Schooners Vindication

Brewed by Schooners Grille & Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Antioch, California USA

Draft at Bistro BA fest. Both sweet and sour in aroma and flavor. Strong malt underneath, and alcohol shows through as well. Good beer.

Draft at the Bistro’s BA Fest; Nose of molasses, smoke, and port wine; black with a very light head; flavor is plums, light sweet chocolate with a lightly tart finish.

Sampled from a keg at RBSG 08. Pours a deep, dark brown with a large, bubbly, tan head. Sour aroma, of malt and dark fruits. Big taste of burnt, toasted malt and sour fruit. Lingering sour and malt flavors. Interesting and tasty.

Draft... RBSG ‘08... This beer rocks!... Murky, dark brown ale with a small, creamy, beige head and fat bubbles here and there. Cinnamon, brown sugar, tangy acidity and cherries are a few of the snippets I’m picking up in the nose. The aoma, in fact, reminds me a bit of the Lost Abbey 2008 Sinners (blend) I sample earlier in the day. Full-bodied and creamy with moderate carbonation. The flavor starts off sweet, but is also very nicely bittered with additional notations of fruits and cherries. Dry finish. I love it!

From keg on the bus before RBSG on 08/02/2008. Dark black body with a medium fronthy tan head. Slightly sour aroma with some roastiness. Slightly sour flavor with some roast and chocolate. Light body with moderate carbonation.

Keg at RBSG. Pours a dark muddy brown with a dense creamy, retentive head. Brett and cherry nose. Flavor of chocolate, cherries, and dark wet grains. Dry and acidic finish, with a slightly puckering tartness. Interesting beer.

From a keg at RBSG. Poured deep, murky brown with a lively cap of beige head. The aroma picked up sour dark fruit skins over semi-sweet chocolate, molasses, and a touch of caramel.. interesting. The flavor had dry, dark fruity tartness hitting first with lightly-smoked caramel, chocolate, and molasses coming through after.. very candied at the end.. finished dry and sour with a scratchy, oaky feel. Medium-bodied with an interesting interplay of sourness and roast on the palate.. OK feel. This was an odd duck.

Out of a keg on the RBSG ’08 bus (thanks SD crew!). Pours dark brown (almost black) with a beige head. Great nose; tart, sour cherries, mocha and wood. Pretty complex; very tart, sour with somewhat of a (perceived) salty finish. Notes of light chocolate, mocha, sour cherries, wood and brett/funkiness. Medium light body - well attenuated with soft carbonation. Perhaps "Sour Ale" would be a more appropriate categorization for this beer.