Imperial Brown Ale - Nøgne Ø - Det Kompromissløse Bryggeri A/S

Bananaman

Sweden

4.78/5  rDev +17.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Nøgne Ø's Imperial Brown is one of my top 20 best beers in the world! It's just so wonderful.

Looks nice, Nøgne Ø's got really clean labels too. Hazy brown color with a nice beige/white head.

Smells really good of rosted malts, sweet toffee/caramel and some nice hoppiness.

Tastes wonderful of fudge, english hops and a great sweet maltiness. Caramel and notes of dried apricots lurks in the background.

Highly reccomended!

Serving type: bottle

11-07-2008 16:37:55 | More by Bananaman

Ljunkan

Sweden

4.68/5  rDev +15.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

This is one of my favourites from Nøgne Ø. I shared a "kolli" about 12 bottles with a friend this spring.

The color is dark brown, the foamy head is light brown and it lingers for a while. Nice lacing on the glass.

The smell is nice of fudge and chocolate. Slightly of hops.

The taste is malty and sweet with lots of fudge, chocolate, toffee and roasted malt. Slightly of hops here to, but it does not have that much bitterness. It's more "aromatic hoppy" then bitter, but that's not a bad thing in this case.

The mouthfeel is great, almost full-bodied, creamy, filling and nice in the mouth. Smooth as... I don't know. But smooth it is.

The drinkability is good. It hides the 7,5% well and you could easily finish a bottle of this alone. I like it.

Serving type: bottle

09-09-2008 15:46:27 | More by Ljunkan

Blakaeris

Iowa

4.68/5  rDev +15.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours dark, velvety mahogany with a thick and creamy head that hangs around forever.

Aroma is an unusual nutty malt sweetness with hints of cocoa and a complex herbal hop bitterness.

Taste is bready caramel malt as expected. However, I am surprised at the amount of smokey charred dark grain. Malt has a nice bit of burnt toffee. Finishes clean and dry with herbal hop notes, and a touch of the cocoa from the nose and a bit of lingering alcohol warmth.

Mouthfeel is medium-full with a nice resinous coating of hop oil.

This is a unique and interesting beer. It seems to be a cross between a porter and a nut brown ale, with a generous hop dosing. This has to be the best Brown Ale I've had.

Serving type: bottle

09-29-2010 23:22:40 | More by Blakaeris

beerdrifter

Germany

4.6/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Picked this up at my favorite beer store in Belgium, Dranken Geers. Pours a dark murky brown with nice tan two finger head with great retention and lacing. Wonderful unique nutty, toasty nose with hints of chocolate, fresh roasted coffee, caramel, and just a touch of soy sauce. The taste is roasty and bold malty perfection. HInts of sweet brown bread, maple syrup, toffee, figs, chocolate, soy sauce, and just enough peppery hops to keep it honest. The mouthfeel is smooth and full bodied, thick and creamy, with just a touch of bitterness on the finish. I'm not typically a big Brown Ale fan, but this beer has absolutely blown me away! Definitely the best Brown Ale I've ever had, and right up there overall. An amazing beer!

Serving type: bottle

10-15-2012 15:30:40 | More by beerdrifter

tavernjef

Minnesota

4.58/5  rDev +12.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Gorgeous glowing brownly umber with spectacular deep golden highlights. Tall waft of light tan foam grows quickly and fluffy to just over an inch. The crown of foam slowly twindles down to ever present thick skim and collar that lasts the entire session. With tons of lacing in spotty snowflaked sheetings covering the glass.

Aroma is soft and mildly roasty with a nice twang of deep dark breadyness. Some notes to brown sugar sweetness, vanilla, and maple.

Flavor is quite well rounded with a nice melding, soft, soothing combo of roast and tang that are both bready sweetened and darkly crusty with over baked pastry edges. Solid tone of soft roasty breadyness smoothed over even more so by a darker sweetness that touches to some maple, brown sugar, and vanilla hints. Nice chewy finish with a puff of cinnamon thrown in. A complexing subtle flare and softness about it. Yummy nice.

Body is just over medium, not huge my any means, but unbelieveably soft in a wonderfully drawn out fluffy texture and rounded dark sweet bready darkness that flows right down with amazing ease. Gone in no time flat. Scrumptiously drinkable!

A winner of a Brown from Norway! A usually boring style brought to its top notch showmanship here. Too bad the price point for one bottle can get you a micro sixer of just about any other halfway decent brown or better. But definately something to be looked at for what most other browns should strive to be like.

Serving type: bottle

10-11-2010 19:49:54 | More by tavernjef

Pintofbrown

Iowa

4.55/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

I poured this from a bomber into a glass stein.

