Sonoran Inebriator Stout

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

From notes taken at the Southwest Beer Festival in Scottsdale, Arizona. The conditions were hard to take notes in but these are the ratings and they stand. Draft. Good stuff. Well hopped with a good balance of flavor. Nice and bitter. The people that ran the tent were not too friendly but I didn’t let it affect my rating, although it did make me not want to sample any of their other offerings.

Bottle. Extremely black color with a small tan head. Roasted malt and bitter chocolate dominate the aroma.Taste is espresso strong with a nice hoppiness to balance it out. Silky smooth with a light dryness. Some dried fruits are also present. Packs a nice abv kick.

Aroma: brown sugar, smoke, mustiness, fish or seaweed, chocolate, and coffee--very complex
Appearance: deep brown-->black, tan head, lacing
Flavor: chocolate, coffee, some cream, vanilla, dark fruits, some roasted malts, smokiness, apparent hops
Palate: bit fizzy, bitter chocolate chip aftertaste--like the sweetness

Dark pour with a thin light brown head that faded fast. Aroma of dark malt, licorice, raisin, and oddly enough peanut oil? Malt/licorice dominate the taste with a slight alcohol kick in the finish. Not bad.

Very dark beer out of the bottle with a one finger brown head that diminished into an oil slick fairly quickly. Nose of licorice, molassass and Coca Cola. Full oily mouthfeel. Lots of dark fruit sweetness, toffee, bitter chocolate and some green hop bitterness that lingers in the finish. Great sipping brew.

Black, definitely black color with a small bubbly brown head. Sweet sour dough bread, strap molasses, over-ripe pears, with hints of smoke and bleu cheese - quite a peculiar aroma. Dark chocolates dominate in the flavor with some light coffee, almond liqueur and coconuts in the mix. Alcohol becomes more apparent and flavors seem to tin out as this warms. Interesting stuff. Thanks to TannerTavernboys for sending this my way.

I don’t know about you, but for me, there is always an eager anticipation when I pour an Imperial Stout. How black is it going to pour and how many onlookers are going to look on in shock? Black. Bittersweet, deep chocolate nose with notes of coffee, dark fruits and roasted malts. In terms of flavor, not exactly what I look for. This has more dark fruit flavors than it does roasted malt and chocolate flavor. Slightly astringent and this is too hoppy.

Appearance: solidly ebony, certainly Stygian, in other words, black as pitch, with a sturdy, thoroughly roasted brown head of foam. Aroma: plays it cooler than other IS’s, but still simmers and stews with flavor, deep and rich, with traces of licorice, chocolate, dark rum,pipe tobacco, cough syrup, and that’s when I’m inhaling deeply. Doesn’t stand out in the nose, not as complex as my favorites, so it loses some points there. Thick and flavorful on the palate, with a gripping texture...though, compared to the kings of the style, not as much so..and there’s my problem. I’m so taken with those powerhouse champions, that when someone comes along and does an IS that doesn’t knock me on my ass, but still fills the bill amiably enough, I’m less-than-satisfied. Well, screw me, I say! Expedition and Stormking have re-set the bar, indeed, but this very approachable, very tasty IS still creeps up on you, doesn’t come into the ring like a killer-diller, but gives the frontal lobes a bit of the ol’ rope-a-dope after all. Tasty, slick, full-bodied, full-flavored, an extraordinarily good stout! Soild malt, plentiful hops, perfectly integrated, altogether nice.