Bent Brewstillery Dark Fatha Review

Name: Bent Brewstillery Dark Fatha
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.3%

Well after a long weekend of moving and 3 days without an internet connection, I have returned! Since it's my first night back in front of a keyboard, I figured that now would be an appropriate time for a beer review.

About 3 weeks ago, I picked up some beers from down in the Twin Cities and one of the brands I got my hands on was Bent Brewstillery. I have already looked at their Nordic Blonde Ale, which I found to be very good so now I'm taking a look at their Dark Fatha Imperial Stout, or "Emperial Stout" as it's known by on the front of the label. Speaking of which, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the heavy handed Star Wars references present here; They even gave the already pimped-out Darth Vader a gold "tooth," which is original to say the very least.

Dark Fatha pours an opaque black color with a very dark brown head. The lacing retention is very good and there is some minor carbonation climbing up the sides of the glass.

Aroma-wise, it starts off with some nice chocolate malts, a vanilla sweetness, some toffee notes and some moderate roasted barley. The roastiness and malty aspects of the nose are surprisingly well balanced.

With that said, the flavor is fairly similar but with more of a roasty characteristic than before. Aside from that, you have your chocolate malt, vanilla and toffee flavors but with the roasted barley taking more of the center stage. The aftertaste is a mix of sweet vanilla, roastiness and a surprisingly hoppy flavor that comes seemingly out of nowhere.

The palate is a whole is very heavy in terms of body weight with some moderate carbonation. Despite all of this, there beer does contain a surprisingly smooth texture.

While I wish the flavor was just as balanced as the nose, Dark Fatha is still a very good tasting Imperial Stout and it's decently priced (At least what I paid for it.) Anyone looking for a good local Imperial Stout would be wise to check this out

Bent Brewstillery Dark Fatha - 8.5/10

Ballast Point Sea Monster Review

Name: Ballast Point Sea Monster
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 10%

Last year Ballast Point Brewing started distributing to Minnesota and we have since seen an expanded lineup from the brewery. The other day I was at the store and saw this new offering from them....or at least I think it's new.

I may not be the most knowledgeable about the craft beer industry but I do know that this is an older style label that was once used by the brewery; The label even has an expiration date of 2014, which happens to be this year. Well, I'm going to tempt fate and give this beer a go. This is Ballast Point's Sea Monster, which is their Imperial Stout style ale.

Sea Monster pours a pitch black color with a khaki colored head. There is some mild carbonation climbing along the sides of the glass and the lacing is fairly abundant.

A strong chocolate malt profile kicks things off in the nose with a vanilla sweetness, roasted barley, and a mild but noticeable hoppiness.

Flavor-wise, you've got a chocolate malt base, with notes of vanilla, a strong roasted barley/coffee flavor and a surprisingly strong hoppiness, even by Imperial Stout standards. The aftertaste is a mild roasty aftertaste with just a hint of vanilla.

The palate is quite heavy in terms of body and the carbonation has a moderate feel. It's not creamy by any means, but it allows some of the flavors to sink in.

Sea Monster isn't going to blow you away with it's flavor but it is still a pretty vibrant Imperial Stout with a nice hoppy kick to it. Fans of the style will no doubt find something to enjoy with this beer.

Ballast Point Sea Monster - 8.5/10

Founders KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout) Review

Name: Founders KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout)
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 11.2%

Today's review is somewhat special to me, as you can see from the title. That's right, I bring to you my review of Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout or KBS for short. For as long as I have been into craft beer, this has been an Imperial Stout with a holy grail-like reputation.

For the past couple of years, this beer has always seemed to elude me because I'm either not looking in the right places or I get in when all the bottles have been sold out. That all changed a couple of weeks ago when I went down to my local store to grab a growler fill. As I made my way towards the growler fill station, I noticed there were four bottles left of KBS sitting in the cooler. Without a second thought I grabbed a bottle for myself and just after I did, some guy grabbed the last three; Talk about lucky!

KBS pour a pitch black color with a pretty fizzy dark brown head. While I'm not picking up on any visible carbonation; Interestingly enough, I'm not catching any lacing along the sides of the glass either.

