Arcadia Imperial Stout

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Found at a very unassuming stop, old school label so the vintage is unknown, however the contents are magically delicious. Reminiscent of an aged Brooklyn Black Chocolate. Awesome pour, hearty aroma and a lush mouth feel. Cocoa, smoke, wood, vanilla, caramel and black berries.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottled. Quite much pitch black colour with a small and longlasting beigeish brown head that leaves some lace. Aroma is chocolate, roasted malts, liquorice as well as quite strong toffee, mild spices and some alcohol. Flavour is liquorice, roasted malts, coffee, chocolate and some toffeeish and mildly alcohol and raisiny notes. Wellbalanced, and rather fullbodied (thick palate).

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz. long neck bottle into a pint glass. There is no mention of abv. but the label reads that this was a 2008 vintage Imperial Stout. Appearance: It pours thick and dark. The color is a very dark brown/black with a light brown head on top. Its head is nice tightly packed two finger thick foam that has very good retention and slick lacing. Smell: The aroma has a full rich nose of sweet and roasted barley with a touch of woody and smokey malt. The hops add an almost citrus like note and there is a noticeable hint of the alcohol. Taste/Palate: Its flavor is full of dark roasted malty character and complexity. There are flavor notes from sweet molasses and maple sugar to coffee, bitter dark chocolate and woody/smoke/charred malt with bitter herbal and citrus like hops. Mellow nutty/grainy alcohol notes mix in as well and add anther layer of complexity. The palate is firm and smooth with just enough carbonation to give it some life. Notes: This was a nice solid example of the style, one which I would enjoy anytime I was in the mood for a dark complex stout.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Sampled from bottle. This impy stout is opaque black with ruby highlights, collared head and minimal lacing. Mild dark fruit and mocha nose. Slightly bitter and alcoholic. Hot aftertaste. Pretty dry for the style. Rich roasted malt flavor with some plum. It's a fine beer, but complared to other impy stouts, its just par for the course.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 5

Pours black with brown, airy head. Smells strongly of alcohol, mildly of coffee and chocolate. Bitter chocolate leads the flavor profile, but coffee, woodiness, and vanilla are also present. My main criticism is the mouthfeel; it could have used something like oats to contribute creaminess. Instead it is vigorously carbonated with aggressive warming affect on a medium body. Decent sample overall.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle courtesy of Hogtownharry (2005 vintage drank in 2008): Poured a pitch-black color stout with a medium size light brown foamy head with good retention but no lacing. Aroma of vanilla and raisins with some vinous notes is really interesting. Taste is a complex mix between some sweet malt, vanilla, some dry raisins with some interesting vinous notes. Full body with some great carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Definitely more complex then I was expecting and very well balance overall.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 5

Bottle courtesy Dansting. Poured pitch black with a tannish head, almost looked like it had purple off hues, but I wasn't in good lighting and was pretty tired. Label does say black currants, so who knows. Lacing was very minimal if any at all, high abv appeared to have minimized much of anything. The aroma was fruity (berries), oxidization, resinous hops. The flavor was along the same lines, the currants certainly making a significant showing. Unfortunately, the berry-ness of this whole thing really didn't meld well for me with the light coffee roast underneath and a bitter metallic hoppy finish. The mouthfeel was the best part, far from sticky, yet full. Unfortunately, I'd rather have had more in the flavor dept. Nevertheless, thanks goes to Dan for hooking me up with this one.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Bottle. Pours a thick, blackish-brown color with a medium brown head. Strong aroma of alcohol and malt. Nice mouthfeel. Flavor is nice and roasted malty, with hints of licorice to it. Strong alcohol flavor. Pretty nice beer.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

This a very dark, nearly impenetrable black. When held up to the light only a faint hints of ruby seep through the edges. The pour leaves a dense one finger head, that's slow to settle to a fairly thick cap, leaving behind a thick webbing of lace. Smell; dark roasted malts, with coffee, and a bit of a smokey aroma. There's a bit of anise and molasses, with a little hint of dark fruits. After this gets a little warmer, some chocolate comes out as well. Very nice. Taste; bold roasted malt flavor up front, almost like slightly burned toast. This settles down after a little bit, and I'm glad, because I;m not mush of a burned toast fan. The molasses, anise and dark fruits come out in the middle some, and finishes with a bit of a smokiness mixed with a little chocolate. I was expectng much better after the way this smelled, so overall I was a little disapointed in the flavor of this. Mouthfeel is kind of thin for what I've come to anticipate in an RIS, so it was a bit of a disapointment, and the drinkability is hurt, atleast for me, by the burned toast flavor.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This beer poured with a black body showing some very dark burgandy highlights when held to light, and topped off by a smallish brown colored head that left small amounts of lace down the sides of the glass. The aroma was rich and sweet, chocolate, coffee, toffee, and some dark fruits; very inviting. The body was full bodied though still not exceptionally thick, creamy, or complex. The flavor starts off very sweet with loads of milk chocolate, toffee and a subtle coffee bitterness, as the beer warmed alcohol became very prevelant even though its lingering just around 8 and a half percent alcohol. Finish was slightly hoppy and very dry.