“Introducing First Tracks but not as you know it… We’ve doubled the malts, doubled the coffee & doubled the booze, to give you a big & bold 10.5% Imperial Stout! Brewed with freshly roasted beans from our mates ONA Coffee, this dark number is the perfect winter companion.”

Glassware: Snifter.

Appearance: Solid black with a puffy two finger head. It holds together reasonably well and leaves spotty lace clinging to the glass.

Aroma: Not really emanating the big and robust Impy stout aromas we’ve come to expect. Rather we’re picking up mild-ish notes of chocolate and cocoa, slightly sweet coffee, sea salt and golden raisins. Totally baffled we thought Capital would have smashed this out of the park.

Flavour: Doesn’t really improve unfortunately. It’s slightly bitter upfront (this does settle though) and opens up on to a muddled mix of chocolate, cocoa, charred malt, slightly warming booze, dark fruits and salty coffee. It finishes a little roasty with coffee and charred malts on the rear.

Mouthfeel: Too lean and slightly watery. Hardly any meat on its bones. Co2 is good and the 10.5% ABV is a little aggressive.

Overall: Not impressed one bit. As avid snowboarders we spend weeks at the snow every winter downing pints of the original First Tracks stout. This imperial version just seems unbalanced and a bit rushed. Please can the original one lads!