The aroma starts out with a fairly typical chocolate malt profile & vanilla sweetness profile; Then it gets a little off of the beaten path because I'm picking up on a marshmallow scent, black coffee, and a distinct oakiness. Even though I've never been there before, I would imagine this is what the backwoods of Kentucky would smell like.

The flavor starts out fairly oak forward with notes of vanilla, marshmallows, roasted barley and black coffee. Each flavor is very vibrant and the chocolate malts provide an excellent foundation for the flavors overall. It's got a mildly roasty aftertaste with a light but sweet vanilla flavor. There also is no boozy flavors in here to speak of.

The palate is definitely a heavyweight when it comes to the body but the texture is quite smooth with only some minor carbonation, giving it a mild creamy feeling that allows you to savor the flavors.

Would I say that KBS is worth the hype and reputation? I would say for the most part, it is. It's got a vibrant flavor that is both complex yet enjoyable. On top of that, it's very easy to drink both in terms of texture and palate. If you so happen to stumble upon this beer by shear luck, pick it up before the guy/girl behind you does!


Founders KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout) - 9.5/10

Bell's Black Note Stout Review

Name: Bell's Black Note Stout
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 11.5%

So this weekend, I'll be pretty busy. Between the new apartment hunt and The Duluth Experience North Shore Craft Beer Roundtable. Needless to say, I have a few irons in the fire. In anticipation of my busy schedule, I'm going to get a couple reviews out of the way.

To start out, I've got a somewhat hard-to-find beer due to it's limited quantity (or so I'm led to believe) Bell's Black Note Stout; An Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels. From that I understand, this beert usually gets released in the Springtime.

Black Note Stout pours a pitch black with a thin brown head that fades away after a couple minutes. The lacing left behind is also rather sparse.

The nose starts out with a nice aroma of bourbon, oak, chocolate malts and vanilla before ending with a nice roasted barley scent.

Flavor-wise, it starts out very chocolate malt and oak forward. The tail end of the flavor gives off a nice vanilla-bourbon taste and finishing off with some malty & roasted barley notes.

The overall palate is fairly heavy body and comes with some mild carbonation; Giving it a nice creamy texture which helps add to the overall drinkability.

If you're willing to shell out a couple extra bucks, you'll find this to be an excellent & vibrant tasting Imperial Stout. On top of that, you can tell that the barrel aging has done wonders for the quality of the flavor and that alone is worth checking out.

Bell's Black Note Stout - 9.25/10

Lagunitas Imperial Stout Review

Name: Lagunitas Imperial Stout
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.9%

When I first moved up to Duluth, I knew that my accessibility to certain brands of beers (i.e. Stone, Great Divide, Flat Earth, Boulevard etc. to name a few) would be somewhat hindered due to my geographical location. However the trade-off has come in form of Superior, Wisconsin; whose stores contain most of the brands from the Twin Cities that are absent on the Duluth side as well as some awesome brands that are available only in the western US and some Wisconsin-exclusive beers.

Lagunitas Brewing isn't available in Duluth like it is in Minneapolis, but it IS available over in Superior, Wisconsin. Which brings us to tonight's review of Lagunitas Imperial Stout. Like it's Twin Cities counterpart, it was very reasonably priced. In fact, it was cheaper then what I would normally pay for in Minneapolis and it's been bottled recently.

Lagunitas Imperial Stout pours a pitch black color with a thin khaki colored head. There is a minor crimson tinge at the bottom of the glass and the lacing is sparse, but there.

The aroma starts off with some heavy chocolate malts, cherries, dark fruit notes, caramel and a some coffee notes.

The flavor of has more of a roasty focus with coffee notes, chocolate malts, mocha, caramel, some mild hops. That goes without saying that the aftertaste is quite roasty, almost venturing into porter territory. The palate has a pretty heavy body to it and some moderate carbonation. Doesn't quite fit what I'd

It's a bit roasty by Imperial Stout standards but it's still a pretty good beer. Bombers from Lagunitas tend to be very reasonably priced (at least where I live) and this one is no exception. It's not going to knock your socks off, but you'll be getting your money's worth either way.

