Triumph Imperial Stout

Brewed by Triumph Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Princeton, New Jersey USA

On tap at the Brew Pub, Philadelphia 18-11-08. Pours black with a creamy very Guinness like head on top apart from the head is tan in colour. The taste is exceptionally smooth and creamy with some nice soft and roasty flavours a bit like Irish coffee at times in both appearance and smoothness but with less of a coffee edge. The alcohol whilst ever present never intrudes and is a warming presence. A good beer that I was hoping would have been even better, but it lacked overall complexity to move it onto the next notch. A6 A5 F6 P4 OV14 3.5

Philly location. Now this is a great stout. Rich white head, creamy mouthfeel and good taste. Chocolate, coffee, roasted malt, and balanced well. Very drinkable.

On draft at the Chestnut Street location. Pours a sandy black with a thick creamy light brown head. Aroma of roasted malt and baking chocolate. Taste of creamy roasted malt with a hint of baking chocolate.

Pours pitch black with a darker tan head. That sweet malty nose abounds here. Flavor is strong malts with a perfume tone. Personally I think it detracts from the brew overall. Does have a nice roasted aspect to it. Feel is thick, but the general drinkability suffers from a lack of balance here. The imperial stouts really have to show some character, and this one just doesn’t come through as much as others do.

GABF 2007. Dark black color with some mildly transparent cola hues and a firm head of creamy tan. Gentle dark malt aroma that is saturated with English toffee, milk chocolate fudge, and vanilla bean. Certainly full of nice mid-malt notes, and not overly roasty or burned in the nose. Full bodied, creamy carbonated mouthfeel. A bit more firm in the mouthfeel than the nose, bringing out flavors of dark chocolate and French roast coffee before finishing with a bitter hop finish and some lightly tannic coffee beans. Quite nice, although I’d like to see some of the softer malt notes come through more on the palate like they did in the nose.

GABF 2007: Poured an opaque black color with a brown head. The aroma had a nice roasted malt with no coffee notes (I’m not saying that in a bad way). Hint of dark chocolate. The flavor was roasty and sweet. Full of flavor with a hoppy pine finish. Full mouthfeel.

Date: 10/11/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, GABF
Words: New Hope PA

black, fine tan head, lightly sweet dark chocolate and roasted aroma, rich dry dark chocolate flavor, bitterness from the dark chocolate, light roast for balancing bitterness,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

I had this on tap in Philly as a cask conditioned stout. They have a special every First Thursday of the month where they debut their specials. Just great.