Samuel Smiths Imperial Stout

Brewed by Samuel Smith
Style: Imperial Stout
Tadcaster, England

My personal favorite from Samuel Smith and a great imperial stout. Pours pitch black with tan head. Excellent chocolate and malt flavor, with a nice heavy body. Aroma is very sweet and chocolaty, much like the taste.

Unfortunately the one bottle that I’ve had of this I shared with my friend Ander and was oxidized as hell, but woulda made lovely soy sauce...

Dark brown pour from the traditional 550ml bottle, this classic from wonderful brewery from Tadcaster, England is finest example of the often over-rated style, Imperial Stout. Sweet, chocolatey malt taste masks the strong alcohol presense that usually mar examples of this style. It’s fruitiness and complexity makes it almost closer to a dopplebok at times. I’m truly impressed.

Thought I’d come back and give something from England another try. Pours a very dark brown, with a tan head that dissipates rather quickly. The aroma is big on creamy chocolate, with some mildly roasty coffee and brown sugar. I actually really enjoy the aroma - it’s almost like a carton of darigold chocolate milk. It has a slightly sour note in the flavor, and is a bit thin / weak - somewhat disappointing, given the nice aroma. The aftertaste has a good roasty / bitter finish, but for the most part, this one fails to live up to its billing as "Imperial."

Weak aroma of chocolate and brown sugar. Opaque black pour with a huge brown head. Dark chocolate and sour cherries with hints of soy sauce on the edges. Horehound comes and goes. A little thistle and lemon grass is left behind. Medium body. Very good beer with reasonable complexity. The intrusion of horehound doesn’t work well, but it’s great otherwise. Another consistently good product from Sammy Smith.

Very dark pour with tan head. Aroma of chocolate milk, some dark fruits, a bit of coffee and roast. A sour note. Burnt chocolate milk flavor. Thin mouthfeel, thats probably a result of the filtering and pasteurization. It’s not a drainpour, but it’s definitely not something I’d want again.

Dark brown color with a very appetizing roasted malt aroma. Very smooth, complex imperial stout with smokiness, chocolate and coffee. Quite complex.

"Tons of beer smoke is pouring down the bottle and smells like milk chocolate and vanilla. Very dark brown body with large brown crown, excellent retention, and amazing roapy lacing. Dam fine looking brew. Apple juice is coming through in the aroma what seems very strange for the style, coffee and milk chocolate round out the aroma. I’ll say the smell is interesting but not all that good. Taste is yummy milk chocolate, coffee, banana, and on some sips I’m tasting just plain old milk. Flavor is overall sweet and it has a apple kind of flavor but it’s not apple it’s something ells (peach, raspberry maybe ?) brew is way more bitter now when warmer and more coffee is coming through in the flavor. PUMPKIN!!!! That’s what the mystery taste is its pumpkin and it lingering in the after taste for what seems hours. Complex brew that’s tasty to drink but seems not as good as others in the style."