Lagunitas Imperial Stout - 8/10

Peace Tree Imperial Stout Review

Name: Peace Tree Imperial Stout 
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 10%

Tonight I'm trying out a new brewery from Iowa called Peace Tree Brewing, of whom I have been seeing offerings on the shelves in stores around here. The only other high profile breweries that I know of that are Iowa-based are Toppling Goliath (which is supposed to be available in Minnesota later this year) and Exile Brewing. I decided I would take a look at their Imperial Stout and I found it to be decently priced for a bomber.

The beer pours a pitch black color with a filmy brown head. There are a few bubble which climb along the sides of the glass and the lacing retention is minimal at best.

In the nose are some chocolate malts, cocoa nibs, cloves, and licorice. Interestingly enough, there is a fairly prominent smokiness in here too, but not in the Baltic Porter/Rauchbier sense. What I mean is that it smells like actual smoke from a house fire.

The flavor is quite roasty with notes of roasted barley & malts, smokiness and mild cherries. There is also an encompassing ash-like characteristic here, which derives from the smokiness which I picked up in the nose. It's different but I'm not sure if I'm digging it. The mouthfeel is quite heavy and it has some pretty moderate carbonation.

It's got some decent flavors going for it but the flavor way too smokey/ashy for my liking. If it had a more balanced flavor profile, this would've been a great Imperial Stout. For right now, it's probably in your best interest to spend that extra $2 on a better Imperial Stout.

Peace Tree Imperial Stout - 7/10

Bell's Expedition Stout Review

Name: Bell's Expedition Stout
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 10.5%

It's time to review yet another winter seasonal from Bell's Brewery and tonight I'll be reviewing their Expedition Stout, which is their Imperial Stout. It's also has the distinction of being one of the first Imperial Stouts that I ever had when I first got into craft beer (The first being Surly Darkness.)

Expedition Stout pours is black in color with a brown head. The head itself has some good volume and it the beer leaves behind some decent lacing.

The aroma starts off which a heavy chocolate malt & cocoa nib scent with notes of vanilla and roasted barley.

Interestingly enough, the flavor has a distinct smokiness and roasted barley taste followed by notes of dark chocolate, licorice and vanilla. The aftertaste consists of chocolate malts and roasted barley. Oddly enough, I don't remember there being any smokiness when I had this before, but that could be because I didn't pick up on it the first time around.

The palate has some heaviness to it along with some rather mild carbonation, which fits seemingly well as it allows the drinker to enjoy the flavors this beer has to offer.

Expedition Stout is a nicely balanced Imperial Stout that has just the right amount of malt and roasty/smokiness that one would expect from an Imperial Stout. Definitely worth checking out if you can get it in your area.

Bell's Expedition Stout - 9/10

Surly Darkness Review

Name: Surly Darkness
Style: Imperial Stout 
ABV: 10.3%

Every fall, one of the most highly anticipated craft beers in Minnesota is released by Surly Brewing which is their Darkness. How highly anticipated you ask? Some stores have to release it in waves to ensure everyone gets a fair shot at getting it and some stores sell out of their entire supply in less than half an hour. This isn't some $5 bomber either, it ranges in price anywhere from $17-25.

Since we didn't get this here in Duluth until about 3 days or so after they sold out of it in the Twin Cities, procuring a bottle of this was much less of a hassle than it was when I first got it. And by "less of a hassle" I mean not having to call ahead or be put on a list.

The bottle artwork also changes yearly as well and it always looks pretty badass. A couple years ago, when I first had it, it depicted a zombie holding a snifter glass. This year it's a Hell Demon holding a chalice as it's face is melting off. If anyone from Surly happens to stumble upon this blog, next year have Cthulhu as your artwork. Just saying!

It goes without saying that there's a good chance that by the time you are reading this, every bottle of this year's Surly Darkness will either be consumed or cellared for aging purposes. In my case, it was consumed!

Darkness pours a pitch black color with a foamy khaki-colored head. There isn't any visible carbonation and the lacing it leaves behind is great.

The nose has a strong chocolate, vanilla and cherry scent about it. Complimenting this are roasted malts & barley with some light smokey notes. For some reason, I'm expecting this to be barrel aged given my initial impressions and they apparently do have a barrel aged Darkness.

In the flavor I'm getting chocolate nibs, vanilla, cherries, and dark fruity notes. This is supported by a stronger smokiness, chocolate malts and roasted barley and some mild but noticeable hoppiness. The flavor as a whole is very rich and robust.

