Appearance
Pours a deep, dark, raw umber, verging on black, with about one finger of toffee-colored head.
Aroma
Burnt sugar, vanilla, heavy butterscotch and light alcohol heat. If I’d been blindfolded, I would think this was actually crème brûlée custard with a touch of alcohol. Dave and his party also noted merengue and coffee in the nose, with which I wholeheartedly agree.
Taste
Sweet vanilla, caramel and butterscotch are balanced by a dry hops bitterness, leaving desiccation on the sides and back of the tongue. Each sip finishes with vanilla-sweet alcohol heat. Some in Dave’s party caught a bit of astringency on their palate, but that was not the case for neither him nor I. We only felt the heat intensity from the alcohol.
Mouthfeel
Creamy, medium-heavy body with minimal carbonation; just what I’m looking for in an after-dinner beer. Like Dave and his party, I noticed that the brew left a lasting impression on the palate, long after it was swallowed.
Overall
One of my favorite seasonal brews, Imperial Crème Brûlée Stout never disappoints. It’s not a beer I could drink a ton of but then, it wasn’t brewed with session drinking in mind. Consensus in Dave’s party was that the 2011 may be even better than the 2010 a year from now.
If you haven’t yet had a chance to pick this up, I highly recommend it (and I think Dave would agree).
Cheers!
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