Sweetwater Happy Ending Imperial Stout

Brewed by Sweetwater Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Atlanta, Georgia USA

This is one of my favorite beers of all time and actually turned me onto the darkest of the dark beers.

This is a close second to SW Festive beer. Very thick and tasty. Excellent on a cold winter night.

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.

on tap@ BIGGDADDYS I really enjoyed this one. It is a shame they didnt make more of it. Pours dark, and the finish is "sweetly" devine. Hope this brew from the boys makes a come back next season.

Another winner from Sweetwater! Pours a rich chocolate brown with a thick, brown, persistent head. Aroma has strong burnt coffee component and also a curious "rubbery" hint, like a car tire. Flavor is like a good mocha - coffee dominates the taste, and there are ribbons of smoke and chocolate. Aftertaste has just a hint of unsweetened chocolate, and there is a little hoppy bitterness as well. It feels just a tad thinner than most stouts, but still does not disappoint.

2009 bottle. This is one hopped up Imperial Stout - although could be a black IPA like Stone’s 11th Anniv. Pours a medium black with a bit of tan head. wonderful pine and citrus hopped up aroma... this is the most hoppy "stout" I’ve had to date. thin to medium body with a nice bitter front with some coffee and chocolate coming through quite well. shallow on the bottom. very nice bitter finish lasting as long as a hopped up IPA ... Sweetwater has something special here.... it really deviates from the normal Imperial Stout which carries a heavy body with thick malts undertones. This one smacks you and does leave you with a smile on your face.

This stuff is good. Looks like oil after it has been in yor car for 15,000 miles...I mean this stuff is black....and as no translucency whatsoever....a stronger Georgia Brown

<P>ADDENDUM 1-30-05: What a difference a few months and a bourbon barrel did for this one. I’m not adjusting my earlier rating because I’m not sure how much of the improvement came from the age and how much from the barrel, but the body has thickened up (I noticed the same phenomenon in my homebrewed imperial stout) and the unbalanced hop bitterness has subsided to a merely supplemental flavor. Great melding with the bourbon flavor. This is in the 4.6-4.8 range in this format. <P>ORIGINAL 9-10-04: A nice creamy tan head with a black body that leaks light around the very edges. It’s a hoppy and sweet aroma with a bit of coffee and toffee underneath the hop resin. It’s not really huge in flavor or mouthfeel. Coal in the finish with more hops. Stone-like in that it’s got a fairly interesting hop profile, but the malt profile is a bit thin. A nice solid attempt at the style from a good brewery, but I’ll take the Dogwood Youngblood Imperial Porter over this one.