So tonight is another “Brian and Ian hanging out and drinking beer” night. Which means that we’ve had a few things, but this is the first one we’ve decided to review. This is mostly because I bought it when I was in Ohio, and its not something I’ll be able to get again soon.

So when Brian poured us each a half glass, the first thing we noticed was the brown color in the pour, but how black it was in the glass. Brian was surprised about how much head there was. Maybe a bit much for an Imperial Stout, but whatever.

This is where it got weird. There was a nice roasty smell to it, with a hint of chocolate and some nice, sweet malty notes. Then we tasted it.

To be fair, Brian had it first. He wanted me to confirm that it tasted almost just like a porter we brewed once with some friends.

This is odd (and not so good) for a few reasons.

All in all, its not awful, actually not bad at all. We’re both willing to testify that our porter wasn’t the best beer we made, but also not the worst. However, I would expect more from something that someone is actually selling.

This is an Imperial Porter at best, and a sweet stout at worst. I’m not sure I’d buy it again, but I certainly wouldn’t avoid it either.

9/10 if they’d called it a standard porter.
6/10 for an Imperial Porter.
4/10 for attempting to be an Imperial Stout.