Samuel Smiths Imperial Stout

Brewed by Samuel Smith
Style: Imperial Stout
Tadcaster, England

Pours pitch black with thick brown head. Sweet-fruity nose with coffee and raisins. Creamy, smooth mouthfeel and full body. Wonderful sweet-sour taste with chocolate, sweet malt, plums and raisins. Nice!

Pours nicely and has a gorgeous light chestnut head. Dense bubbles, holds throughout. Detectable alcohol as it pours, but that smell is soon replaced by a nice roasted malt aroma. Beautiful and deep dark brown accompanied by swirls of burgundy and black. Nice oily quality, and I mean that in a good way. Slides right down the tongue, sort of a nice effervescent dance almost. At room temperature the yeast is detectable but not at all overwhelming, and lets the bitter chocolate flavors come out, as well as the deep fermented fruit flavors. Perhaps a hint of coffee -- like a good French roast in a French press -- comes out, but it’s quite faint. Very nice and very drinkable.

18 oz bottle from the Four Firkins. Dark brown pour with a tan head. Aroma and flavor are boozy and have notes of dark fruit. Sweet thick mouthfeel.

Porterfestival, Göteborg 2009-11-14, Bottle Supprise - nice stout! AP: black body light brownish head AR: coffe, mild chocolate, dark read berries F: coffe, mild chocolate, dark read berries, butter scotch,

pours out nice and black with a thick mocha colored head that was about 2.5 fingers thick after i poured some what viscious and it was thick and lumpy and very slow to fall. the body is dark and black with no light penetration what so ever. there is a decent amount of lacing in the glass that sticks fairly well. the aromas are fairly week and not pungent. i can smell chocolate, coffee, and toffee as the main aromas. it is a little more then medium bodied with a silky mouthfeel and just the right amount of carbonation. the taste is sweet and chocolatley on the tip of the tongue and savory in the finish. i get roasted malts, caramel, toffee, sugar, plum, coffee, and some other wonderful ingredient that perfectly balances this beer out. the aftertaste is sweet and well balanced that lingers for just the right amount of time. great beer.

Presentation: 550 mL brown bottle, 7.0%ABV with a black & gold printed label on white paper and gold foil wrapper. Very pretty. Aroma: Lots of malts and coffee. Very fruity too. Prunes? Appearance: Jet black with a thick tan head that disperses quickly. Flavor: Tons and tons of roasted barley malt flavors. A very sweet plum/prune flavor-perhaps a bit more than I prefer in an Imperial Stout. I am a bigger fan of hops & coffee flavor over fruit. Palate: More alcoholic intensity than you would expect with a 7.0% ABV beer. It is pretty thin too and very carbonated. Overall: Not enough bitterness and chocolate/coffee flavor for my liking in an Imperial Stout... Still, very drinkable and and enjoyable.

Aroma: Malts, dark fruit, coffee, chocolate. Appearance: Pours almost black with a dense tan head that last. Flavor: Dark fruits, roasted malts, chocolate, some bitterness on the finish. Palate: Oily, medium-short finish, lightly carbonated. Overall: This is a great beer, but it’s closer to a stout/porter than an imperial stout IMHO. None the less a great beer for $3.49 a single

Bottle - So I had this right after Speedway, which probably wasn’t the best idea. It pours nice--all deep and dark with a nice tan head. Everything else felt pretty muted. The smell was tough to get. There’s some chocolate in there, as well as some booze, but it’s hard to pull it out of the snifter. Taste is sweet and caramelly, with some light bitterness, some smoke, and some burnt, roasty flavors. They’re fine on their own, but they never dance together in concert to create a truly integrated taste. It’s smooth alright, and nicely carbonated, but it just felt a little blah.