Highland Imperial Black Mocha Stout
Released Sept 21, 2008 (the day after brewgrass). The next brew in our renowned imperial line, this hearty stout is rich with coffee and chocolate notes, all achieved solely through the use of special roasted barley grains. The complex malt character blends the velvety sweetness of specialty grains with the creaminess of a classic stout. No flavoring has been added to this product.
3.7
177 reviews
Asheville, United States
Community reviews
A deep dark stout with no head. In aroma, sweet fruity chocolate malt with dark fruits, licorice, light vinous character, pleasant. In mouth, sweet chocolate malt with dark fruits, licorice, alcohol warmth, light acidity, still pleasant if a bit tired.
solid, impenetrable pitch black, small mild brown head. low retention rate, strong lacing. not a big nose, some roasted malts, chocolate, hints of coffee, some light sour notes. I had this fresh, just going through my notebooks. Strong coffee and chocolate notes in the flavors. decent hop characteristics.
Pours a silky black body with a chocolate covered head. It smells of coffee and chocolate wrapped up into a candy bar. The taste is of chocolate and roasted malts with a hint of burnt coffee in the back. The beer is extremely smooth but seems like it lost a little flavor due to the age. Overall this beer was good but was probably great a year ago.
Bottle shared at the CL Rosso Batch 3 Release. Pours dark brown with a brown head. Huge aroma of coffee and chocolate, caramel, and roasted malts. Taste is bitter chocolate, light alcoholic warmth. Tasty.
Bottle shared by MrPickles...thanks Andy! - Pours deep black with a small tan head. Sweet toffee, caramel, milk chocolate, brown sugar, and molasses on the nose. It’s nice enough, but this one has been in the cellar a bit too long. There’s no coffee left in the nose or taste--only sweet caramel and brown sugar notes. It’s a little cloying, and the body is surprisingly thin. Didn’t expect much from this one given the age, and it delivered.
22oz bottle. Rating #153. Deep black pour with a nice tan head. Light sweet molasses aroma. Dark fruits and a light roast bitterness that faded in the aftertaste after a short while. Pretty decent perial stout. (1691)
22 oz bottle via trade? Pours a deep brown/black color with a small beige head. The aroma has dark malts, slightly smoky with a nice dose of cocoa and black coffee. The flavor has dark malts, smokiness, toasted grains, light licorice and sweet ripe plums. There is a deep rich cocoa flavor that grows as this warms up. Pretty solid.
Serving: 22 oz. bottle from Bruisin’ Ales. It pours almost pitch black with a small, foamy ring for a head. The nose is full of dark, bittersweet chocolate, coffee, and lots of roasted malt. The flavor carries all the notes from the nose and throws in a sharp fruity twang as well. Perhaps a touch of soy sauce and flint. Medium to rich body with low carbonation and a lingering roasty and dark fruit finish. Glad I got to drink this one before it disappeared.
Received this in trade from jtrockchalk, thanks for the opportunity.
Pours a solid black with a stingy tan head that dissipates quickly leaving no trace that it was ever there. Smells of chocolate syrup, roasted grains, some dried fruit and a touch of alcohol. Taste is of milk and dark chocolate mixed with some alcohol and roast. Body is thick, carbonation low but ample, mouthfeel is a cross between creamy and oily. Good Imp Stout. Still a little alcohol hot, but tasty just the same. I wish I had more to lay down for a year or two because I bet this would be spectacular with some age.
Thanks to Azurelimits for opening this up at a recent tasting.
Pours a midnight black with a thin mocha head. Nose is dominated by dark chocolate fudge along with a tiny amount of espresso and roasted malt. The taste brings the chocolate forward a bit more. Slightly sweet, but more toward dark. Espresso flavors are present underneath along with a bit of molasses. Feel is nice and heavy with good carbonation levels. Really glad to be able to try this one; I’ll have to seek more out from Highland.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 10-06-2010
From 2008. Pours fairly thick. Not a lot of carbonation. Nice looking dark head that didn’t last long. Notes of caramel chocolate , honey, chocolate and licorice on the nose with slight cherries. Color is pitch black. Mouthfeel is somewhere in between, I would say leaning towards thicker. Taste brings out plenty of the coffee notes, only a small amount of carbonation taste. Nice and dry not too sweet. It’s hard to get it right and not be too sweet, but this one definitely hits the mark. Finishes dry and hoppy with a burnt character. I assume this would be too much if it was fresh, but aged, this is a fantastic world class beer. Still crisp even after it’s 2 years old. I couldn’t find a weak spot.
