Squatters Outer Darkness - Utah Brewers Cooperative

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BA SCORE
90
outstanding
-
240 Ratings

rAvg: 4.03
pDev: 12.41%
Reviews: 114
Hads: 126

Ratings Help

Brewed by:
Utah Brewers Cooperative

Style | ABV
Russian Imperial Stout | 10.50% ABV

Availability: Rotating. bottle (111), on-tap (2), growler (1).

Notes:
Welcome to the biggest beer Squatters Pub Brewery has ever made! A Russian Imperial Stout is one of the most intensely flavored beers a brewer can create. The combination of rich roasted barley, oak, molasses and licorice root combine to create an utterly unique and complex imperial stout experience.

We had to mash in twice to get our starting gravity of 27 plato (1.108 specific gravity). We boiled 3.5 hrs to enhance caramelization and used molasses and licorice root at the end of boil. Outer Darkness is aged with oak, has 65 IBUs and bottle conditioned. We hope you have as much fun drinking it as we did making it. Please share with another and drink wisely.

Reviews

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Reviews by zhanson88:

zhanson88

California

4.33/5 rDev +7.4%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Had this beer during a layover at Salt Lake airport at the Squatters pub....I was very pleasantly surprised to see that they had some bottles on location. This was the most recent version of Outer Darkness, brewed in 2010. Served in a tulip.

Appearance: Pours pitch black and opaque, with maybe the slightest hint of ruby around the edges. About 1.5 fingers of espresso colored head form. Excellent head retention and lacing, with very good legs as well. Pretty impressive looking.

Smell: I get some roasted malts, bitter and milk chocolate, licorice and molasses. Light char as well. It smells a bit on the sweeter side.

Taste: Roasted malts, quite a bit of milk chocolate, licorice, a touch of alcohol. Turns pretty charred on the back end with some coffee bitterness. Up front it's pretty sweet with the milk chocolate and licorice, but the char and roast balance it out pretty well. Not going to lie, I really enjoyed this.

Mouthfeel/Overall: This beer is between light and medium bodied with a fair amount of carbonation for a RIS. Reasonably smooth, but could be creamier. Overall, I was impressed. Great flavor and reasonably complex imperial stout. The chances of me getting hold of another bottle are pretty slim but I would jump at it if I had the chance.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2011 04:58:49 | More by zhanson88

More User Reviews:

superspak

Michigan

4.33/5 rDev +7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Got in a trade with swingracex. 25 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled on 3/27/2012. Pours dense pitch black color with a 1 finger dense dark tan head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Nice soapy lacing clings around the glass. Aromas of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, char, roasted malt, raisin, molasses, caramel, licorice, toast, floral, clove, oak, and roasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with good balance and complexity of roasted and dark malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, roasted malt, char, toast, molasses, caramel, raisin, licorice, floral, oak, clove, and roasted earthiness. Good amount of roasted coffee bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, roasted malt, char, raisin, molasses, toast, caramel, oak, and roasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity and balance of deep roast with dark malt flavors and a fair amount of oak presence; with huge robustness and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and very full bodied; with a very creamy, slick, and lightly chalky mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is extremely well hidden with hardly any warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic Russian imperial stout! Huge complexity of roasted and dark malt flavors with moderate oak presence; and very smooth to sip on for the ABV. A highly enjoyable offering.

Serving type: bottle

06-20-2013 04:49:53 | More by superspak

duceswild

Maryland

3.5/5 rDev -13.2%

06-20-2013 02:23:49 | More by duceswild

mendvicdog

Maryland

3.25/5 rDev -19.4%

06-19-2013 17:40:32 | More by mendvicdog

marlinsfan4

Maryland

3.5/5 rDev -13.2%

06-19-2013 05:24:50 | More by marlinsfan4

Schlafly33

Missouri

3.5/5 rDev -13.2%

06-18-2013 01:04:09 | More by Schlafly33

MaddDogg84

Texas

5/5 rDev +24.1%

06-15-2013 04:53:32 | More by MaddDogg84

Cubatobaco

Virginia

4.54/5 rDev +12.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

While on vacation in Prescott, AZ, my girlfriend and I had lunch at "The Raven Cafe". Don't pass this place up if you are ever in the area. They have a very nice staff, great menu (if you're and organic person it's great), and a wonderful beer/wine selection

On to the review! I was able to try this before buying a pint and was blown away! It is dark as motor oil and leaves a lacing on the glass that one would have to scrape off with their finger. The carbonation around the caramel head drew me to purchasing it as I'm a sucker for a well-carbonated RIS.

The aroma is strongly present of Kalamata olives, malt, roasted coffee, dark chocolate and small hint of caramel. Even though I dislike olives more than the devil himself, I could keep my nose in the glass all day! Hershey's Special dark chocolate rushes onto your tongue from the first sip! The flavors of the aromas mentioned before follow in close unison. On the palate, it reminds me of DFH Bitches Brew. Maybe that is why I am enjoying it so much.

The mouthfeel is that of your average RIS. I believe it could have used a tab bit more thickness and carbonation, but that is a small detail to worry bout given its flavor. I would highly recommend this to anyone that has not tried it before. This is surely a dessert in its own right!

Serving type: on-tap

06-14-2013 20:00:40 | More by Cubatobaco

JSchock7

Kansas

4/5 rDev -0.7%

06-12-2013 06:40:17 | More by JSchock7

msturek

Texas

4/5 rDev -0.7%

06-09-2013 21:35:52 | More by msturek

Hanzo

Virginia

4/5 rDev -0.7%

06-08-2013 19:23:42 | More by Hanzo

DemoniChris

Nebraska

4.75/5 rDev +17.9%

06-04-2013 11:21:40 | More by DemoniChris

rangerman21

Nevada

4.35/5 rDev +7.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Date tasted: 6/3/13
Brewery: Squatters Beers (Utah Brewers Cooperative)
Beer: Outer Darkness
Served from: Bomber
Bottled on/born on date: 1/25/13

Appearance: Dark, almost black little or no light gets through. Brown head with great retention. The head almost looks like a chocolate milkshake in terms of color.

Smell: Carmel sweet, with a hint of alcohol. The booze smell isn't overwhelming.

Taste: A hint of coffee flavor, dark malts really shine here, good amount of bitterness in the finish. A complex taste. Despite the booze in the nose, the booze doesn't overpower the flavors.

Mouthfeel: Awesome mouthfeel, it is smooth and thick with just the right amount of carbonation to complement the big flavor.

Overall: This is what I want a Russian Imperial Stout to taste like. This beer is tastes good, smells good, looks great and I really enjoyed it. I would definitely get it again. I would like to get another bottle and lay it down for a year or so and see how it changes. This was the "Reserve Series" bottle. Don't know if that's different from normal or not, but thought it worth mentioning.

Serving type: bottle

06-04-2013 00:29:38 | More by rangerman21