Goose Island The Muddy Imperial Stout
Imperial Stout brewed with licorice.
3.5
378 reviews
Chicago, United States
Community reviews
Pours flat black w/out a head or lacing. The aroma is dominated by the licorice. The taste has kind of a soft imperial feel. It’s good but doesn’t quite have the qualities that make most imperials special!
Bottle. Moderate molasses, strong coffee, and toasted cereal for the malt, light resin for the hops and earth for the yeast, with vanilla and licorice in the background. Head is small, fizzy/frothy, light brown, with a spot or two of lacing and is almost fully diminishing. Color is clear very dark brown. Flavor starts moderately sweet and lightly acidic, then finishes moderately sweet and lightly bitter. Palate is medium to full, a little syrupy with a carbonation between soft and lively. Pretty tasty, just a little sweeter than I expected from an Imperial Stout.
Pours black with light tan head. Has a chocolate, coffee, and malt aroma. Taste is unique with a typical stout taste of chocolate and coffee, but smoky with hits of licorice and dark fruits. A dry malt and smoky aftertaste.
Bottle. Cloudy dark pour no head with aroma of anise, dark fruits; if fruits this dark existed, dark coffee beans or chocolate, and malted rye bread. The smell is more boozy than the actual stout. Body is thinned out with a short palate and little bitterness. Alcohol is disguised creating a very drinkable IS. It just fell a little short for me.
Very dark with a thin tannish head. Full and thick, roasty with some coffee and toast, licorice and raisin. Very smooth.
2/2/16 Chicago (12 oz bottle poured into Globe glass, Goose Island Brewpub). Pitch black pour, minimal tan head and acing. Pleasant black licorice, chocolate and roasted barley aroma with taste matching aroma, Very thin texture, minimal carbonation, easy going down. Overall very good bottle and I look forward to the next pour.
Draft pour. Pours nearly black in color with a small, fleeting tan colored head that quickly fades to the body below. The aroma shows notes of bitter, dark chocolate, dry roasted malts, dark fruits, licorice, and a hint of booze. The flavor follows with the bitter, dark chocolate and fruit up front followed by the roasted malts, licorice, and a bready yeast. There is just enough roast and bitterness to keep things balanced. Nearly full bodied and creamy mouthfeel with balanced carbonation that leads to a lengthy and warming licorice finish. I’m not big on licorice and this one is a little too boozy for my liking, but it’s still decent enough.
Appearance- Thick black with a fluffy tan head. Good lacing.
Aroma- Sweet, roasted malt, some chocolate, slight licorice.
Flavor- Sweet with a fairly big alcohol bite, licorice, chocolate.
sharp and powerful malt character enhanced by booze which gives it that sense of heat. some spice and you could hardly tell it was licorice as i’ve had strong stouts that tasted more like licorice and didn’t use it. cola color and the beer lingers. dark fruity sweetness. a little syrup like.
12 oz bottle served in a Belgian snifter at about 50F.
Black and opaque body with a short, weak tan head; Minimal sticky lacing adheres to the glass.
Aroma: lightly sweet and boozy with hints of dark fruits, dark bread, and licorice.
Flavor: Mainly dark roasted grains, booze and licorice. Sweet but near neutral sweet/bitter balance. Robust flavor. The licorice is most pronounced up front then again in the finish.
Feel: creamy smooth, full body. Low carbonation.
O: nice use of licorice but overly boozy.
[ keg ][ 6oz ][ @Churchkey ][ $4 ][ snifter ][ 11.27.15 ]
black with cream head, dense pour drops fast. Salty nose has plenty of hops, light roast, heavy carb accents the imbalance, fizzy and yeasty with low integration.. Belgian stout. Frothy front palate, light chocolate and heavy yeast co2 profile, mineralic bitterness all over, faintly chocolate. Plenty of roast, yeast way to dominant, pepper conflicts with sweet elements and frothy profile muddles all.
Black , with big , brown head . Chocolate, licorice and alcohol in aroma . Chocolate and roasted caramel in sweet but balanced taste . Smooth finish with moderate, roasted bitterness. Good beer , but too much alcohol in aroma .
Bottle. Dark pour with tan head. Licorice, dark malt and chocolate aromas. Flavors follow licorice and sweet malts are the prevailing tones.
It tastes a bit like central quadder which I am trying to enter but can't because it doesn't show up! Like very much. FYI: I write these reviews for myself just to remember what I like. My reviews will never help anyone. I am no cicerone!
Fairly simple and straight forward. Dark brown pour with a tan dissapating head. Sweet malts and chocolate with notes of licorice on nose and taste buds. Pretty light in the body.
