Pisgah Vortex II

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

Bottle from the Otown throwdown. Fogdog again with a bad ass beer!! dark dark brown with a tan had. Aroma is very nice. Molasses, vanilla, sugar, roasted malt and chocolate. Flavor is really good. Coffe, chocolate, roast, vanilla, dark fruit and is nice and sweet. My kind of RIS!!

Sample at O-town throwdown ’09 courtesy of fogdog. Pours black with beige head, nice golden lacing. Aroma has ample notes of roastedmalts and coffee. Taste, lots of roasted malty, good presence of coffee/mocha with a sweet butterscotch like mouthfeel that reminded me a lot of the goodness of ST creme brulee. No way to tell this was a 11.7% beer.

Sampled at C&P Otown Throwdown, big thanks to whoever brought this! Pours black with a thin tan head. Huge coffee aroma with a little chocolate and roasted grain. Taste is a little sweeter, with coffee, chocolate and vanilla and a great body. Quality brew.

Bottle shared by strelnikov at a tasting. Thanks! Pours a dark black with short lived light tan head. Smell is sugary sweet chocolate and rich cake like fudginess. Taste is also quite sweet without much bittering hops or dark roastiness, but for a sweeter imperial stout it is still quite good. Rich body and medium carbonation and no sign of the 11.7% alcohol which was nice. I can’t get over how much this reminded me of the ’08 Darkness. Enjoyable stuff.

Fresh from Bruisin’ Ales. Pours black and some white head. Aroma is pleasant roasty and malty. Taste is very sugary, this is like a milk stout, a sweet stout only somewhat better. I managed to drink the bomber, it is drinkable and pleasant enough. Some chocolate and one sip seemed coffee. This is sugar cup of coffee, and how many cups can I drink?

22 oz. bottle. Black from edge to edge, voluminous, creamy tan head which proves to be quite durable. Rings of sticky lace don’t disappoint. Intense espresso, dark chocolate, treacle, burnt caramel aromas beckon. Smooth and creamy, with a full, rich mouthfeel, and very light carbonation that pleases the palate. Well balanced flavors of dark malts and soft, subtle bitterness which rounds out the lingering, slightly sweet, finish. Excellent and drinkable, a testament to the brewer’s skills.

pours a darkest of the brown hue, decent head pool ... some tar, cigar, dark old molasses,chocolate covered peanuts and slight burnt malt alcohol in the nose ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd6lrgn9sw8 ... pretty easy to put down, the abv seems to work well, needs maybe a year to mellow .. for being organic; fine stuff,but not the best-est example but decent .. needs more...

22oz bomber poured into a tulip. Pours an opaque black with only the slightest hint of mahogany showing through the edges. The head is massive and tan, forming a lasting cap which leaves spotty lacing. The nose has sweet dark fruit and lots of lightly roasted malts. There’s also plenty of espresso and chocolate in the background. It’s a fairly sweet nose with the roasted character not taking it to far. The taste follows the aroma and might be even a tad sweeter. It’s got a big sweet licorice and chocolate malt kick up front before giving way to the slightly roasted malts. The finish is back to the sweetness with an interesting fruitiness and hints of coffee. The mouthfeel is ultra creamy and velvety smooth with nice soft carbonation and plenty of body. This is a very good imperial stout from Pisgah and more on the sweeter side of things. I don’t think it’s quite as good as Valdez in my book but it’s still quite tasty. Recommended!