Dark Seas - Mission Brewery

TehParabox

4.53/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: Dark; So dark that I'm not sure if light even passes through. Has pretty nice dark brown head that fades slowly. doesn't leave lacing from what I know.

Smell: Dark roasted coffee or espresso, and dark chocolate. maybe a hint of vanilla extract. It's smell warns you that this is not for the weary traveler. the smell is distinct it might be overpowering to some. The coffee is the most present in this beer.

Taste: It's very good, if you love coffee or dark chocolate this is the way to go. The flavors are very dense but rich. Sweet and nice good roasted flavors accompanied by dark chocolate.

Mouthfeel: the body isn't as thick as I expected, but it is really smooth.

overall: Not something for everyone but for stout drinkers this is a really good one to try. I'm quite impressed I can't say it's the best I've had but it's definitely great for what it is. It has a lot of good textures and it simply is what it is a very dark/sweet luscious tasting RIS. Don't know if I'm ready to take on another .. just yet. This one has gotten me by surprise not something to take easily. After a couple of tastes it turned out a lot better than I initially expected. I highly recommend this one!

Serving type: bottle

09-07-2012 09:49:36 | More by TehParabox

Dijeriduster

California

3.95/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a bomber into a pint glass. Shared with friends.

A - Dark, hazy black beer with coffee brown head. Not as black as some RIS but clearly full of roasted grains.

S - Wonderful roasted coffee, dark chocolate nose. Even non beer drinkers love the smell.

T - Surprisingly smooth and chocolaty. Roasted flavors come thru large but not in charge - the acrid taste of some big stouts isn't present here as they've done a careful job to make this a highly quaffable RIS.

M - As close to a nitro pour as I've ever had from a beer. Its creamy and lusious.

O - A great RIS that is easy to find on store shelves throughout San Diego. A big beer but not one that leaves you fatigued like many big RIS. Finally Mission has a beer that is well balanced and quaffable.

Serving type: bottle

08-27-2012 17:08:01 | More by Dijeriduster

jtierney89

New Jersey

2.5/5  rDev -38.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

bottle says 9.8, not 10.5 but oh well. This is a damn dark beer. Black as night with a thin mocha head.

Immediate bitter black coffee flavor on the tip of the tongue. Slightly astringent with an earthy/medicinal bitterness. Alcohol content is well hidden but coffee flavors dominate with some faint chocolate and caramel notes. Alot of sweetness upfront with the right amount of bitterness to balance. Although the beer is in no way offensive and is well balanced, for such a big style of beer, it's simple. No layers, just straight up simple flavors that dont go deep enough.

If you want a nice drunk off four beers with quaff-able flavor, than sure this beer will do it, but at the price theres better then this for the same price (Yeti) ahem (Yeti)

Serving type: bottle

08-24-2012 00:34:35 | More by jtierney89

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

3.98/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22 oz bottle into a tulip glass.

Pours a deep brown, not quite black, with 2 fingers of rich dark mocha (almost milk chocolate looking) head. This retains with a ½ finger of creamy froth, which throws up a rich cascade of lacing that quickly slides down the sides of the glass but doesn’t stick a whole lot. The aroma smells of smoky roast, green citrus, dark fruit, chocolate, a touch of molasses. That roasted coffee character and dark fruit really start to emerge as this warms.

The taste is similar, with a strong roasted and bitter hop profile up front, with sweeter notes of chocolate and toffee coming in off the sides, before this finishes with a zippy espresso finish. Dark fruit is fairly hidden at first but much like the nose, starts to emerge in a bit way as this warms. The mouthfeel is fuller bodied and really opens up as this warms, with some sharpness on the tongue and then more of a chewy creaminess the rest of the way. The alcohol is handled pretty well here, mostly coming out as some underlying spicy warmth that adds a bit of an extra aggressiveness to this.

At first, this just seemed like a big American Stout, with a prominent roast and hop profile but then more dark fruit and even a touch of anise came out to play (after this really warmed up) to allow to this to come off as more of an Imperial Stout. This definitely could have used a bit more finesse but it overall wasn’t bad at all for the style at all. It just takes a little while to really get going.

