Sonoran Inebriator Stout

Brewed by Sonoran Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Phoenix, Arizona USA

Sample @ 6th Annual Strong Beer Festival. Mesa, Az.
Fermented malt and alcohol aroma. Black with tan head. Sweet flavor like licorice which tasted some what sticky. Alcohol very noticable in this one.

Funky label! Pours dark brown with a tan thin head. Smells of chocolate, yogurt, toffee, sweet cognac. Taste is woody with some nice mellowing chocolate and peppery tinges. Very surprising and very good.

Thanks to FlacoAlto for sending me this beer almost 2 years ago… I didn’t for get you, Mate!

Rating # 875
BIG bold inky black pour, heavy viscosity… Aroma is thick with dark pit fruits, Dates, Figs, truckloads of raisins, some brown sugar, molasses, bakers chocolate.. the flavor pulls in some agreeable smoked malts, vanillas bean… hints of oak cask add some tarty bitterness. The palate is huge… One Hell of a Well Aged Beer Here!

12 oz bottle via trade with jazz88 - Thanks Eric! - Pours black with a short brown head that fades fairly quickly. Aroma of coffee, chocolate, molasses and a touch of grape. Flavor is chocolate chips, roasted malts, some liccorice, a touch of vanilla, and a bit of musty basement taste. Quite complex in flavor. Palate is creamy and smooth. Very easy to drink for a 9.1% alcohol beer. The alcohol is completely covered. Very nice.

black with a large brown head. licorice and alcohol nose that has a green raisin tint. taste is slick, a quick tart then it goes to a coffee from cafe dumonde type flavor. vinous notes and a lingering chocolate flavor. alcohol comes out as it warms.

Bottle. Vinous strong grapey nose. Taste-bitter, thick, sweet, grape. Very nice sweetness without going overboard. Nice balance of sweet and bitter. Roasty, burnt toffee, ice coffee, bitersweet chocolate chips.

I let this one age for a year. I didn’t know it was an imperial stout when I poured it (I thought it was just a strong stout), so I was pleasantly surprised to see the oily dense, pitch black liquid with its dark head. NIce palate, accordingly, oily but not too syrupy and sweet, but in control. The flavors were coffee and chocolate with some layers of vanilla and hazelnut, it seemed. There was a little alcohol in the aroma, but not too much. I had a few doubts at the end but there was still much to like here (my wife liked it, too).

(12 oz bottle: Trader Joe’s in Pacific Beach, CA) Okay, I admit, I’ve had this beer for a long time, we’re talking a few years. It’s been in the back of my fridge the entire time. But I bought a 4-pack, and drank three right away. This fourth bottle has changed substantially from how I remember the first three. As I remember this beer, it was very sweet, moderately roast, lightly bitter, fairly alcoholic, kind of like an Imperial milk stout. This bottle has developed a bit of abrasiveness on the palate, with kind of a tangy, cidery mouthfeel, slightly sour and woody. There’s still a fair amount of sweetness, but it doesn’t dominate like in the other bottles. Moderate roast, bitterness and a gentle smoke in the finish. Black as tar on the pour, but with a very small head that can’t even cover the entire surface of the beer. Fades to, well, nothing, not even a small ring. I probably owe this beer a retry if I can ever get this beer again. I haven’t seen it in awhile.