Appearance- The head is great! It swells to three-fingers with a chalky consistency. The head is pot marked with lots of bubbles and craters. The lace is really thick, and web-like.

The body is an opaque dark chocolate. There are a few bubble columns noticeable in the glass. Very good looking beer!

Smell- A bountiful whiff of malts on the nose, mostly of the bread malt variety, which is how I like my browns. There is also a much sweeter note, like raisin dwelling in the depths. There is a slight brandy character from the alcohol as well, but it is very subtle.

Taste- Color me impressed! The drink begins with some more of the roasted and bread malt that is picked up on the nose. That continues through the entire drink, but it sweetens up as you move into the middle and end of the drink.

This is where some of that raisin quality starts to come out and mingle with the bread malt. The finish is not quite as sweet as it is roasted and spicy. That is thanks to the slight alcohol that comes out here.

More bourbon-like now than the brandy that is picked up on the nose. And again, it has a spicy quality to it, not quite as harsh as pepper, but easily picked up. Just a really solid brown that hits big with the roasted malt and bread malt qualities that make the style so enjoyable.

Mouth feel- I can not sell the mouth feel on this one well enough. Right away, the incredible creaminess of this beer is apparent; talk about rolling over the tongue!

And it is a very thick and heavy drink, definitely full bodied ad mouth filling. I really do not think this could have been done any better.

Overall- Everything that should be looked for in a great brown ale. The nose is full of malt with a distinct character, although maybe not as big as it could be.

The taste profiles incorporate the nose just as well, and remain interesting through the entire drink, however that peppery finish from the alcohol was the only thing keeping this from being a perfect flavor score.

And oh my the mouth feel. Just perfect use of carbonation found in this one. Nøgne Ø has done brown ale lovers a great service!

Serving type: bottle

11-27-2011 01:03:36 | More by Pintofbrown

coltsr2

United Kingdom (England)

4.54/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Pours with a nice silky smooth half inch light brown head....beer itself is very dark brown...lacing is about average for this type of heavy beer...its well pronounced and clings to the sides of the glass...

Aroma is a nice malty hit of roasted barley, toffee and raisins...no noticeable aroma of any hops...seeing as this is a brown ale i suppose that is to be expected..

Taste is very well rounded, rich and smooth, roasted malts semi sweet with a nice underlying solid bitterness which follows through to a nice finish....nice!

Mouth feel is very smooth, well bodied and well carbonated with a nice champagne bubbly effervescence on the tongue with each mouthful which helps make the whole drinking experience of this beer feel very refined and satisfying....

I will definitely buy this beer again..top quality heart-warming lovely stuff!

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2013 15:11:20 | More by coltsr2

WVbeergeek

Ohio

4.5/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

My bottle gives some descriptors on it, Grimstad water, malted wheat, malted barley, hops, and yeast with 19 degrees Plato, and 40 IBUs. Pours basically a pitch black hue maybe some crimson highlights in the body, with a thicket of tan head. Aroma has some tree bark, herbal notes, hints of tobacco leaf, with dark fruit and cocoa bringing in familiar dark roasts. I've heard stick with their dark beers this is no different excellent malt fruit driven backbone with dark roasted edges, mild nuttiness, some earthy/herbal/tobacco infused hop bitterness a very spendid imperial brown ale. Layered levels of fruit dispersed amongst the bready malts, dark chocolate notes, and earthy nut/tree bark driven aspects not to mention earthy/herbal hops I'm a big fan with a finishing refreshing mint finish. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied creamy textured even textured large bubbled big bad brown ale from Norway go figure. Overall I'm in love with this type of beer especially from Nogne-O quite an interesting beer that I've had limited exposure to.

Serving type: bottle

02-10-2012 06:06:52 | More by WVbeergeek

BlackBelt5112203

South Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

500 mL bottle poured into a pint glass at cellar temperature.

L - Deep brown color with a big 3-finger tan, bubbly head. Fades pretty quickly and leaves hardly any lacing behind.

S - Toasted and nutty malt with hints of chocolate and an underlying current of citrus and floral hops as well. Terrific brown ale aroma.

T - Starts off with sweet chocolate, toasted, and nutty malt flavors and finishes with a pleasantly bitter finish with citrus and floral notes. Really tasty.

F - Medium-to-full bodied with more carbonation than expected (not a bad thing), a full and creamy mouthfeel, and a very dry and slightly bitter finish. Toasted sweetness and dryness linger for a while. No real sign of the alcohol except a slight palate-warming feel after the finish.

