Happy Stoutgiving!

Posted by Patrick under Beer Photos, Home Brewing

During our brew session today, Sean and I decided to have a tasting session with stouts we had brewed recently. (l to r: Mystery Stout, Sean’s 2004 Imperial Stout, and my recently bottled Imperial Stout from October 2005)

This was an interesting process, as it allowed us to not only critique each beer on its own, but contrast it with a similar brew for further comparison.

The Mystery Stout, being born from a hodge-podge of ingredients, including a can of malt extract, was easily identifiable by the molasses notes in the aroma and body of the beer. Not entirely unpleasant, but also a bit underwhelming stacked against the two imperials.

Sean’s Imperial was notable for its toffee and dark malt notes and dry finish. The heat of its 8 percent+ ABV was evident as the dry finish dissipated.

My Imperial was the most curious of the three. The nose was dominated by a pleasant and surprising smokiness that gave way to chocolate and mocha in the mouth. Since I used no smoked malt in this beer, this must be due to the mix of malts used and some yeasty magic. This beer also had a residual sucrose sweetness that must be attributed to the fact that this bottle was the last of our bottling run — a partial fill with a full bottle’s allcoation of priming sugar. It was a pleasant surprise, and a shame that I won’t run across that again.