Poured into a snifter. Big thanks to afausser for this one. 2008 vintage.
3.5 A: Black color. One finger of creamy medium brown head with poor retention and spotty lacing.
4.5 S: Lots of great aromas packed into this one. Sweet chocolate throughout, coffee with lots of cream, bittersweet chocolate after that, and a strong roasted barley base. Touch of alcohol, but only a touch.
4.5 T: Coffee with cream dominates this time. Bittersweet chocolate, plum fruitiness, and blackstrap molasses. Roasty burnt flavor is fairly strong, but it’s overly strong.
4.0 M: Lighter heavy body or perhaps heavier medium body. In any case, pretty good. Moderate carbonation, smooth with a slightly burnt aftertaste. Creamy. Could be a little thicker and chewier.
5.0 D: Damn good beer. Very similar in a lot of way to BBVD (my favorite impy). Wish I had some more of these. Might need to put up an ISO.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 05-21-2010 01:27:53
Bomber bottle via trade from fiver29, thanks a lot John for this retired Impy Stout!, served in my Old Raspy pint glass:
Jet black with a small but lasting tan frothy head and okay lace, some oily tears. The aroma has big heavy black patent, charred, chocolate and coffee malts up front. Some vanilla and rye bread too before you get a hit of dark fruit, soy sauce and some bile like oxidization. What hop aroma may have been here are long gone to the heavens. The taste starts up with a brash fruity twang crossed by a espresso mocha iced coffee. A fair amount of char, slaty soy sauce and medicinal (iodine) tones in midstream before wandering off to the land of vanilla and sugary (Special B Belgian like more than cane sugar) finish. There is some bitterness but it more burnt coffee than anything provided by hops. The mouth feel is moderately aggressive, slightly lush and oily and slightly alcoholic as well. Overall, a nice stout that lacks the internal fortitude to improve gracefully with any more aging. I only wished I had gotten this finish but still it was nice to try even this once. Strangely not as "chocolaty" as is expected, maybe to it’s detriment.
Bottle pours a jet black with a thin brown head. Scent is grains, soy and coffee. Taste is malty with notes of coffee and dark chocolate. Smooth
Bottle shared by alexsdad06. Pours black color with an average frothy light brown head that was lasting with good lacing. Moderate toasted chocolate malt and nuts aroma. Medium to full body with a smooth texture and flat carbonation. Medium to heavy sweet toasted flavor with a medium to heavy complex sweet finish of long duration. This is a solid complex beer.
It’s a pretty easy to drink imperial coffee stout with some nice roast characteristics. I’m happy I got my hands on a bottle, but it doesn’t really stand out in my mind all that much.
rich, strong flavor with a side amount of cocoa and smokiness. kinda flat but very tasty works.
The aroma is very toasted with mocha (coffee), chocolate, burnt malt, and hops. The appearance is black with a tan head. The taste is like the aroma. The palate is thick. Overall a very good beer.
A: The pour is a very dark brown color with a fairly large off-white head.
S: Plenty of roasted malts and coffee on the nose. Some mild chocolate notes underneath, with a bit of a dark fruit character underneath.
T: A good bitterness is quite noticeable right away, as is the coffee and roast. There’s a mild acidity, which I normally don’t find appealing in a stout, but it isn’t horrible here. Some bittersweet chocolate helps to provide some sort of balance and there is a mild coffee grounds note on the finish.
M: The body is medium with a fairly lively level of carbonation.
D: Another beer that hides the alcohol quite well, probably due to all the different flavors going on. A pretty nice beer, actually.
Had multiple bottles in the 2 years since this has been released and not one has been stellar. No big surprise here as the base black mocha stout was nothing to write home about. Its basically (as you might expect) the base beer beefed up but it doesnt really add to much more complexity, just alcohol. Flavor has some bitter chocolate, but also some syrupy malts, and a light metal/sour twang.
