 shigadeyo (1361), Southwest Ohio Area, Ohio, USA
May 10, 2008
Bottled in 2006
5/10/2008: Thomas Hooker Imperial Porter pours a dull, dark cola brown color and has a really frothy tan head that is long-lasting and creates some nice lacing. Aroma includes dry roasty malt, over-ripen berries, deep red wine, and touches of chocolate. The flavor is toward the sweeter side in the front paired with roasted malt and smooth milk chocolate. It become more dry and slightly bitter (like dark chocolate bitter and coffee beans) toward the finish along with a very slight ashy quality. The dichotomy creates a great balance for this beer. No alcohol can be deciphered in amongst the flavors. This beer is medium to full-bodied and has a velvety texture. Overall this beer is good, but not great. It seems a bit weak for an Imperial Porter.
500 ML flip-top bottle ($7.99) from Derosier’s in Freeport, Maine. Rating #203 for this beer...
asheft (740), Marburg, Germany
Aug 18, 2008 [big bottle]
Very nutty and vinous aroma that’s almost alarmingly sour with white grape. Black with bubbly tan cover. The taste opens with a tangy and sweet pumpernickel that develops into bitter coffee and ends somewhat abruptly in bitter walnut. Lots of dried fruit. Medium body with moderate carbonation and a dark malt bitter coffee finish.
Beershine (1207), Miami Beach, Florida, USA
Aug 8, 2008 2006 bottle. Rich, black, thick tan head. Abundantly aromatic. Rich coffee, chocolate-covered cherries, tiramisu, but also earthy. Surprisingly lively carbonation. Tastes slightly tinny, detracting what could have been a very good beer in its prime.
crazyvin (1072), New York, USA
Jul 19, 2008 ’o6 bottle was expecting a little more here. It poured a modest looking brownish color with a thin bone color head that hardly lasted. A mild aroma of roasted coffee and caramel notes. Flavor was somewhat bitter, like bakers chocolate. Some weird fruit notes to it. Finish was somewhat dry.
BlackDonald (1040), North Carolina, USA
Jul 16, 2008 ’06 Vintage - Pours a murky dark brown, with a small but modest tan head. Roasty, mild coffee nose. Has a bit of harsh astrigency, but nice moderate carbonation levels, the aftertaste is what turns me off, but I just cannot put my finger on what it is. Loads of milk chocolate, cocoa and a bit of nuttiness. Their is some fruit here but its quite dry and almost vinous. Just not one for my palate.
eaglefan538 (2039), Wilmington, Delaware, USA
Jul 12, 2008 Bottle shared by sloth, the 03 vintage. Good head present with a semi-intentional vigorous pour. Full dark brown-black body. Aroma was hershey syrup chocolate with some maple notes. The flavor followed the aroma, molasses and caramel notes also mixing in there, light notes of oxidation over top, but nothing distracting or prohibitive of enjoyment. Body was malty, a touch sticky, but not syrup-like or overly cloying, although this was a tad too malty imbalanced and uninspiring to be great. Maybe it didn’t improve with age? Bert, thanks for sharing!
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