Narwhal Imperial Stout - Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

jondeelee

Massachusetts

4.45/5  rDev +7.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Narwhal opens to a thick, black aroma bursting with ash, coffee, tobacco, and black malt, but these supported by an equally thick layer of heavy cream and caramel. Anise and black pepper dance in the background, adding spicy notes, joined by black breads, yeasty wheat dough, and toast crust. A reveille of dark fruit esters – fig, date, prune, black cherry – joins with blackstrap molasses and cocoa to add a layer of deep sugars, and the hops bring grapefruit rind, pine, pink grapefruit, and light hints of dandelion stem to form a bitter, citrusy buzz that nicely complements the sugars. Though the beer is not barrel aged, there’s a charcoal-and-vanilla bourbon-like undertone as well, adding delicious alcoholic liquor aromas to the mix. On the whole, the aroma is fantastic, being rich, fruity, black, hoppy, ashy, and bourbon-y, offering pretty much everything one could wish for in an Imperial Stout; the only way to improve this would be to actually bourbon barrel-age it.

On the tongue, the beer starts off black, and then gets even blacker, with massive waves of ash, coffee grounds, semi-burnt cocoa, black malt, and tobacco rushing across the tastebuds. Though these dark layers never let up, they are met after a time by a good layer of vanilla-soaked heavy cream, and a nice fruity layer of figs, dates, and prunes. Burnt pecans, toast crust, and heavy black breads add further earthiness, deepening the complexity. In subsequent sips the bourbon-like vanilla-and-charcoal notes gain more ground, adding alcoholic goodness to the mix. Hops are less present here than they were in the nose, but do add pine resin and grapefruit rind, creating some bitterness. The aftertaste is a continuation of the ashy notes, with sugars hanging on for all they’re worth, and at least the ash lingers on the tongue for a very long time. Mouthfeel is medium, and carbonation is medium.

Overall, this is a fantastic Imperial Stout, though it should be noted that it’s not for the faint of heart. This is mostly due to the tobacco ash and black malt notes, since at times they were so powerful that I felt like I had a mouthful of cigar smoke – especially in the aftertaste. But for fans of the style, there’s really not much else one could want in this beer, except perhaps some barrel aging. I did find the mouthfeel more watery than I would have expected, but almost everything else in here is excellent. Well worth trying.

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2013 19:29:08 | More by jondeelee

fitrock2112

Ohio

4.56/5  rDev +9.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured Narwhal into a Belgian Tulip.

A - The liquid pours black as midnight with a finger of mocha head. Classic looking stout here.

S - At first sniff I'm getting dark chocolates, bitter coffee, luscious roasted malts. Again, classic Imperial Stout characteristics.

T - Bakers chocolate right off the bat, more coffee, some bitter malts and hops. Wow, this is a quality beer here. This beer does have some more bitter hop flavor than some Imperial Stouts, but this is very nice. A touch of licorice.

M - Smooth Imperial Stout, heavy mouthfeel with medium leaning towards low carbonation. Ahhh so nice.

O - Quality beer by Sierra Nevada. Highly Recommended! Cheers!

Serving type: bottle

06-20-2013 00:42:44 | More by fitrock2112

Jacob007

New Hampshire

4/5  rDev -3.6%

06-19-2013 23:48:23 | More by Jacob007

Feel_the_Darkness

Virginia

4/5  rDev -3.6%

06-19-2013 23:14:53 | More by Feel_the_Darkness

b-one

California

3.75/5  rDev -9.6%

06-19-2013 02:03:32 | More by b-one

wezzul

Michigan

4.5/5  rDev +8.4%

06-18-2013 21:51:57 | More by wezzul

spw109

New York

4.5/5  rDev +8.4%

06-18-2013 01:39:09 | More by spw109

bcuz7

Florida

4.25/5  rDev +2.4%

06-17-2013 23:15:22 | More by bcuz7

PaleZombie

Arizona

4.16/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a stout glass.