Bomber courtesy of Brewthusiast
Glad to get to try this. Absolutely gorgeous when poured aggressively; a splendid tan head atop deep brown with red highlights. Aroma of molassas, rich dark bread, and boutique chocolate cupcakes. Cocoa and yes, mocha flavors -- hard to believe it’s just the grains and no added cocoa -- atop some agar (no problem). But again like the non-imperial version - though very mildly - that vegetal hint that isn’t quite right. Easily the most quaffable imperial stout I’ve ever had, this one is going down like a session beer and I suppose that can’t end well on an empty stomach. Never too sweet (though tons of cocoa) and with a milder hop close, at least with two years of age on it, than in most imperial stouts. Fascinating beer, and probably the best I’ve had from Highland.
bottle courtesy of fiver29, and what a treat! wow! this is definitely one of the best chocolate stouts i’ve had, and heres why: i love bitter and sweet choco stouts, subtle and giants, from rogue to sexual to sa choco bock to southern tier, etc. and this one is probably better than all those mentioned. it pours a thick black with a minimal brown head, needs a lil more head and lacing to be a 5 for me. the aroma is off the hook, super chocolate, super roast, bitter and sweet, but not too much of either. the taste is similar, there is a huge sweet, choclate blast upfront, but not as sweet as st. then it goes to a very velvety and bitter finish, tons of high grade cacoa powder, fine baking chocolate and the likes. it also balances the chocolate with a very lightly salty soy saucish note in the back underneath it all. it makes for a very well rounded and diverse chocolate stout, super interesting and complex beer. really awesome. the abv is non existent, it leaves you wanting more before you are even done with the current sip. super deliciousness.
Black with a short lived fizzy tan head. Dark roasted coffee aroma with a hint of caramel. Really nice creamy palate, outstanding. A really wonderful rich taste of chocolate, bitter coffee, roasted grain, caramel, and raisin notes with a sticky finish. Quite good.
Great one from Highland. Black as night, lacing tan head with tiny bubbles. Rich body with a medium-full finish. Standard tones of chocolate and bitter coffee with a hint of blackberries and resin. Alcohol definately present but by no means overwhelming. Tastey.
Nose is full of burnt sugar/syrupy notes, some chocolate, mocha, coffee notes. Pours dark brown almost black with a tan head that leaves after a while. The flavor is full of initial sweet dark sugars then is followed by burnt roast, a hint of leather, coffee, and mocha notes. Touch of alcohol in the finish. Body is not overpoweringly full nor is the alcohol. A nice imperial stout, and hit the spot for whatever reason tonight. Time to sleep...
[2696-20100113] 1pt6floz bottle. Burnt syrup malt aroma with light fruity nut notes. Black brown body with a quick foamy dark brown head. Big rich nutty roasted malt grain flavour. Full body. Good and tasty.
(c/o blankboy, w/ him, garthicus, GregClow, HogTownHarry, jerc)
22oz bomber, 2008 vintage, from CBX. pours a very dark brown, damn near black, with a thin cocoa brown head and a whisper of lace. aroma is great with big roasted malts, toast, baker’s chocolate, mild sour coffee, and earthy hops with very nice notes of black cherry and ash. flavor is damn good as well with big, bitter chocolate, roast, and toffee up front with a hefty dose of earthy hop bitterness, dark fruits, and tobacco smoke on the back end with a long, roasted finish. palate isn’t quite full bodied with low carbonation and a hint of warmth. overall, a very tasty impy from NC.
Bought this bottle from the brewery. Poured black with a tan head. This bottle is about four months old and has more of a chocolate taste than the fresher bottles. Light carbonation. I remember liking the regular Black Mocha stout better, for some reason? I also mixed this with the Cold Mountain Winter Ale, which was awesome!
From tap at a bar in Staunton Virginia, the Depot Bar and Grille. Beautiful black with a reddish edge and medium sized tan head. Yummy smooth roasted malt aroma. Good chocolate. The flavor was of dark bitter chocolate with coffee. Mildly bitter.
My bottle [660ml] shared with HogTownHarry, garthicus, jerc, mabel & GregClow -- c/o MrFacto. 2008 Vintage. Pours a very dark brown, almost black, with an average size frothy light-brown head. Aroma of roasted malt and roasted coffee along with vanilla, nuts and chocolate. Flavour of roasted malt, coffee and nuts along with chocolate and alcohol in the dry, bitter finish. Medium bodied, creamy mouthfeel. Pretty good stuff.