Serving type: bottle

08-20-2012 17:48:57 | More by Kegatron

VelvetExtract

Massachusetts

4.05/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A-Pours viscous and absolute in its blackness. Head is excellent. Mocha colored head is a finger's width and refuses to die. Head leaves thick clumps of lacing. Great.

S-Boozy Hershey's Syrup.Chocolate covered vanilla beans and burnt, charred and smoky aromas. Coffee is lighter. The chocolate and char reign supreme here.

T-Flavor is pleasant but almost too subdued. It does grow in intensity after the sip and is actually quite delicious. Heaps of chocolate syrup. Quite burnt and smoky. Light coffee and vanilla. Finishes with a semi-potent hoppy bitterness.

M-Lighter than I would have expected. Booze masked quite well but it warms the cheeks a bit. Body is lightly creamy with soft carbonation. Bitter finish.

O/D-A nice RIS. Not the biggest or the boldest, but it is pretty damn tasty. Not a bad deal either. Well above average. I enjoyed the stressed milk chocolate flavor. Success!

Serving type: bottle

08-04-2012 01:51:20 | More by VelvetExtract

womencantsail

California

3.68/5  rDev -9.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Black in color with low carbonation and very little in the way of head formation. Heavy on the roasted malt with lots of licorice and coffee, maybe some molasses, too. The flavor has a nice burnt sugar flavor to it as well as some toffee and molasses sweetness. Quite a bit of roast with a bit of coffee to break up the sweetness of the beer.

Serving type: bottle

07-30-2012 21:46:42 | More by womencantsail

chefdaddy18042

Pennsylvania

4.7/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Fantastic aroma, everything you would want out of an RIS, chocolate, hint of licorice, and dark tones of malt. Poured your stereotypical dark grey head with bold bowling ball black body. The flavor was impeccable, covered the tongue with bitter chocolate and then finished boozy. Worth the price of the 4 pack, and from this kid, DEF case worthy!

Serving type: bottle

07-28-2012 18:43:41 | More by chefdaddy18042

WillCarrera

Illinois

4.1/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

22 oz bomber, no bottled-on date, poured into a tulip glass.

A- Pours jet black, has a thick, viscous appearance, produces a finger of chocolate colored head that recedes to a collar, leaves spotty lacing.

S- Roasted malt and figs, chocolate, some molasses and brown sugar.

T- Delicious blend of figs and raisins, dark chocolate, and roasted coffee beans. Finish is bitter from hops and roasty bitterness.

M- Full-bodied, smooth, thick feel, nice carbonation.

O- A great stout, very tasty and drinkable, a damn good value too for $6.50 for a bomber.

Serving type: bottle

07-28-2012 09:59:36 | More by WillCarrera

mntlover

Tennessee

3.98/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a black no real light getting through small coco head falls pretty quick to ring with some spotty lace.

Aroma is sweet chocolate malts with lots of fruits figs plums good dose of cherries. . Light roast and coffee notes underneath the nice sweet fruity notes.

Taste is big like smell nice sweet big malts, chocolate good fruit notes blend great with the sweetness. Some nice roast, good smoke notes lots of alcohol noted but blends so well that it is not a distraction. Finish is nice bitter hops, some licorice hints and lingering smoke.

Mouthfeel is nice not overly heavy for an Ipmy Stout but full enough with decent smooth carbonation.

Overall pretty nice brew not world class but enjoyable. Might just be in mode for a big beer but finding this one enjoyable tonight.

Serving type: bottle

07-26-2012 02:34:27 | More by mntlover

Stinkypuss

Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Dark Seas
Mission Brewery
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 10.50 %

LOOK: Pours a midnight black, with a dense light brown foam. Impenetrable by light, it would be difficult to sail on these dark seas. The foam leaves lace of sips gone by.

SMELL: Deeply roasted malts in the aroma, as well as chocolates, coffee, dark fruits and alcohol.

TASTE: Robustly malty, showcasing charcoal, coffee, and dark chocolate flavors. Dark fruits chime in with some date, raisin, and fig flavors. Vanilla comes through more as it warms, and alcohol is omnipresent but not distracting.