It's got a very smooth and creamy body that is light weight and almost free from carbonation. You should have no trouble drinking this at all.

Simply put, Darkness is a beer that you must experience for yourself. It has everything you'd want out of an Imperial Stout and more which makes it one of the best Imperial Stouts I have ever had. Since it is more than likely sold out for 2013, try and seek this out if you can next year around the end of October. Trust me, it'll be worth it!

Surly Darkness - 9.75/10

Clown Shoes Blaecorn Unidragon Review

Name: Clown Shoes Blaecorn Unidragon
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 12.5%

It's high time I did a Clown Shoes beer review. I believe they started popping up late last year in stores when I was still living in Minneapolis. While I have had Clown Shoes quite a few times, I've never done a proper review. Right now, it's availability in Minnesota is limited to Minneapolis/St. Paul as it's currently not available up here in Duluth....but it IS available right across the bridge over in Superior, Wisconsin (Keyport Liquor for those wondering!)

Tonight we're having their Blaecorn Unidragon Russian Imperial Stout. The name is a portmanteau of the phrases "Soul Dragon" & "Black Unicorn" though I think that Blaecorn Unidragon sounds like a monster you would fight in a Final Fantasy video game. Also the artwork looks like something Boris Vallejo would paint after watching an episode of Game of Thrones.

Blaecorn Unidragon pours a black opaque color with a filmy brown head. The lacing on the sides of the glass is pretty good and it has a small amount of carbonation visible.

The aroma is fairly mild by Imperial Stout standards with roasted malts, chocolate, barley and cocoa nibs. Subdued but still quite noticeable.

The flavor starts out with a strong chocolate molasses taste, followed by roasted malts, some strong piney hops, and a slight vanilla flavor. The aftertaste is a weird one with both chocolate AND bitter piney hoppiness.

Both the body weight and carbonation are moderately leveled and there's also a slight thickness to the overall mouthfeel.

While some may not like the higher-than-normal hoppiness here, it's still a fairly rich & robust Imperial Stout that tastes great and is not afraid to be a little different. Check this one out if it's available in your area.

Clown Shoes Blaecorn Unidragon - 9/10    

Oskar Blues Ten FIDY Review

Name: Oskar Blues Ten FIDY
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 10.5%

In honor of World Stout Day, I'm reviewing Oskar Blues very own Imperial Stout offering. That's right, I'm talking about Ten FIDY and yes, the FIDY is capitalized. In case you were wondering, the name comes from it's 10.5% ABV; Were you expecting someone else.....?

To my knowledge, this is the only Imperial Stout I know of that comes in a can, though if I'm wrong please feel free to correct me. I know craft beer in cans is becoming more of a commonplace, but it's quite unusual to see this style of beer in a can. Then again, this is Oskar Blues we're talking here.

Ten FIDY pours a opaque black color with a dark brown foamy head and a large amount of lacing. The carbonation which is visible is mild in appearance.

The nose starts off with strong chocolate malts, caramel, roasted barley and toffee. There's even some noticeable hoppiness thrown in for good measure.

The roasty and malty aroma is amplified in the taste with chocolate, roasted barley, vanilla, peasted scotch smoked malts and oak. The hoppiness isn't quite as noticeable here as the nose but you can taste it if you allow it to sit on your palate long enough. Speaking of which....

The body is fairly heavy and somewhat thick and the carbonation starts out moderate but tapers off into a more mild feel.

For an Imperial Stout, it draws heavily from Scotch Ales in terms of Smokiness but it's thankfully an asset in this case.  While the smokiness may deter some people from enjoying this, it's still got a very nice mix of flavors to make this worth checking out. As for me, I loved it and look forward to having it again.

Oskar Blues Ten FIDY - 9/10

AleSmith Speedway Stout Review

Name: AleSmith Speedway Stout
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 12%

At the risk of sounding smug, we Duluth (And Superior, Wisconsin) residents have gotten some access to some pretty sweet beers recently. While the selection isn't quite as bountiful as say....Chicago, Colorado or the West Coast, I feel it is safe to say that we got quite alot on our hands.

Recently, AleSmith Brewing started distributing to Wisconsin and have brought their beers to our neighbors over in Superior, WI. I've been reading about this brewery in particular online and have seen their Speedway Stout at the top of many "Must-have" beer lists. They are also a very highly regarded California Brewery and joins Ballast Point in terms of availability in our area.