Draft. Pours dark brown with thin white head that dissipates. Not as boozy as the Abv may indicate. Chocolate and dark fruit flavor. A bit light in the shorts.
Bottle: Poured a dark brown with a tan colored head. Aroma is sweet malty. Taste is sweet malt with fruity and licorice.
Black color wit a fast falling medium head. A bit of sweet molasses in the aroma. Tar, rummy, and fig flavors. Plenty of roast. Quite dry.
Negra com boa formação de espuma marrom densa e de longa duranção. Notas de malte torrado, toffee, caramelo e boa carga de lúpulo, o que gera um diferencial para breja. Corpo médio com final longo adocicado, mas tb com amargor acentuado no retrogosto.
Bottle: Pours black, dark cola hues, big foamy tannish head, nice lacing. Hoppy nose, soft
roasted malts, a touch fruity. A bit fruity in the apple/pear skin sense. Otherwise it has some nice
soft roasted malt bits. Very mild for an Imperial Stout. THe hops aren’t all that bitter. Smooth
finish, roasy, some dark chocolate notes. Wished I got some Licorice notes but they seem to be minor.
Comes across as a moderate Imperial Stout with some minor licorice notes. Decent little stout. Wished I
had a bit more to sample... seems to finish too quick. Holy Piss... and lets leave it at that.
Enjoyable stout thats not overly hopped, but moreso sweet and licorice like. Weee.....
Poured from tap at BBC Danvers for Willrunforbeer bachelor party. Dark chocolate pour with a nice tan lacey head. Aromas of caramel chocolate malt and
Black opaque with a beige head, aroma of coffee, chocolate, liquorice, honey, flavor of chocolate, wood, liquorice, cognac, medium bodied.
bottle shared by a friend. poured a dark brown to black colour with a tanned head on top. licorice is clearly noticeable. some dark coffee, roasted malts, and dark fruits. cacao, and a small mocha notice in the end aswell. flavor is very very thin. aftertaste is a bit dry aswell. and a bit to sweet.
Draft at OB Noodle House. Dark, very dark with a smallish head. Some coffee and slight licorice. I didn’t realize it was actually brewed with licorice.
Dark, almost black, and almost no head. Chocolaty aroma, with a hint of coffee. Pretty smooth, Licorice is not too strong, thankfully. Not bad.
(on Tap) Pours a nice dark brown with a slight tan head. Taste is very smooth with mostly coffee flavor but not too over powering. I prefer a good mixture of flavors that linger. This was OK but not one of the better stouts I’ve had. Its drinkable and not bad but just not that good either.
Bottled 08/15/14. Pours black with a tan head. Aroma is roasted malt, a lot. Of sweet chocolate, caramel, licorice, coffee notes. Flavor is fairly robust coffee bitterness, sweet chocolate, light licorice and a bit of a light body for the abv. Pretty nice overall. Doesn’t blow my mind but it’s solid.
Bottle from Winooski. Black pour with thin tan foam. Aroma is super anise forward, herbal, rosemary, anise, leather, rich chocolate aromas, light roasty notes, molasses, very grassy, thyme. Taste is also quite herbal, lots of anise but also a ton of rosemary, thyme, green coffee, milk chocolate, chilies, caramel. Palate is full bodied, quite coating, alcohol is very well hidden. Decent.
Aroma: caramel, roasty, licorice, chocolate
Appearance: clear black, brown head
Taste: medium sweetness, medium bitterness, chocolate, licorice
Palate: full body, creamy, soft carbonation, long finish,
Excellent stout
Blind RIS experiment [Sample 17 of 20, 5/3/2015]
Nearly black pour, ring of khaki head, a single strip of lace. Aroma: there’s something weird here I can’t articulate. Reminds me of the horchata imperial porter from Elevation. Milk chocolate, pie cherry juice, roasted nuts, alcohol. Sort of doughy, with a mix of plastic and acetone. It’s actually not bad, just wish I could better articulate it. Bit of a dark fruit, grape/wine component, maybe that’s what is mixing me up. Taste: moderately sweet, light roast bitterness, grape, faint oxidation. Actually digging this, despite what 50% of my description seems to say. Palate: full body, average carbonation, smooth texture. Overall: one of the more interesting flavor profiles of the bunch, with underlying grape juice component adding something fun to this.
Would pay: $4-5 for an occasional odd grape treat. Not a regular deal, though.
Guess: I think it isn’t one I’ve had. Whatever it is, of all the ones I’ve actually enjoyed so far this one has the most unique flavor, which is a plus.