MOUTHFEEL: Full bodied , smooth, creamy feel. Delicious lingering stout flavor that sticks to the taste buds long after the pleasure of drinking.

OVERALL: A big bad stout that can stand up to the biggest and baddest of the style. Quite good.

Serving type: on-tap

07-25-2012 23:08:22 | More by Stinkypuss

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev -1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured out a beautiful black color, nice oily looking body with a dark brown colored head on top. The retention was very impressive on this beer. The lacing was good too. The smell of the beer is heavily roasted and almost has a burnt chocolate note to it. The hops slide in there a little bit as well. The taste of the beer is rich, roasted, chocolaty, some coffee in there too the bitterness of some intense hops sting the tongue in the aftertaste. The mouthfeel is nice and thick, good carbonation to it also. Overall this is a pretty damn good RIS. I would drink this one again.

Serving type: bottle

07-23-2012 02:05:17 | More by Knapp85

thagr81us

South Carolina

4/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served from tap into a flared pilsner. Poured pitch black with a one finger brown head that subsided to a half finger slowly. Maintained nice lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of roasted malt, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and sweet alcohol. The flavor was of sweet malt, roasted malt, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and sweet alcohol. It had a heavy feel on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall this was a good brew. The roastiness and sweetness on this one really helped to balance it out and make it quite easy to drink despite the alcohol content. While the alcohol flavor was present it definitely wasn't the dominate component by any means and rather added a nice level of flavor to an already solid backbone. Really glad I got the chance to try this one and I suggest you do the same given the chance.

Serving type: on-tap

07-19-2012 18:31:40 | More by thagr81us

Krakistophales

Connecticut

4.43/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A: Pours jet black with a nice but rather small chocolate head that quickly disappears but leaves nice lacing

S: The usual bitter chocolate, roast, malt, slight smoke, caramel sweetness and hints of anise

T: Rather sweet and kinda fruity up front, almost full of dark berries mixed with really dark chocolate, but eventually giving way to hoppy bitterness, chocolate richness, and espresso-esque dryness.

O: This one is interesting. Kinda sweeter up front than most RISs, and seems to have more fizz than most as well. A nice offering.

Serving type: bottle

07-04-2012 01:34:28 | More by Krakistophales

AgentMunky

Alabama

4.38/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 22 ounce bottle into a St. Bernardus goblet. If this was actually only brewed once, then it's from January 2012. My bottle reads 9.8%.

A: A very dark brown, creamy, mocha head. A sinfully black body; utterly opaque. Heavy lacing.

S: Mmm. Chocolate, berries, dry-sweet malt, chocolate, distant roast, a touch of hops...pretty much everything I want in an imperial stout. However this nose comes only sometimes and every other sniff -- especially after my first sip -- comes boring, dry, and sterile.

T: Damn good. A deep milk chocolate base has just enough coffee bitterness to avoid sweetness and skip straight to roasted pleasantness. Gentle, soft, and alluring, it draws you in before treating you nice.

O: Delicious imperial stout. Must try. Will buy again.

Serving type: bottle

06-27-2012 06:59:19 | More by AgentMunky

WVbeergeek

Ohio

4.58/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Excellent big chewy stout, dark as night pours with a chocolate tinted tan head...spent oil all the way. Big chugging bubbled carbonation, with chunky spanning lacing. Aroma has deep chocolate notes, dark bitter roasted malts, expressive with a bit of coffee like tones and ample hops in the back end mild citrus/herbs. Flavor is big upfront a bit of booze whacks you right in the kisser, but the chocolate creaminess/creamed coffee combo soothes the palate and it becomes a big dessert beer with bitterness from the herbal hops and dark roasted malts. Carbonation is ample pushes this big bruiser of a beer across the palate well no off flavors or lingering harshness, very drinkable big imperial stout. Overall I loved it up there with the best of the best in the imperial stouts, I like this and Black Out from Great Lakes just about equally.

Serving type: bottle

06-13-2012 22:30:40 | More by WVbeergeek

DoubleSimcoe

New York

4.55/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Mission Dark Seas, 32-oz growler filled at Whole Foods Bowery for $7.99+tax. I first had this beer on tap at Pony Bar, NYC.

