Profiled by Ken Carman for PGA
Upfront we have a wine/rum like sense. That’s the barrel. The head is off white to tan with a pillow but it fades fast to almost nothing, except edge glass. Behind that… not much at all. It’s there: just so hidden that it almost might as well not be there.
Obsidian black.
It’s an excellent barrel focused quaff. But where is the Imperial Stout? Hidden well behind the barrel, that’s where. Don’t get me wrong: the barrel is marvelous, but the stout needs to be there.Yeah, it is: very well hidden.
The nose is barrel, with the slight hint of stout behind that,.
Balance is off, basically, otherwise interesting. If this were labelled as barrel focused, would have absolutely done better. There’s a hint of Guinness like sour, or some slight infection maybe?
3.8
Welcome to the PGA beer rating system: one beer “Don’t bother.” Two: Eh, if someone gives it to you, drink. Three: very good, go ahead and seek it out, but be aware there is at least one problem. Four: seek it out. Five: pretty much “perfecto.”
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Ken Carman is an editor at PGA, endofthenet.org, entertainer, educational service provider, BJCP beer judge, columnist since 1972, author of Autocide and one hell of a weird dude.