma with the aid of wood, caramel and alcohol. Pretty thick mouth feel that ushers in a load of palate punching flavors with sweet mostly molasses, black patent malts, barrel aged woodiness, hints of fortification, caramel sweetness, chocolate that is neither here nor there and more black patent malts. Very nice full flavored brew that could use a bit of melding of flavor notes with additional age. Darn tasty right now though.

Very thin tan head, quickly and fully diminishing. The body is very dark brown with multi-hued reds(crimson, chestnut) and opaque, clearly bottle conditioned. The appearance is very average but for multiple subtle underlying coloration schemes. A well-crafted roasted grain profile skips forth in the nose. Chocolate covered nuttiness is the foremost element in a standard and reclusive aroma. Sweet, succulent espresso follows. Alcohol, in an ethanol and Rhum styled presentation, is strong and unbridled. Roasted grain is full, comforting and seems well-suited for a biting-cold wintery night. Herbal hops are moderate, as well as tobacco and smoked wood hints. The flavor develops an incredible lack of malt depth. A stark shortage of bitterness and roastiness is neither a contrast of a moderately diminutive aroma, nor a surprise. Coffee notes envelope chocolate, now swamped by staunch lactic acidity. Sweetness is medium to medium-high, bitterness low, astringency low to mild and medicinal and herbal. The finish is smooth, very slowly drying from evident alcohol and mild roasted malt. The mouthfeel is softly and sparsely carbonated, has gaping watery pockets with oils swimming at a quickened pace across the palate, and is medium to medium-full bodied and wavering from one end of this short spectrum to the other. Very smooth and easy to drink, but with a total scarcity of substantial body throughout or depth of character. Therefore, average.

Courtesy jayg. Black with dark brown edges. Small tan cap mostly disappears. Roasty and bittersweet coffee and dark chocolate, light dose of bitter hops. Medium/full body, balanced carbonation, very drinkable. Not very complex but easy to drink. Good brew.

Date: 03/30/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Barley’s, NC

black, fine beige head, solid drippy lace, huge creamy body, sweet milk chocolate aroma with light roasted coffee character, rich chocolate flavor, good balance between dark chocolate bitterness and milk chocolate sweetness, light hop flavor and bitterness keeps the balance, another incredable chocolate imperial stout from the mountains of North Carolina

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4.1/5.0
Drinkability: 9/10
Score: ***+/4

Bottle provided by Jeff (zathrus13) and served in my Expedition snifter: Shows a deep brown near opaque hue with a fading fizzy tan head which left a small ring of bubbles and a light coating upon the glassware. The nose detected heavy sweet malts (toast, chocolate, rye, smoke), plum, starfruit, hint of coffee and tobacco esters, some grassy and herbal hop vapours and a bit of phenolic activity.

The taste starts equally sweet malty and fruity overtone with a base of rich semi-sweet chocolate. The midesection opens up some coffee bitterness and a dash of smoke. The finish is part warming alcohol and part dry wood.

The mouth feel is medium-bodied and oily with a moderate warming trend that increased as I drank the bottle. Honestly I wish this was a tad thicker to support the alcohol found within. A solid brew indeed from an up and coming brewery. A few minor tweaks and this could be killer. Worth a seek-out for any stoutie.