Pisgah Valdez - Pisgah Brewing Co.

Sponan

Tennessee

3.85/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Reviewing based on notes from a prior tasting.

A - Black with a fair head spoiled by overfilling. Retention is good.

S - Overpowering coffee/espresso. Hard to get much else, although some chocolate and berry appears as it warms.

T - Very similar to iced coffee. Not much else is apparent. The bitterness is well balanced.

M - Carbonation is good, but I like my stouts thicker. This one is a bit thin.

D - Pretty easy to drink for a stout, seems a little light on the ABV for an 'Imperial', aiding the drinkability a bit. The balance aids as well.

This definitely has more 'coffee' to it than most other stouts I have had. This is good, but strikes me as a one trick pony kind of beer. Personally I would prefer a little more complexity.

Serving type: on-tap

06-23-2008 22:31:22 | More by Sponan

hitokiri

North Carolina

4.95/5  rDev +19.3%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Pisgah is extremely hard to find, even when you live less than an hour from the brewery.

I kept hoping to find a bottle of this somewhere, but ended up finding it on tap at Barley's in Asheville.

Served in a pint glass, this was one nice looking beer. A very dark black color with a dark brown head about two fingers thick. The head lasted for a good while, but the best thing was the lacing. This had perhaps the best lacing I have seen leaving a stained glass-like curtain down the entire glass all the way to the last drop.

The smell was of a very nice roasted coffee (it is brewed with coffee from a local roaster) and sweet chocolate. Maybe a bit of nuttiness in there.

The taste was great, very balanced. You could definitely taste the coffee, but it was not like some other RISs that are brewed with coffee where it tastes like a strong coffee served black. There was not much hops, but that was O.K., since I like more roasted flavors from a stout. The bitterness seemed to come from the coffee and roasted malts. I found it really balanced between sweetness and bitterness, like a coffee with a lot of cream and sugar. The sweetness was not cloying and the bitterness not overpowering. Lot's of chocolate as well.

Mouthfeel was pretty normal for a RIS, I would say better than most.

Drinkability is dangerously high. To quote Beerfest: "I want to brush my teeth with it!". I could have spent my whole day in Asheville just drinking this one beer.

Definitely made up for missing Sexual Chocolate! This has been the best RIS I have ever had.

Serving type: on-tap

02-15-2009 15:56:58 | More by hitokiri

goryshkewych

Ohio

4.2/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Kinda light for a stout in appearance. Thin white head. The nose is intense coffee. Starbucks. Hard to believe this is beer. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied at best. Tastes like coffee, with a roasty bitter finish. Fascinating for what it is, but almost difficult to compare against other stouts. Unique for sure.

Serving type: growler

03-16-2008 06:01:22 | More by goryshkewych

jorrx003

Florida

4.95/5  rDev +19.3%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

An incredible drink for any coffee enthusiast. Looked gloriously black with a brown head. Smelled strongly of the most delicious coffee. This beer tasted like an iced coffee with alcohol added, amazing, it blew me away. I wish it had just a slightly fuller body but other than that minuscule detail I found this beer to be absolutely amazing and everything I could ever want in a coffee stout

Serving type: on-tap

04-30-2011 21:27:22 | More by jorrx003

myocean

North Carolina

4.58/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I'm sure I have drank more of this stuff than anyone else, except for maybe Dave and Jason. As one fine beer advocate put it "this is all I'd need to go camping!" and that sums it up! This is amazing stuff that needs to be brewed year round!!!

Serving type: growler

04-02-2008 21:35:19 | More by myocean

cwalexander

North Carolina

4.95/5  rDev +19.3%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

C02 Nitrogen mix tap system falling down the glass as the as the beer becomes still with a 2in-2.5in head settles. Aromas of roasted chocolate and fresh brewed coffee the head stayed around .5-1in the whole way down. smooth mouth hints of almost burnt toast with a touch of sweetness like drinking the best cold coffee on the hottest day of summer

Serving type: nitro-tap

09-28-2010 17:08:05 | More by cwalexander