Appearance: Served in my Lost Abbey chalice/snifter, the Dark Seas pours thick and rich and black, with a by-the-book perfect one-finger head and good retention and lacing. Great-looking Imperial Stout, no doubt!

Smell: Damn, this is a good sniff! Roasty and bitter, a good hop base and great coffee around the nose. Sugar, some vanilla.

Taste: More coffee, dairy. Mostly sweet, thick chocolate and cookies. Sugar, some smoke and tobacco.

Mouthfeel: Truly exceptional indeed!! This is all I want in an Imperial Stout. Rich, silky-milky, creamy, sweet-and-bitter... full flavor and body, great carbonation. Smooth, never burns despite the hefty ABV.

Overall: I love Imperial Stouts but I'm picky about them... they have to be "just right". Some of the more famous ones, like Stone IRS, don't always cut it for me. Mission Dark Seas strikes me as very close to perfect. Great looks, body, smell, taste and drinkability. A winner!

Serving type: growler

05-30-2012 03:27:04 | More by DoubleSimcoe

leantom

Virginia

5/5  rDev +22.9%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

This beer simply blew my mind. I'll most certainly be getting it again (and again).

A: Very dark. This is to be expected, given that the opaqueness of RIS's is greater than any other beer style. The beer also had a very thick, dark head that accompanied the body.

S: Incredible. Smells very chocolatey, and I don't mean the dark, bitter, roasted malt kind of chocolatey. No, the beer smelled very sweet and creamy, which is different from many other RIS's I've had (see "Old Rasputin" and "Storm King" by North Coast and Victory, respectively).

T: Like the smell, the beer tasted excellent. Usually, beers of this style taste somewhat bitter and coffee-ish given the presence of dark, roasted malt. While this beer retained some of the coffe-ish taste found in other RIS's, it was not overwhelming, the predominate flavor being milk chocolate and cream. Very drinkable.

M: Very thick and creamy. The beer was rich in dark malt.

O: This is not a beer to be missed. Imperial Stout lovers, rejoice!

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2012 09:13:46 | More by leantom

rudolphjacksonm

Virginia

4.43/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A - Opaque black stout with coffee colored head and heavy lacing. Head dissolves suuuuper slowly and is delicious. This beer looks amazing for a stout! 5.0

S - Smokey malt and a hint of firewood and/or peat moss. Hint of sweetness, caramelized sugar maybe? Either way it's a pleasant smell with a tinge of ethanol. 4.0

T - Slightly sweet smokey malt flavors on the tip of the tongue, followed by a subtle burn of the 10.5% abv on the middle and back of the tongue with molasses and hop bitterness. Very nice coffee aftertaste. Very smooth considering the high alcohol content! 4.5

M - Thick and creamy, very stouty. Definitely what a stout should aim for. 4.5

O - A very, VERY solid stout. Possibly one of my new favorites. I'd recommend this to anyone who is a fan of a bran muffin in a glass. 4.5

Serving type: bottle

05-03-2012 00:22:50 | More by rudolphjacksonm

kojevergas

California

3.23/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

12 fl oz brown glass bottle with standard pressure cap served into a Guinness goblet in me gaff in low altitude Los Angeles, California. Reviewed live. Expectations are average. 9.8%.

Served slightly warmer than refrigerator cold and allowed to warm over the course of consumption. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

A: Pours a rich vibrant tan colour two finger head of excellent cream, great thickness, and great retention for the high ABV. Colour is a predictable nontransparent solid black. Opaque. Very appealing.

Sm: Chocolate, cream, roasted barley, and hints of a fruit ester (looking at the label, I assume it's plum). A mild strength aroma.

T: Cream, light roasted barley, vague chocolate, and out of place plum. Alcohol comes through. An imbalanced flavour profile. The cream is nice. It's built decently, but feels like a missed opportunity. After the appearance and aroma, I expected more. Not horribly complex or subtle. Pleasant to drink.