I don't know if I should consider myself lucky but.....here it is! My review of AleSmith Speedway Stout!

Speedway Stout pours a pitch black color with a creamy-looking filmy brown head. The lacing has some good retention and the carbonation visible is mild.

The nose has a sweet chocolate nib and coffee aroma, with some licorice, vanilla, chocolate malts and roasted barley.

Flavor-wise, it's got a very strong coffee taste upfront with rich some chocolate, roasted barley, and malty notes. There's some minor but noticeable booziness in the flavor throughout. Aftertaste is a bitter coffee and malty flavor

The body is very heavy in weight and carbonation-wise, it lands in between mild & moderate; So it's quite manageable.

The flavor, while robust, isn't quite as complex as the aroma and it tastes somewhat boozy. With that said, it's still an excellent Imperial Stout that is worth checking out. Since they have brought multiple offerings to our area, I'll be sure to check all of them out.

AleSmith Speedway Stout - 8.5/10

Central Waters Satin Solstice Review

Name: Central Waters Satin Solstice/Solitude

Style: Imperial Stout

ABV: 7.5%

I find myself in a bit of an awkward position with this review. In a previous review, I mentioned that Central Waters Brewing was responsible for one of the first Imperial Stouts that I had ever had and that I would do a review on it.

Well the good news is that I found Satin Solstice to review! The Bad News? It's no longer called Satin Solstice but Satin Solitude. Oh did I also mention it now looks like this?

Much like Summit Brewing, they underwent a label/branding redesign overhaul on all of their products. So this means that this beer has been sitting around for quite a while and probably a left over from last winter. Being the brave adventurer I am and (possibly) against my better judgment, I have decided to review this anyways. Fingers crossed that it aged well!

Satin pours a pitch black color with a high amount of carbonation along the sides of the glass. The head is fluffly-later-filmy brown in appearance with some good lacing.

The aroma starts it off with some chocolate, coffee, & cocoa notes with some nice vanilla bean, roasted barley and faint hops to back it up. So far it's looking pretty good!

Starting off the flavor are some fairly strong chocolate, coffee, roasted barley, and a slight oakiness. The aftertaste is a bittersweet chocolate finish.

Bodywise, it's pretty moderate in terms of weight but the carbonation packs quite a punch when you consider the style.

Well this was a pleasant surprise, not only did it still taste good but I get the feeling that it's been allowed to age somewhat and it ended up tasting better than what I remember it! Permitting it's not anywhere near as robust like Dragon's Milk but it's still a tasty beer that is definitely worth checking out!

Central Waters Satin Solstice - 8.5/10

Epic Imperial Stout Review

Note: This is based the Release #10 batch

When I think of Utah, I think we can all agree that craft beer is not amongst the things that pops into our heads. I mean, Utah has some of the strictest alcohol laws in America, so it's hard to imagine that it could be anything craft beer related could come out of Utah.

Well, I have been seeing more and more of Epic Brewing, a Utah based Craft Brewery, in stores recently and haven't really bothered to check them out until now. In fact, when I did happen to finally start checking them out, I was surprised to see that they were based out of Utah. For right now, they come in 22oz. Bombers and from what I've seen, it's only the Exponential Series which is available in around here.

The other thing the Exponential Series I've noticed is that their beers have a different ABV based on which "Release" it is. For example the Epic Imperial Stout, which I'll be reviewing, is Release #10 and has an ABV of 11.4%. Now compared to Release #9 of the same beer, that has a 9.4% ABV; Whether it's intentional or not remains to be seen.

Epic Imperial Stout pours a pitch black color with a foamy dark brown head with some carbonation visible on the sides of the glass and no lacing, giving it a clean finish.

The aroma has notes of Chocolate, Vanilla, Licorice, Roasted Barley & Malts, and just a hint of coffee. In terms of flavor, the Chocolate and Roasted Barley & Malts are more pronounced, giving it a slight Oak taste. The Vanilla and Licorice take a backseat in terms of flavor but are still noticeable. There is a slight booziness in the flavor, but it doesn't really hurt the overall quality of the flavor.

