Clown shoes ‘undead’ American imperial stout

Rating:

imageThis is a top notch brewery coming out of Massachussets, USA. We still haven’t had a bad beer from these guys and we’re pretty confident that day will never come.

This imperial stout we served in a tulip glass. The mat black pour produced a 1 finger brown head that stays. Lots of webbed lacing is strewn down the glass. The aroma is complex, offering rich and pungent notes of roasted espresso, dark chocolate, booze, cocoa, vanilla, liquorice and ash. Just the stout we were looking for! In the mouth it feels quite oily with mild carbonation. A full bodied palate opens up with bitter espresso and a sharp booze astringency. The booze burn carries on through the mid-palate and is accentuated by rich additions of charcoal and molasses. The finish is nicely roasted and sits on the tongue for what feels like an eternity, showing brilliant length and complexity. Lingering hints of espresso, cocoa and ash snuggle up together like a hot little threesome. The 10% ABV exposes itself as a feature throughout the palate but never does it overpower. There is a lot to like about this stout, it’s super rich, it’s pungent and it’s well balanced and it has all the hallmarks of an exceptional stout. Highly enjoyable and a real winter warmer.