Mf: Smooth and wet. A touch too thick. Adequately carbonated. Complements the flavours decently. Should be coarser and more dry. Far too smooth and slick.

Dr: Drinkable for the style, but the alcohol does come through. It's a decent imperial stout, but will get lost alongside the many better beers in the style. Nice try, Mission, but you gotta do better to run with the big dogs.

Good call on the small bottle size.

C+

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2012 04:14:59 | More by kojevergas

thecheapies

Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev -1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Stagnant light brown foam cap on a heavy black body. 4.5

Smells like a strong latte. Roasted malts, whiff of smoke, cut of charred meat. Sweet licorice, maybe ginger, extra dose of booze. 4.0, 4.0

Medium-thick and a little sticky. Carb is just right. 4.0

A decadent and mysterious Imperial. A fine drink on a cold, rainy April evening. 4.0

Serving type: on-tap

04-22-2012 04:10:36 | More by thecheapies

Murrhey

Montana

4.18/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a pint glass. Reviewed live.

A- A quarter inch chocolate head. Dense with nice lacing. Jet-black in color. No light comes through.

S- Rich roast coffee and barley smells. Chocolate and toffee with a hint of vanilla as well. Dark and intimidating.

T- Layered malts and big boozy hit. First comes the heavy flavors, chocolate, coffee, roast barley, vanilla, tobacco, toffee. Packs a wallop.

M- THICK. Almost had to chew it.

O- Solid, not great. Tough ride but a tasty and roasty one.

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2012 05:30:44 | More by Murrhey

Cylinsier

Pennsylvania

4.23/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22 oz.

Pours jet black with a tan head about half an inch, dissipates quickly to a ring.

Smells of dark chocolate and smokey woody notes.

Tastes smokey and of roasted coffee and dark chocolate with some hop bitterness and a bit of brown sugar sweetness.

Full viscous body with tingles of carbonation and a slight alcohol warmth.

An excellent RIS, definitely worth trying for fans of the style or newcomers too. Not the best heavy dark stout, but certainly could compete for the upper echelons. Would have again.

Serving type: bottle

03-20-2012 22:10:57 | More by Cylinsier

UCLABrewN84

California

4.33/5  rDev +6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

9.8% ABV per the label.

Pours a super thick and opaque black with a foamy 2 inch amazingly dark khaki head that settles to a thin cap on top of the beer. Thin foamy rings of lace line the glass on the drink down. Smell is of dark roasted malt, cocoa powder, and some coffee bean aromas. There is a slight cinnamon aroma that comes out as the beer warms. Taste is of dark roasted malt, dark cocoa powder, coffee beans, and some subtle port wine flavors. There is nice roasty bitterness and alcohol warming in the back of the throat with each sip. This beer has a really thick and creamy mouthfeel with a low level of carbonation. Overall, this is a very good RIS that took me by surprise.

Serving type: bottle

03-20-2012 02:22:51 | More by UCLABrewN84

wowbagger

Virginia

3.73/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Dark oak-brown head, beer is deep black.

Smell is earthy with some yeastiness.

Taste is very wooden and dry with a hint of chocolate and grass or dirt. There is some sweetness on the tip of the tongue and the overall feel is very nice as it goes down. It left my mouth feeling a tad dry.

Overall, very good stout.

Serving type: bottle

03-15-2012 23:40:48 | More by wowbagger

RandomBattle

New York

3.98/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

22 oz. Poured into a Karl Strauss snifter....yay San Diego breweries!

Appearance - Midnight black with and about one fingers worth of fluffy khaki head. Fantastic lacing.

Smell - Dark fruits, roast, cocoa, and light coffee. Very typical RIS aromas.

Taste - Sweet roast and chocolate flavors with some soft coffee notes in the finish. Very tasty.

Mouthfeel - Creamy, very creamy. Probably my favorite aspect of this beer. It is soft, velvety, and creamy, no trace of the alcohol whatsoever. An excellent and unoffending sipper.

Overall - Very much enjoyed this beer. While not a shining and bold example of the style, it is done very well and is definitely worth seeking out. Will be sure to get more of this.

Serving type: bottle

03-15-2012 00:34:48 | More by RandomBattle