The body is fairly light for an Imperial Stout, and the carbonation starts out quite strong but it tapers off after a few minutes. Once that happens, it becomes a very smooth and drinkable Imperial Stout.

While nothing jumped out at me in particular, aside from the slight oak flavor, this is a solid Imperial Stout. I think if allowed to age, and in a barrel (hint hint!), this would taste amazing. For now, I'll settle for good!

Epic Imperial Stout - 8/10

Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout Review

Southern Tier Brewing just released their Creme Brulee Stout this week, or Crème Brûlée if you want to be fancy. It's classified as an American Double/Imperial Stout, though Southern Tier calls it an Imperial Milk Stout with an ABV of 9.6%.

Creme Brulee is a french custard desert topped with caramelizd sugar and flavored with vanilla. The closest thing I've had to an actual Creme Brulee was a Frostop Creme Brulee-flavored Root Beer when I was in high school; It was an....interesting flavor but it really didn't mix well together.

To start off, it pours a pitch black color with a off-white head that has a slightly brown color to it. You can also make out some mild carbonation rising up along the sides of the glass.

The nose is a surprisingly vibrant mashup of Vanilla, Cheesecake, Chocolate Malts, Amaretto and Caramel Marciato. The aroma is truly unique amongst other stouts which I have tried out; It smells kinda like an Iced Coffee/Milk drink that one would get from Starbucks.

For the flavor you have Vanilla, Butterscotch, Cheesecake Milk Chocolate, Caramel Marciato and Roasted Malts; Which all become more noticeable as it warms up. It finishes with a bittersweet dark chocolate aftertaste.

Body is in the middle in terms of weight and the carbonation is a couple steps below that, allowing that extra dimension of the flavor to shine through.

I've had a couple of Southern Tier's offering before and thought they were decent, but I was very impressed by this. The flavor is pretty unique and reminds me of eating a slice of Chocolate Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, but at the same time it's still very much an Imperial Stout. It costs around $8.99 in my area for a bomber, but it was well worth the price of admission.

Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout - 9.25/10

Lift Bridge Silhouette Review

Lift Brewing Brewing Company is another Minnesota-based Brewery that has grown exponentially in the past couple of years and has just recently announced their third expansion since opening up just a couple of years ago. This is not uncommon seeing how tremendously the craft beer scene has grown these past couple of years. It is indeed a good time to be a beer lover here in Minnesota; Mind you, we are not at Colorado or Portland-level yet but one day I feel we will.

Anyways, Lift Bridge is located in Stillwater, MN; Which is a town literally right across the river from Wisconsin. Their most popular brew based on what I've seen at bars and stores is their Farm Girl Saison. Today I'll be looking at their Silhouette Imperial Stout, which comes in at 10% ABV. According to the brewery's website, this is a Winter Release. To me, Imperial Stouts are a year-round thing and some of them age wonderfully.

Silhouette pours a pitch black color with a filmy dark brown head. You can see little carbonation bubbles on the sides of the glass as well as your own reflection.

The nose has a fairly nice aroma of Vanilla, Bourbon, Cherry, Oak, Chocolate Nibs and Roasted Malts. I know they did a barrel aged edition of Silhouette a couple of years ago and what I have in front of me certainly smells like it but at the same time I know that may not be the case.

When it comes to the flavor, it's surprisingly smokey for an Imperial Stout. At the same time, it also has the rich Vanilla, Oak, Roasted Malt and Chocolate flavor. It's still got that Vanilla-Bourbon flavor to it but not overtly so. The smokiness reminds one of a Baltic Porter, but the other flavors serve as a reminder that this is still very clearly an Imperial Stout.

The body has a moderate weight to it and the carbonation is quite mild. Very smooth and creamy feel to it and compliments the flavor quite nicely.

It's an Imperial Stout with a slight Baltic Porter twist to it, and it works out quite well for the most part. It's got a great flavor and a smooth body and any seasoned Imperial Stout fan looking for something tasty and slightly different should definitely try this one out!

Lift Bridge Silhouette - 9/10

Lakefront 25th Anniversary Imperial Stout

Lakefront Brewing just recently celebrated their 25th year of operations and to celebrate, they will be releasing 4 Limited Edition beers in commemoration. The first one, which I will be reviewing today, is an Imperial Stout. The other beers planned are a Bourbon Doppelbock, Saison, and Brandy Barrel-Aged Pumpkin Ale, according to BeerPulse.