O - Best brown ale I’ve had so far by a long shot. It has a ton of malt character and a nice, complementary undercurrent of hop aromas and flavors. Perfect mouthfeel. This is a great beer and I’d really love to try more from Nøgne Ø. I definitely recommend this to not only brown ale fanatics, but lovers of all styles.

Serving type: bottle

06-05-2012 04:00:28 | More by BlackBelt5112203

wvsabbath

West Virginia

4.45/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Serving Type - 16.9 oz bottle

Appearance - Dark brown/tan, traces of black. Monster 3+ inch head with a ton of lacing.

Smell - Malts, nuts, brown sugars, roasted coffee. Sweet fruits and spices. Chocolate and cocoa nibs. Smells awesome.

Taste - Very malty, roasted chocolate and cocoa dominte the flavor. Sugars, dark fruits and booze are also very present. Coffee mixes well with the hops to give that bitter, dry hop feel.

Mouthfeel - Thick and syrup quality, tounge gets the malts, coffee and chocolate flavors. Hops add the bitterness after the malt bomb. Palette gets remaining malts and hops, along with chocolate, cocoa and molasses and brown sugar.

Overall - Awesome, very tasty and full of flavor. Almost closer to a porter then a brown ale with all the coffee and chocolate, but the nutty malts bring it together in the end. So smooth, rich and easy to drink. Worth a drink for sure.

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2012 02:48:03 | More by wvsabbath

wordemupg

Alberta (Canada)

4.43/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

500ml bottle poured into tulip 11/7/12

A dark brown with a solid two finger beige head has great retention but only leaves a few patches of lace

S leafy, herbal, and citric hops, milk chocolate, faint coffee, and a little licorice, as it warms there's a nutty Nuttella spread thing going for it

T a little more citric hops and much more nutty, earthy tones work well for it and there's some dark toffee and burnt brown sugar in there too. tastes great, one of the better brown ales I've had recently, I have no idea where the "Imperial" level of booze is hiding

M full bodied that's feel's creamy from the bubbles, slightly sticky on the lips and a lingering nutty coco aftertaste

O This ones a winner in my books, tastes and smells great and solid in all other areas, well concealed booze and a great mix of malt and hops

I loved this one and will drink it again, I'm pretty stoked to see this brewery in Alberta I can't wait too see what else gets shipped here

Serving type: bottle

07-12-2012 18:00:49 | More by wordemupg

GbVDave

Illinois

4.38/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 16.9oz bottle into my brand new Boulevard tulip (thanks Homebrewhawk!) Label on my bottle is different than the one pictured.

A: Pours a deep, rich brown with some faint burnt orange highlights at the edges. Topping this is a bubbly, light khaki colored head that reaches about 3 fingers thick. As it recedes it doesn't leave much in the way of lace but changes into a thin, creamy skim and unbroken ring.

S: I was immediately greeted with aromas of roasted malt, dark chocolate, and hints of fudge covered dark fruit.

T: Pretty much as above, but with flavors of pan roasted nuts, spicy hops, cocoa, and a hint of cola.

M: Incredibly smooth and creamy with an almost perfect amount of peppery hop prickle to keep this so very interesting.

D: Holy crap, do they turn out some great beer at Nogne O! Make sure you swirl all of the sediment into your glass. You won't be disappointed!

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2010 01:11:55 | More by GbVDave

rarbring

Sweden

4.38/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

The beer is dark brown, nearly black, a tan head, good lacing and some curtains.

The smell has roasted tones, sweet dark fruits like raisins and dates and dark chocolate.

The taste is sweet, brown toast, dates and some very dark bitter chocolate.

Medium carbonation, small soft bubbles and an oily sweet feeling, a dry finish.

A really good balanced beer with lots of malty tones.

Serving type: bottle

10-21-2010 20:19:17 | More by rarbring

JohnnyP3

Alaska

4.35/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a .5L bottle. Batch 403, brewed on 15.12.08, best by 15.12.13.

Poured a caramel brown with some orange hue on the edges. Very cloudy with 2-3 fingers worth of tan, creamy head. Yeast is visible after the pour, floating near the surface and mixed with the head. At first, the smell was quite muted. Further investigation revealed a nose of roasted nuts, sweet caramel notes and some hints of fruit, perhaps apricots?

Taste...where to begin? Wow, this one has a lot going on. Nutty, fruity, caramel, hints of chocolate, and the list goes on. There is a definite sweetness from the caramel malts and a mild chocolate flavor as well. Starts sweet and ends sweet with some bitterness and fruit in between. Also a hint of smoke. The fruit comes across as apricots, dates and maybe stewed pear? Complex and delightful. Try this with a flavorful cheese and it hits a home run. Roasted nuts are in there as well.

