Great Lakes Blackout Stout
A Russian Imperial Stout with a hearty malt body and bold hop flavor.
Named after the infamous "Blackout of 2003" that left the northeastern United States in complete darkness, but resulted in old-fashioned neighborhood porch parties and fun.
Available in February & March.
Named after the infamous "Blackout of 2003" that left the northeastern United States in complete darkness, but resulted in old-fashioned neighborhood porch parties and fun.
Available in February & March.
3.9
1257 reviews
Cleveland, United States
Community reviews
12 oz bottle. Initially really roasty. Heavy hints of coffee an toffee and slight hints of licorice. really rich and balanced. Really great!
moderate chocolate and faint coffee aromas. black in color with nice long lasting light brown head. full body. taste is chocolately, lighter notes of coffee and roasted barley.
Pours jet black and opaque. Tastes of chocolate and cocoa with a hint of roasty alcohol. It’s full bodied with minimal to moderate carbonation.
Pours dark, dark brown with slight beige head. Nose is nothing to special - some light malt...thought it was going to be a disappointment based on nose. It wasn’t - taste is dark fruit (prunes?) and black licorice. It has a chewy mouthfeel - very good stuff.
Draft at M in Chagrin Falls Ohio. Random guest beer! . Pours almost black with a thin beige head. Nose is red wine roasted chocolate. Taste is roasted malts chocolate liquorice cocoa vanilla leaving a fantastic warm mouth feeling. Lovely stuff.
May 2016 Very low carbonation. Starts sweet and malty. Long lasting finish of burnt coffee and bitter chocolate with a light bitterness that hangs on the tongue . Note this brew is only available in February and March. I would've loved this beer at one time before my Taste switched more towards Belgium's and away from the porters/stouts.
I am now comparing it with a left-hand brewery Company milk stout. I prefer the milk stout
November 2016. Had it again after a couple of quads. A bit drunk but I did not care for it this time. Much too in-your-face
On tap at Great Lakes CLE. Pitch black under a small lingering khaki head that leaves some tight lace. Nose is coffee, dark chocolate, vanilla, licorice and roasted nuts. Flavour is lightly sweet malts with a medium+ coffee and dark chocolate bitterness. Mouth is full and creamy with soft carbonation. Alcohol is well integrated and warming.
8+/4/8/4/17
12oz bottle black pour with light tan cap aroma and taste is chocalate, ash and licorice with a warming finish
Bottle. Pours a nice, pitch black beer with a medium sized, brownish head on top. Aroma of coffee, molasses, some roasted malts influences and toffee. Flavor is sweet and strong, lots of body in this one. The bitterness of some coffee and roast are present in the aftertaste, carbonation is medium and the aftertaste is very long. Full bodied, well bodied virgin imperial stout, textbook! Nice.
12oz bottle Very dark pour with Fairly healthy tan head. Lots of cocoa on the nose, r oast malt, licorice and coffee. Nice sweet chocolate on the palate with slightly bitter/spicy finish. 9% abv well integrated into all that is going on.
12 oz bottle poured, sent over by prufrockstar. Huge thanks! Always wanted to try some Great Lakes. Pours jet black with a thin, tan ring head. Love the chocolate character in this. Spicy, toasty malt aroma. Flavor is a nice chocolate constant, some slight hop influence, but not as much as it seems, in my opinion. Solid flavor, creamy, and quite tasty as an overall. Very nice.
Bottle in Seattle. Thanks Andrew (and Chris!) Small gray-tan head, rich black body. Rich lactic, dark chocolate nose. Rich, thick sip with solid, tasty roast and bitter cocoa. Rather fresh tasting, and some fresher hop notes too. Lots of coffee, some malt syrup, lactic edge. Fairly bitter. Nice.
This was the solution to the first beer I ordered, which needed to be blacked out. Dark, rich, what you want from RIS, vinous hops, creamy smooth finish.
Bottle; pours black with a tan head; aroma of chocolate, coffee, roasted malt, and a hint of vanilla; sweet taste is chocolate, coffee, roasted malt, with some licorice and vanilla; finish is light bitter chocolate and dry
Bright, sweet coffee, vanilla, and lactose
Lives up to its namesake with a sudsy khaki head
Sweet tobacco and coffee are dominant on the palate with a caramel, dark chocolate, and bread crust finish and lingering tobacco. Mostly sweet with a complimentary bitterness. Very smooth, viscous.
Dark brown color with a bit of brown foam. Aroma has milk chocolate, pudding and sweet coffee. Taste starts on the sweet side as well with nice chocolate notes but finishes really bitter and roasty, even a bit ashy. Medium body and carbonation. It’s a really classic imperial stout. Well made but nothing impressive.
Bottle from Discount about 8 months old. Pours a deep brown to black with a small tan head that dissipates quickly. Dark cherry, prune and raisin with some light leather notes on the nose. Thinnish body, more dark fruit, blueberry and cacao nib on the palate. Some treacle notes and a lingering berry and cacao finish.