It pours a pitch black color with a brown-red colored head. It doesn't really leave behind any lacing and it finishes rather clean.

The nose has a nice aroma of Vanilla, Rum Raisin, Chocolate and Cocoa. Reminds me a bit of Breckenridge Vanilla Porter, but with more Vanilla. Flavor wise, it's very vanilla and chocolate heavy upfront, followed by a rum raisin and cherry notes and has a boozy aftertaste.

The body and carbonation are both fairly light and doesn't really feel like something you'd expect from an Imperial Stout. How one interprets this is a matter of opinion.

So how do I feel about this beer? It's got good, unique and somewhat robust flavor, thanks to the vanilla and cherry flavors but the booziness does hurt the flavor. The body also is a bit watery for this style of beer and feels out of place but that does make it easy to drink. I have had much worse Imperial Stouts than this, but for this particular style of beer it's very in the middle of the road

Lakefront 25th Anniversary Imperial Stout - 7.5/10

Brooklyn Black Choclate Stout Review

Well as it turns out, I apparently have one more Winter Seasonals in my possession than I originally thought. One of which I am saving for an upcoming review, and the other one I have is Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout. I had this on-tap earlier this year and thought it tasted pretty good, so I'll be sitting down and giving this a closer look.

To start out, it pours an opaque black color with a brown head. This is one those beers where I can see my own reflection on the glass as I hold it up to look at it; It's that dark!

The nose has very sweet chocolate, licorice, rum raisin, and roasted malt notes. The licorice note in particular sort of jumps out at me, giving this an almost burnt sweet-spice smell to it....at least that's the way I can best describe it, or I can just say it's hard to put my finger on.

In the flavor you get rich chocolate, mocha-chino, licorice, rum raisin and roasted malts. Pretty unique flavor in terms of Imperial Stouts, with a nod in particular to the rum raisin & licorice flavors. There is a very very slight booziness to the flavor, but for a beer clocking in at 10% ABV I'll let it fly.

The body feels "wide" but not heavy, it's mildly carbonated, and feels quite creamy when consumed. I say that they have the body nailed down almost perfectly for this style.

I was impressed by the uniqueness of the flavor and how smooth it was, maybe next time I'll take the advice on the bottle and allow it to age. Even without the aging, this is a great Imperial Stout that I would recommend checking out

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout - 9/10

New Holland Dragon's Milk Review

Name: New Holland Dragon's Milk
Style: Imperial Stout 
ABV: 10%

I've seen it on the shelves numerous times; With it's wrapped tin-foil top and dragon emblem on the front but I never really bothered to check it out for reasons which I really cannot explain, even though I'm a diehard Imperial Stout fan. I decided that needed to changed and picked up a bottle of New Holland Dragon's Milk last week to check it out, plus anything barrel aged is enough for me to check it out.

I've never really had the opportunity to try New Holland's full lineup; The only other beer I've tried out from them is their Golden Cap Saison Ale, which is fantastic if you have not tried it out yet! So I'll see what all this is about.

Dragon's Milk pours a pitch black color with a faint crimson tinge on the very bottom. Not really much in terms of head, but it does leave behind a ton of lacing.

Even before taking a closer whiff, I could already smell it from 2-3 feet away. The nose has some very rich milk chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, oak and roasted malts. By smelling this, you can tell that this was clearly barrel aged and it smells fantastic!

I thought the aroma was nice, but it's nothing compared to how it actually tastes. Every milk chocolate, vanilla/bourbon, and oak note that was in the nose is in the flavor with a vengeance! Every aspect of the flavor is rich & complex with only a slight boozy taste that becomes noticeable more it warms up.

On top of everything else, it's got a very creamy and smooth body. It's heavy but thanks to the subdued carbonation, it feels like I'm drinking liquid silk; It's that smooth!

I've had many Imperial Stouts before, both good and bad. With that in mind, I feel this is now among my favorites of the Imperial Stout Style. New Holland did a great job making this beer and you can tell they put a great deal of care into making this. My only complaint is that I didn't try this out sooner!

New Holland Dragon's Milk - 9.75/10