“Bourbon infused coffee imperial stout-ish, released at Borefts Beer Festival 2019.”

Glassware: Snifter.

Appearance: Glossy black with a thin tan head that quickly fades. It forms a wafer thin ring and unsurprisingly lacks in the lacing department.

Aroma: Smells good but quite muted. We get subtle soy sauce/Vegemite which usually indicates age and funnily enough this bad boy was bottled in November ’18. Normally we’re not averse to buying already aged Stouts (actually, we actively seek them out) but buying one expecting it be fresh-ish then receiving this reflects poorly on the bottlo. Anywho…we press on.

Flavour: We’re not totally sure if the beer has turned or not. The big roasty base, dark chocolate and coffee is certainly detectable but they’re tired and as it progresses the subtle Vegemite and soy sauce creeps in and somewhat spoils it. The finish is still nice and roasty, chocolatey and the coffee features rather well.

Mouthfeel: Pretty full, chewy, a tad oily. Low-ish Co2. The 10% ABV is very neatly tucked away.

Overall: Our guess is this Stout is right on its turning point. 4 years isn’t too bad for a non-barrel aged Impy Stout so no ill feelings toward the brewery. We do feel a little ripped off by the bottlo though, at the very least they should make buyers aware of its age. Especially when paying full price!