Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout

Picked up a 550 ml bottle of this stuff at Giant Eagle (just started selling beer). That's roughly 1.5 beers at the 12 oz portion, which cost me $3.99. A legendary brewery's offering from England found its way into a supermarket in Pennsylvania. Translation: I'm not complaining.


The beer is black, unsurprisingly. An outstanding beige head with beautiful, fluffy lacing hangs out in my nonic pint glass.

Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout smells of alcohol, tart fruit (indistinguishable, but I know it's present) with biscuity notes; even cookie dough.

The taste/mouthfeel is soft & delicate, but dark & toasty. One of the attributes that I find so incredible about stouts is their ability to carry a high number of IBU's (International Bittering Units) without the senses realizing it. I'm guessing there are 70-80 IBU's in this brew, but the dark quality of the style hides the quantity, rendering it at about half that estimate to ones sense of taste.

The beer is very buttery (diacetyl), but the more negative aspect of that byproduct doesn't seem to make it to the front. I have no qualms with its position in the beer. As far as I'm concerned, it knows where it stands, and doesn't get in the way like it tends to in certain English Pale Ales.

This one I certainly recommend. Sooner or later I'll get to the Nut Brown Ale...