Samuel Smiths Imperial Stout

RateBeer Rating, Style and Glass: 98, Imperial Stout, Snifter ABV, Volume & Calories: 7 % in 12 fl oz. estimated at 170 C Purchased at: Circle Liquors, Pennington, NJ for $3.50 Aroma: tannins, dark, roasted, chocolate, coffee, nice, inviting. 10 out of 10. Visuals: deep, murky, black, opaque, tan, persistent head, loose lace. 5 out of 5. Taste: deep, roasted, liquor, light bitterness, heavy malt flavors, layered, rich, well crafted. 9 out of 10. Palate: soda, heavy, oily, long, deep, delicious finish. 5 out of 5. Overall: Not quite up there with some other imperials, such as Stone, and not nearly as rich nor deep as something like Mikkeller’s Geek Breakfast, but highly available, and very delicious. I’d have it again in a heartbeat. It’s a great beer, and very well crafted. 18 out of 20.

Bottle. An excellent well rounded beer. Since my discovery of The Abyss, I’ve been trying a lot of Imperial Stouts to learn more about the style. This beer has a wonderful color, including its head (which seems a bit small). The flavor is subtle and does not whack one upside the nogging. The nose is probably the best part of the beer.

18.7 oz bottle. Dark brown with a quick settling tan head. Nose is molasses, licorice and coffee. Medium body with a light fizz. Taste is coffee, cola and prunes. Finishes with dark roast. Good stout, good balance but doesn’t thrill me.

1/2 liter. Aroma of chewy chocolate, mocha, plums. Dark, thick black in both appearance and body. Taste is bready chocolate goodness, with a smooth, long lasting, long finish.

pours dark, and lovely...a thin head, wheatish in color.... delicious aroma....chocolate hints, caramel....sweet and really beautiful smell. oh....amazing taste! So sweet...and malty. This tastes so crisp and perfect....it’s roasted, yet clean....just amazing....I think this is the best beer I’ve ever had! My tastes must have really developed over the last year, because I couldn’t imagine drinking this before. But now....this is brewed perfection. Thank you God for blessing us with brewed love!

Pours almost black with a creamy tan head. Aromas of toffee, chocolate, and butterscotch with only a hint of hop bouquet. Classic stout profile; big syrupy malt and assertive roasted barley flavors which collude to obscure the hop presence. Full bodied with a creamy, almost oily, mouthfeel. Long, toasty finish. Nothing to shake a stick at.

Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout is a brown black ale with a dense brown head that leaves nice lacing. The aroma is mostly of sweet malt, but it’s also grassy and fruity. It smells so damn good! It has a medium-full body that’s smooth and surprisingly crisp. The flavor is not overwhelming: sweet baked cookies, licorice and baking chocolate with a nice dark roastiness. It’s a very pulled-together flavor. There is a lick of medicine in the finish. This is a mature Imperial Stout.

This black ale poured with a decent tan head and a chocolate malt aroma. There is a full chocolate malt flavor with a chalky slightly bitter finish.