A well carbonated beer. In fact this one was a bit of a gusher when I popped the cap. But that helps it be such a wonderful compliment to grilled meats and flavorful cheeses. Drinkability is excellent. So many complimentary flavors as work here that you need to have another just to decipher them all. 7.5% abv is barely noticeable in the taste and mouthfeel. A well crafted, complex brown ale.

Serving type: bottle

08-15-2010 16:43:30 | More by JohnnyP3

bashiba

Iowa

4.33/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

Poured a deep dark brown with a thick and creamy 5 inch head that lasted and lasted, nice lacing as well.

The smell was light creamy chocolate and dark caramel malts.

The flavor is very brown, nutty and bready with hints of toffee and chocolate with a nice lightly bitter finish.

The mouthfeel is very creamy and thick.

Very nicely done, the Nogne I have had to date.

Serving type: bottle

09-29-2010 23:08:32 | More by bashiba

MAB

Alberta (Canada)

4.28/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I had this spectaular brown ale on-tap at the Hop-In Brew o July 25th, 2012

Nice dark color and plenty of head. Looks great.
Smell was a bit lacking. Some maltiness but not a lot of anything else.
The taste took me by surprise. A real depth of flavors.
Sweetness and sourness combined with a light alcohol burn. This is like no other brown I've ever had.
It is not at all watery, but not cloying either. A perfect gravity.
Overall score reflects how much I enjoyed this despite the lower mark for aroma.
Upon reflection, the temperature (cold) may have had much to do with that, as it improved in flavor as it warmed up, so the smell must have done the same--but I didn't care by then.

Serving type: on-tap

07-27-2012 21:07:51 | More by MAB

nickfl

Florida

4.25/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

A - Pours with one finger of light brown foam on top of a hazy, dark brown body. The head settles at a moderate pace and leaves light lace.

S - Brown sugar, maple syrup, smoke and molasses.

T - Cola and brown sugar up front with a light note of green hops in the middle. Finishes with maple syrup, molasses, and a touch of coffee.

M - Medium thick body, moderate carbonation, and a balanced finish.

D - Wow, quite a collection of dark sugar flavors with a combination of smoke, coffee, and sugar that makes this more of a breakfast beer than pretty much any other I have ever had.

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2013 02:40:27 | More by nickfl

joecast

Australia

4.18/5  rDev +3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Another treat for me in another brown ale. Imperial even. Sort of another interpretation of the brown or dark IPA style. Yes please.

A few shades short of black with a red amber tinge at the edges. Beautiful foamy tan head with great stability and lacing. This is bottle conditioned so there is some cloudiness as the last of the bottle is poured onto a glass.

Great malty aroma as it warms. A bit chocolate and coffee but neigh is dominant over the other. A nice touch of roast malts. Going by the bottle dating (a nice touch) this is about a year old so no surprise the hops have faded. Still, as a brown ale this is a winner.

Taste as well is much more weighted towards the darker malt character. In saying that, there is a complexity added from the hop bitterness and dryness of the dark malts (though no roast or chocolate?). It does maintain a nice sweetness in the background and has a clean finish.

Wasn't convinced on the mouthfeel but it's just about right really. Light enough to remain drinkable but not so light that you can't savor it.

Fantastic brown ale. This is becoming one of my favorite styles, when done well, and this was done exceptionally well.

Serving type: bottle

01-29-2011 07:51:50 | More by joecast

Sigmund

Norway

4.15/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

500 ml bottle conditioned, courtesy of Cardinal, Stavanger (Norway’s best beer bar, untill someone proves me wrong, see Places section). Sampled side-by-side with its "sister brew", Nørrebro Bryghus Double Knot Brown Ale (pasteurised and unfiltered keg, see separate rating). ABV is 7.5%, 19 degrees Plato, 40 IBU. Very dark brown colour, moderate head. Darker than Nørrebro DKBA. Lovely malty aroma with plenty of aromatic hops, notes of chocolate and leather too. Rich and roasty flavour, plenty of malts and oak. Roasty long aftertaste. Excellent beer!

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2007 20:48:52 | More by Sigmund

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

4.13/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Chestnut brown with orange-bronze highlights along the edges of the glass. More than three fingers of fluffy brown sugar colored foam look great. The head, which develops even more character as it melts, is doing a fantastic job laying down lace. Brown ales can't look much better than this.

Despite the fact that it hails from Norway, the nose is everything that an American brown ale nose should be. The reasons why include what smells like a wonderful combination of malts and plenty of American (and English) hops. Good things are expected on the taste buds.

