Sweetwater Happy Ending Imperial Stout

Pours a deep brown. Nose is earth hops, roasted malt, cocoa and some mild coffee notes. Flavor is bitter hops, toasted grain, dark roasty malts, cocoa and coffee.

12oz bottle. cellared for over a year and a half....decent pour renders mostly black with brown edges and a quickly dissipating light beige head.... aroma hugely on soy and oxidized notes... flavors of soy chocolate and a little lactic sourness which was somewhat unexpected. medium carbonation and thin mouthfeel. not very good i’m afraid.

My Bottom Line:
Fruity molasses and roasted malt curves veer into a lengthy grassy and resinous bitterness for an intense, boozy Imperial Stout experience.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam tops the brownish blackness.
-The mouthfeel is almost flaccid (carbonation is quite low), making the dextrins appear too important in the flavor profile.
-Roasted malts accompany the potent hopping in the bitterness department, but the hops still dominate that part of the brew.
-Light citrusy protrusions add complexity.

Bottle; 2009 vintage.

giant 33.8oz 2008 bottle. #797 of 3000. got this in Asheville, NC -- can’t remember where though. black pour with two fingers tan head. roasty coffee and oatmeal aroma. medium bodied. taste is roasted malts, coffee, caramel and chocolate. backed up with some dry hops. good stuff.

Bottled, about 1 year old 񢉘). Pours with about 3/4" of head even after pouring from nearly a foot high. The aroma is chocolate, espresso, coal, cinnamon, ginger, apple, bread pudding — really quite nice. The flavor is a bit sweet, lightly chalky with some white chocolate, but not nearly as complex or enticing as the aroma. Could use a touch more body too. Still, a nice effort for sure.

The appearance is a thick chocolate-brown head, with little bubbly pockmarks; just massive. The beer is dark, dark brown-black; completely opaque. Looks like a Big Beer. Spiderweb of lace. The smell is sweet hops, tangerine and blood oranges. The hops also have some sweet pine. Balanced with a roasted black malt. The hops are superior. The taste is a very dark burnt-cookie malt; rich and burnt. The hops are a sweet, rich, fruity balance. The flavors are disparate but they are harmonious. The feel is a dry malt, with an oily-wet hop feel. Overall, it’s incredibly bitter, uncommonly sweet. I’ve had few stouts with this level of hops, and they make all the difference.

Bottle shared by GodOfThunder @ otakuden’s Vero Beach Throwdown. Pours black with brown head. Aromas of burnt malts and coffee. Roasted malt, coffee and citrus hop flavors. Full body with moderate carbonation.

notes.
How: Bottle 12oz. Consumed when about 1 year of age. Thanks to Jimbowood for sending it my way.
The look: Black body topped by a small dark beige head
In long: Pleasant nose blending roastiness, chocolate and bakery. Full body with a creamy texture. Very roasted (almost burnt) malts with a chocolate cake and creamy brownies taste and a light blubbery pie flavour (!?). Generously hopped with a juicy citrusy (dry hopping?) bitterness that clashes with the highly roasted malts. Alcohol a little apparent. It would have been a nice somewhat complex pleasant impy stout had it not been for this asparagus flavour I was getting (I sometimes get that from highly roasted impy stout). I’m not sure if the vegetables/asparagus notes are intrinsic to the beer or if it was just my bottle/batch. The beer had potential and I’d like to try another batch/bottle. I’d like to buy some more but I’m in Montreal so the only Happy Endings I can purchase are from my masseuse.