The pour was a very dark brown, almost black with a large (2-3 finger) dark beige rocky head that lasted a good amount of time, leaving behind a large frothy collar and a bit of puddling creating some excellent sticky lacing.
The aroma was screaming of milk chocolate along with a strong dark roasted malt and a sweet doughy yeast and had notes of roasted coffee, molasses, and a bit of vanilla.
The taste was bitter sweet and quite malty with notes of molasses and a good bit of coffee early on. Then it became a slight bitterer and really smooth and creamy with notes of milk chocolate and a very distinct vanilla presence at the end. The flavor lasted a decent duration with a nice mocha coffee flavor left lying on the taste buds.
Mouthfeel was just a bit under full in body with a smooth creamy texture and a soft carbonation.
Overall an exceptional Imperial Porter that is so well put together you can hardly notice the high alcohol content. Shame this brew is now retired...
Sampled: 2/19/2012
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2 comments
Mark
They have a barrel aged version of this that just came out - Top Sail Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Porter.
CraftBeerLove619
Mark, I was going to post that same thing. Its a phenomenal beer, and I happened to get it last year for very cheap due to a pricing error.