Nogne Brown Ale is a rock-solid version, so it is no surprise that Nogne Imperial Brown is as well. I'm glad the brewers didn't Imperialize the hell out this offering by cranking the ABV up to 10.0% or beyond. A little restraint is exactly what was needed to provide a satisfying drinking experience.

Flavors include toasted brown bread, sugared pecans, caramel-toffee, tea leaves, and hints of cocoa and coffee. It all comes together in delicious and easy drinkable fashion. Some of the initial 40 IBUs have probably faded, which brings things into near perfect malt-hop balance... slightly favoring the former.

The mouthfeel is glassy smooth and supple. A little more heft would have put it into the stratosphere for sure. Low end carbonation is right where it needs to be.

Nogne Imperial Brown Ale is just as good as Nogne Brown Ale... just a wee bit bigger. I'm not sure what a Norwegian brown ale would taste like, so it's a good thing that the boys from Grimstad are so adept at creating American-style beer. As always, this brewery makes me (and my mouth) very happy.

Serving type: bottle

11-28-2010 13:15:33 | More by BuckeyeNation

Sunnanek

Sweden

4.13/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Pours surprisingly dark, almost black with a generous large creamy head, pale brown - turns soapy after a while. Sinks into rich, rich lacings.

S: Heavily roasted malt, semi-sweet. A bit burnt, almost. Dryness. Dark bitter chocolate and strong black coffee. Soyasauce. Some caramell.

T: Lots of malts, dark and roasted, a bit burnt - rich. Strong black coffee and some dark bitter chocolate. Soyasauce. Some liqourice. Smoked ham and sausages.

M: Body is full while carbonation is light. Semi-long dry bitter aftertaste, a bit burnt.

O: A nice American Brown Ale, but a bit too dark for this style...

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2011 19:52:13 | More by Sunnanek

mattsander

Alberta (Canada)

4.11/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

A: Deep brown with a long lasting beige head.

S: Toasty, nutty, chocolately, very nice. There is a metallic element here that detracts from greatness.

T: I'm not sure I would describe this as imperial, but its a very nice brown ale with a great balance of roasted and caramel elements.

M: Creamy and satisfying but finishes quite dry.

Very nice beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2013 03:56:43 | More by mattsander

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

4.1/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

500ml bottle. I've just come to terms with ITA (Imperial Tequila Ale), and now I'm hit with an IBA? Where does it end? Should it?

This beer pours a hazy, very dark bronzed amber hue, with two fingers of dense puffy, silky, bubbly beige head, which leaves a broadly random, um, fjord-like vista of lace around the glass as it gradually abates.

It smells of toasty caramel malt, a prominent oily nuttiness, mild dry chocolate, and low-lying citrusy, leafy hops. The taste is nicely roasted caramel malt, a lessened, but still relevant earthy Planters nutty character, some further struggling choco-coffee goodness, and perky, though really a bit muddled, citrusy, leafy hops.

The bubbles are pleasant and understated, supportive in the best way, the body a steady medium weight, and tepidly smooth - the hops have just a bit too much say in this regard. It finishes off-dry, mostly, the caramel malt gaining some biscuity notes, and the attendant coffee/fruit/hop bitterness simmering idly, just offshore.

Definitely a stand-up brown ale, taken to the next lofty level, with no apparent ill effect. For an Imperial incarnation of the base style, newfound or not, this goes down all too well, as the one thing we might be overtly concerned about does well to remain silent, for now.

Serving type: bottle

07-10-2012 02:54:16 | More by biboergosum

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

4.1/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

An (American) strong ale, using Columbus, Chinook and E K Golding hops. Two years into three year stated shelf life. Deep brown colour with attractive head. Citrus hop aroma. Big mouthfeel. Very tasty stuff, perhaps the best a brown (looking) beer can be.

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2012 04:36:06 | More by northyorksammy

superspak

Michigan

4.1/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

500 ml bottle into tulip glass, no bottle dating. Pours very hazy nearly pitch black color with a nice 2 finger dense khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice soapy lacing clings on the glass. Aromas of caramel, molasses, toast, toffee, light roast, light chocolate, dark bread, floral, light dark fruits, light pine, and toasted earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of malty notes with slight hops; with good strength. Taste of caramel, molasses, toast, toffee, dark bread, light roast, light chocolate, floral, light pine, and toasted earthiness. Minimal bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, molasses, toast, toffee, dark bread, light roast, light chocolate, floral, and toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice balance and complexity of toasted malt flavors with light hops; with nice robustness and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a very creamy and moderately slick mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is an excellent imperial brown ale. All around nice balance, complexity, and robustness of flavors; and very smooth to sip on. A very enjoyable offering.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2013 04:18:26 | More by superspak