A - Deep brown almost black. Cloudy, very little head. When held to the light I could not see through it but there were some sediment chunks of junk floating on the side of the glass.(Im not a fan of sediment)

S - Somewhat mild sent. Deep roasted malts, some coffee, small amount of chocolate, a mild floral hop note.

T - The taste is what is the best on this one. Up front you get smacked with rich somewhat bitter chocolate, some coffee, with a strong coffee bitterness, maybe some raisins, and a little bit of hop finish. Very bold but pleasant.

M - Smooth, creamy, somewhat syrupy, little carbonation.

O - This is pretty good, the smell and sediment was the only downfall.

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2013 18:14:12 | More by PaleZombie

Teleweizen2

New Jersey

4.23/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Narwhal

A - squid ink black. A pinky fingers worth of deep tan foam.

S - very chocolatey with a slight touch of roast. Notes of cocoa powder and dark chocolate sauce. Light hints of grindy city roast coffee. Hints of cherries in the center.

T - doughy and chocolate flavors up front. Almost like a dark chocolate version of Nutella spread on italian bread. A hint of alcohol come through with a touch of coffee. Blackstrap molasses notes collide with earthy hops with hints of tree bark and pine. Finish is dry almost tannic but with a note of dusty chocolate to smooth it out.

M - thick and rich. Full bodied and high carbonation.

O - great stout. Sierra Nevada just knows how to make exceptional beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2013 03:39:49 | More by Teleweizen2

huysmans

New Jersey

3.75/5  rDev -9.6%

06-16-2013 13:34:43 | More by huysmans

anson42

California

4/5  rDev -3.6%

06-16-2013 02:17:36 | More by anson42

blt2646

New Hampshire

3.75/5  rDev -9.6%

06-14-2013 21:43:48 | More by blt2646

Matthewpakula

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev +2.4%

06-14-2013 16:57:03 | More by Matthewpakula

DoubleSimcoe

New York

4.5/5  rDev +8.4%

06-14-2013 03:01:57 | More by DoubleSimcoe

Mersh

Connecticut

4/5  rDev -3.6%

06-14-2013 02:14:14 | More by Mersh

AuzBlackhand

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -15.7%

06-13-2013 20:35:13 | More by AuzBlackhand

djre4orm

Virginia

4/5  rDev -3.6%

06-13-2013 19:26:04 | More by djre4orm

andysc83

South Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +8.4%

06-13-2013 03:17:12 | More by andysc83

SebD

Ontario (Canada)

4.28/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Appearance: It has a beautiful jet black color to it. It has a nice thick dark tan head that stays around for ever and leaves lovely lacing.

Smell: The aromas definitely give out hints of sweet roasted malts, coffee, chocolate and dark fruit.

Taste: Like the aromas, it has a some sweet roasted malts, bitter coffee, dark chocolate, some dark fruit and an earthy hop bitterness.

Mouthfeel: It has a low carbonation with a nice overall balance and feel.

Drinkability: It's a very smooth drinkable beer accompanied with great flavors and aromas.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2013 20:45:51 | More by SebD

JMUbrewz

Virginia

4/5  rDev -3.6%

06-12-2013 19:33:16 | More by JMUbrewz

gleemonger

California

5/5  rDev +20.5%

06-12-2013 17:51:39 | More by gleemonger

TKEbeerman

Florida

3.75/5  rDev -9.6%

06-11-2013 01:29:02 | More by TKEbeerman

PincheNorteno

Michigan

3.19/5  rDev -23.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Picked up a single 12 oz bottle, poured into a pub glass. It was a bit underwhelming. How does this qualify as an imperial stout? My benchmarks for this class is Bells Expedition Stout, and Narwal seemed more like a porter.

The mouthfeel was far too light and the flavors were not intense enough for me.
Dark roasted malt flavor, medium body, notable clarity and overall thinness. Thin tan head, hints of soy sauce and mild bitterness. I tested this beer in a selection of a dozen stouts and it was near the bottom of my list.

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2013 16:21:34 | More by PincheNorteno

geocool

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -15.7%

06-09-2013 10:06:13 | More by geocool