Beer Review: Royal Impy Stout (2013 vintage)

Reviewing the Royal Impy Stout from the Portsmouth Brewery out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This beer replaces Kate The Great in the brewery's current lineup as a new winter stout that was released during Portsmouth Beer Week 2013. This beer is different from Kate, but is the name an allusion?

Score: 94

2013 vintage bottle served in a Doom teku-like glass and enjoyed on 06/27/13. Review is from iPhone notes.

Appearance: Pours a chocolately brown color with no head. No lacing or retention to speak of. 3.5/5

Smell: Milk chocolate, dark chocolate and roast. Hint of fig. tons and tons of chocolate. 4.25

Taste: Nice mix of silky/creamy chocolate notes - cacao, dark chocolate and milk chocolate. Less roast on the palate than in the nose. Touch of boozy warmth in finish, but no boozy flavor. 4.5/5

Mouthfeel: Just shy of full bodied, low carbonation. Silky smooth mouthfeel. Quite dry on the finish. Nice bittersweet flavor balance, with more sweetness upfront and more bitterness towards the finish. 4.5/5

Overall: Delicious and well worth the retail cost. It is better than aged Kate The Great, but not quite as good as I recall Kate being fresh. Although not the most complex stout, this brew delivers in what dimensions its offers. I wish this were more readily accessible.

Cost: $8 for a 300 ml "stenie bottle."

Beer Review: Kabert

Reviewing Kabert, a collaboration between De Struise Brouwers and Portsmouth Brewery. This beer is a blend of Kate The Great and Black Albert.
Score: 89

Batch 42. Served in a Surly Darkness snifter and enjoyed on 12/14/12.

Appearance: Black in color. Pours a finger-plus of mocha head that settles to a ring around the glass. Awesome lacing and retention. 4.5/5

Smell: Muted port, cherry, and fudge. Dark chocolate, light oxidation and some alcohol esters. Faint roasted malt. Some dark fruit too. When it warms, some brown sugar comes out. 4.25

Taste: Cherry, chocolate and light fruitiness. Finishes with bakers chocolate and faint fruitiness. More port in the taste than the nose led on. The nose was more Albert-heavy, but the Kate shines a bit more in the taste. 3.75/5

Mouthfeel: Medium-plus bodied, just shy of medium carbonation that gives the flavor a little "fizziness." Sweet, but not as sweet as the aged Kate.  3.5/5

Overall: Better than the aged Kate and aged Double Oaked Kate we drank, but still very disappointing.

Recommendation: Worth drinking, but not worth the rarity.

Pairings: Steak.

Cost: $10 for an 11.2 oz bottle.

Beer Review: Double Oaked Kate The Great (2011)

Reviewing the infamous Double Oaked Kate The Great from Portsmouth Brewery out of New Hampshire. Wales bro!
Score: 87

2011 vintage bottle served in a Kate the Great snifter and enjoyed on 12/14/12.

Appearance: Ink black in color with a thin layer of beige head that settles to a bubbly ring around the glass. Good lacing, excellent retention. 4.5/5

Smell: Lots of fruitiness, dark fruitiness and then fudge. Much fruitier than the 2011 regular Kate we just drank. Some vanilla, but not much oak at all. Lots of red grape sweetness. The aged regular Kate lost a lot of its balance with nearly two years of age, with the vinous port qualities taking over; the Double Oaked Kate followed suit. Sweeter in the nose than regular Kate. As it warms up, more fudge comes through. 4/5

Taste: Quite sweet and vinous. A lot more so than regular Kate. Borderlines too sweet in my opinion. Lots of port and red grape sweetness, followed by mild vanilla and a hint of chocolate. There is ample fruitiness upfront too. Gets sugary-sweeter and fruitier as it warms. 3.5/5

Mouthfeel: Just shy of full bodied, low carbonation. Malty, fruity. 4/5

Overall: Fresh, Kate The Great lived up to its reputation. However, aged, it was nothing special. The aged Double Oaked Kate was not that much better. This was an extreme let down of a beer. It's good, but it is not very complex.

Recommendation: Save your beer; what you'll have to give up to acquire this brew is likely better than this brew (at least with nearly 2 years of age).

Pairings: Chocolate cake.

Cost: Unknown.

Beer Review: Kate The Great (2012, Fresh)

BEER REVIEW #200! Since beer review #100 was CBS, I had to pull out something epic to top it (especially since I took the MPRE in the morning).

Reviewing the infamous Kate The Great from Portsmouth Brewery out of New Hampshire. This is one of highest rated and most sought after beers in the world. I am absolutely ecstatic to have had the opportunity to try this beer.
Score: 100

2012 vintage bottle served in a Dogfish Head snifter and enjoyed on 03/17/12.

Appearance: Pours a deep brown coffee color with just under a half finger of creamy tan head at pour that settles into a ring around the glass and foggy layer atop the beer. Totally opaque save for a thin brown highlight strip at the top of the glass when held up to light. Above average frothy and oily lacing mix with absolutely superior retention. 5/5

Smell: Loads of rich and roasted chocolate and smooth, percolating coffee. A really nice aromatic mix of milk chocolate and chocolate. Toasted oats, prunes, figs, and roasted malts. A very light vanilla and licorice smell too. As the beer approaches room temperature, a very small amount of dark cherry comes out in the nose. Very inviting! 5/5

Taste: WOW! Move over Darkness, there is a new Russian Imperial Stout in town. The first thing I notice is the rich, complex and layered medley of chocolate flavors in this beer. There's creamy milk chocolate, fudge, bittersweet chocolate morsels, mocha and dark chocolate throughout. There's a modest amount of fig flavor and "dark chocolate raisinets" flavor on the midpalate in addition to some brown sugar. There is a light alcohol warming effect (but not flavor) on the midpalate too, but just the perfect amount to give some liveliness to the rich chocolateness of the beer. There's some toasted oat flavor and smooth coffee too. This beer honestly strikes the perfect balance between chocolate and coffee -- smooth, rich and flavorful, but not too bitter, sweet or acidic. There's another wave of rich mocha and dark chocolate flavor towards the finish, which seems to grow as the beer layers. Finishes with the perfect mocha and raw chocolate flavor that you'd expect and desire from a Russian Imperial Stout. 5/5

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, minimal carbonation. Rich, creamy and chewy mouthfeel. Finish is dry, chocolatey and bittersweet. 5/5

Overall: I never thought that I would ever consume a beer that I enjoyed more than Surly Darnkess, but here we are. Kate The Great is truly a perfect beer that lives up to the hype. Rich, complex and infinitely chocolatey. You could absolutely hate beer and love this brew. If only this one was more available and easy to find, it would be the only beer I would stock in my fridge for regular consumption. People covet this beer for a reason, and I would absolutely recommend paying well over the cost to acquire a bottle for a special occassion. World class indeed!

Recommendation: Seek this beer out. I promise that you will not be disappointed.

Pairings: Vanilla ice cream or steak.

Cost: $8 for an 11.2 oz bottle, but when you consider the cost of purchasing a lottery ticket to entitle you to a bottle and the probabilities of winning, each bottle actually costs $23.