Samuel Smiths Imperial Stout

Deep blzckish pour with decent head. Robust, malty, dusty and delicate. This is an example of the style which has had some restraint appllied. The softer and not overwhelming chocolate and coffee touches are well balanced by an equally powerful bittering hop quality. Not as powerful as others, but its balance and subtlety work well.

Bottle Stirchley Wines Birmingham. Poured a deep dark chestnutty brown colour. Muddy biege head that dissipated to virtually nowt. Curious aroma composed of chocolate brown sugar cut grass and nectarine. Medium body and carbonation. Malty flavour with a lorra dark fruit but lacking a certain something. You knw that je ne sais quoi .Was thinking yeah nice but im not blown away.

Ecco cosa mi ero dimenticato di votare! La Samuel Smith Imperial Stout! La ho portata su da Dude e ce la siamo asciugata in un baleno, mangiando qualcosa di molto buono che però non mi ricordo come mai?. Che delizia questa Imperial Stout eheh la avevo già assaggiata al Mulino di Villaromagnano.

Bottle 500ml. Poured black with red tones around the edges and a tan head. Aroma of caramel and chocolate. Palate thick and smooth. Chocolate and roasted coffee flavors. Finished slightly bitter

Pours completely opaque black. Even held up to a bright light it only very faintly highlights as brown. Head is about a finger thick and dissipates pretty quickly. Nose has some strong alcohol notes, and a bunch of dark things. Some pruny raisiny notes and maybe a hint of peaty smokiness, but just a hint. Underneath all of that, there is a hint of chocolatey roasted malts. Fairly complex, but does not seem to hint at much in the way of hops. First thing I notice in my mouth is that it is unbelievably creamy and smooth. Carbonation is low but appropriate. In the mouth the malt comes out a bit more. Plenty of chocolate notes, and some black roasted grain as well. There is just a hint of spiciness at the back, and the flavour of deep chocolate and toffee malts lingers in the mouth for quite some time. At the start of the finish there is some hop bitterness, but there is not much hop flavour anywhere. This is an excellent beer.

Bottle. Cellar temp. Pours black with a thick, creamy brown head. There is chocolate in the aroma, almond and marzipan, some distant grape and smoke. The mouthfeel is wonderful and thick. This starts sweet with more grape leading to some candy, plum, milk chocolate, a bit of coffee bean and a slight, slight bitterness in the finish.

Pours black with a copious, frothy brown head. Heavy carbonation. Aroma was very hoppy and nutty, with malt, chocolate, caramel, & roasted coffee. Taste was a light hop taste, with a strong malt backbone. Nice notes of coffee, caramel, & cinnamon. Long lingering chocolate taste. Very light, yet creamy mouthfeel. Finish is very malty. Very good beer.

Pours to a deep dark color with a minimal head. Lots of deep dark chocolate on the nose. On the palate, the Imperial Stout is thick, rich and full of coffee and dark chocolate. While other commenters have drawn attention to the beer’s alcohol, it’s not overly prevalent and is, for this style, quite low. Hoppy at the end, but not so as to overpower the lingering malt. A real standard-bearer for the style. Good thing this is widely available.