12 oz. bottle, consumed on 12-13-16. “06/04/17,” presumably a best by date. Pours dark brown with a small to moderate amount of light taupe head. Dark amber hue. Nice, chocolatey aroma features scents of savory cooked foods. Overripe banana scent. Rich, sweet yet charred flavor. Bourbon-like, not from any barrel-aging (there isn’t any, to my knowledge) but rather in its corn-sweet booziness. Oaken taste as well. Raisins and just a hint of fishiness. Lightly bitter, burnt malt aftertaste. Medium to full body. Frothy in a full way. Not outstanding palate effects. Seems like it could gain some complexity and soften upon aging, although I worry that it might sweeten as well, and it already is verging on excessively sweet. Ultimately a little too sweet at the moment to score very high, but it is a good beer.
Bottle. Jet black appearance. Minimal head, but surprising amount of fine carbonation. Very sweet, strong coffee flavor. Nearly perfect. No off-flavors. Very smooth. Slightly bitter finish. About the best of the imperial stouts. Best of the bunch, in a direct comparison vs. North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, Victory Storm King Imperial Stout, and Founders Breakfast Stout.
Old Rasputin: boozy sweet coffee 4.2,
Founders Breakfast Stout: light roast coffee, with vegetal undertones 3.9,
Victory Storm King: very sweet coffee 4.8,
Great Lakes Blackout Stout: very smooth, sweet coffee 4.9
A very bold, bitter, strong stout that holds it’s own even in the current onslaught of fantastic stouts and porters turned out by American craft breweries. The body is black with a thin, cream-colored head. The aroma is rich and malty, with some herbal, hoppy notes in the background. Big, rich, roasted bitterness all over the flavor, and the finish offers a lingering look at that 9% ABV. Well done.
More recently I’ve had so many hugely boozy American Imperial Stouts that Blackout’s 9% seems small by comparison. The ABV is the only thing you could call modest. The bitterness, richness, and darkness of this beer are huge. Deep roasted aroma up front with cocoa and coffee beans. Just a hint of smoke, too. Big, assertive malt and hop flavors. Licorice, dark chocolate, molasses, and charred barley. Bitter at the start, smooth in the middle, and bitter again at the finish. I need to get a lot more Great Lakes beer in my life (mouth).
On tap at Crafty Cow. Pours true jet black, clingy tan head. Aromas of chocolate, molasses, caramel and roast malt. Taste is treacle, licorice, black coffee, and dark chocolate; light smoke, better as it warms. Nice oily mouthfeel, thick without being chewy. Very solid. I'd love to try the BBA version.
Bouteille 355ml, gracieuseté de SebD lors du CanBIF Spring 2016, Thanks Sébastien! Couleur brune très foncée presque noire opaque, mousse moka fuyante laissant un anneau sur les parois du verre. Arôme de malt torréfié, cendré, anisé, sauce soya, alcool. Goût de malt torréfié, café, alcool, un peu sucré, amertume moyenne-faible. Carbonatation moyenne-faible, corps moyen.
Bottle @ Party Town / Florence KY --- Opaque brown / black color with a deep tan head that drops to a cover, strips of lace. Taste is toasted malt that grows bigger and sweeter through a medium carbonated swallow, then drifts smoothly to a light bitter, and finally, alcohol, in an extended finish. Really solid brew. Will buy again.
Bottle. Pours dark brown with medium tan head that lasts. The aroma is roasted malts and cocoa. Medium mouth, nice sweetness, light roast, chocolate, hides alcohol well, very good.
2016. Pours a rich ruby brown to black brown when glassed. Finely bubbled but small and short tan head. Aroma is roasted grains and/chocolate malt. Taste is a bit sour and heavy in the roast. Front-leaning with a roasty-choco backdrop. Some notes of dark fruit. A bit thin.
Bottled. They say best by 05/16 (okayyy, you’re an imperial 9% imperial stout, get over yourself). Pours fairly dark black, small ring of tan head. Aroma is very roasted malt, lots of nice chocolate, not too heavy in the coffee. Decent bit of booze on it, Really robust. Flavor is boozy, nice body on it, not super thick and viscous, but very nice. Chocolate, roasted malt, again not much coffee. But right now it’s hitting the spot. I dig it.
Pours a jet black. Aromas of espresso/chocolate and roasted malts. Taste dark roasted coffee and bittersweet chocolate malt with a nice bitter bite.
Aroma caramel, chocolate, roasty,
Appearance red, black, minimal head, tan foam,
Taste medium sweetness, lightly bitter,
Palate light body, thin feel,
Overall the color is light for a beer named blackout stout and the mouth feel is thin in my opinion, but other than that the smell and taste are very good. This beer is very drinkable for a stout that is 9% alcohol. I would suggest this beer to a friend.
Pours opaque cola-brown-to-black with a 1-finger tan head. Aroma of coffee with a bit of char to it. Body is medium-to-full and a bit oily. Long finish. Coffee flavor with a touch of booze. Note of char that lingers in the finish.