Kern River Class V Stout
NOT FOR THE TIMID!. This is a non-traditional beer with a complex flavor profile ranging from coffee to chocolate, the sweetness is complemented with Chinook and Cascade hops to produce an extraordinary finish. This beer is like the Kern at high water - "Not for the Timid". [Moving from stout to RIS given the high abv above 8% -GT2]
3.7
223 reviews
Kernville, United States
Community reviews
Pours black with a big khaki head. Aromas of roasted malts and something metalic...IDK how else to explain it, but it’s kinda weird. Tastes smoky/malty up front (maybe coffee roasts) and transitions into a bitter, hoppy finish. Maybe a bit of dark chocolates if I’m reaching. Flavors die off after warming up. Medium body, pretty high carb, and dry as hell. It’s an imperial stout with not much to offer aside from smoke & hops. It’s like a black IPA.
Draft. Pours near black, with a beige head. Rich chocolate malts, moderate roast, some black patent, and lingering hoppy bitterness. Good stuff.
Classic black stout look, smell is coffee, cocoa, chocolate. The taste is close to a sweet stout if you ask me, the swallow is bitter coffee, bitter sweet chocolate and a hint of saltiness to it. Great beer.
Bottle from BevMo! in Redwood City, CA. Aroma is roasted malts, dark chocolate, cocoa. Taste is mild chocolate then bitter hops. Felt disjointed and too much hop component for a stout (for me personally).
Bomber: Thanks Jason: Served in a Chouffe glass:
Sticky beige brown head.
Almost completely black body, just a tiny brown edge on top...
Nose reveals a classic stout; coffee, roast, chocolate, chalk, mocha... Even light hoppy. Nice!
Flavours of roast, chocolate, bitter, coffee, wood roast, mocha, light hoppy and a hint of bay leaf. Tasty!
Aftertaste is bitter, roasty, some coffee and malty choco tints.
Low carbo, light creamy mouthfeel, more than medium bodied.
Great base beer and an easy flavourfull drink! Tasty stuff!
22 ounce bottle. Pours almost black with a smallish tan head. Aroma of malt, chocolate, and coffee. Taste is roasted malt, dark chocolate, coffee, and dark fruit. Decent.
Draught at Stone Escondido, California. Opaque black beer with a nice lasting beige/brownish head. Roasted dark chocolate snd tar aroma, coffee, raisins, soot, some figs. Roasted dark chocolate flavor, coffee, tar, earthy notes, some warming alcohol. Good heavy Impy.
Pours a deep rich brown color with a roasted malt aroma. Taste is rich in chocolate and coffee flavor with a good roasted malt aftertaste. Good lasting espresso and rich coco flavor left on the palate after the swallow.
Bottle. Pours a brown black color with a khaki tight foamy head. Aroma has strong roasted dark chocolate coffee little gram cracker. Taste is bitter with roasted burnt malt chocolate coffee some marshmallow. Medium feel coating.
Small beige head soft carbonation dark pour aromas citrus very fruity dark chocolate liquorice coffee molasses the flavours dark citrus crisp medium bitter citrus origin coffee rich chocolate stone fruit resin note apricot liquorice molasses cocoa dry note flavours go together well the finish best tastes hops malt mix lasting bitter resin note good imperial
P: Completely black with a one finger light colored brown head. S: Dark chocolate, caramel malt, coffee, light vanilla, licorice, dark fruits and a hint of alcohol in the back . T: Dark roasted malts, a ton of dark chocolate, biter cacao, pine in the middle of the mix, and a bit of smoke in the finish. M: Medium but pretty light for the style, with medium carbonation. O: Very rich in dark chocolate but couldn’t get over the nuisance of the hops.
Bottle thanks to bytemesis. Poured into snifter. Slightly acidic, almost astrinovegent nose. Lots of coffee and dark bitter chocolate in the nose. poue is pitch black with a medium to large light brown head. Taste is initially moderately bitter, seemingly from a grainy note at first. Moderately sweet malt flavor, mostly chocolate, little coffee. Overall a very drinkable beer, dangerously smooth. Just a tad bit of tartness/acidity that I get from some stouts. very good.
Bomber from a recent trade. Big roastiness. Lots of bittersweet chocolate and coffee flavors. Light sweetness. Finish is big bitterness again. Nice flavor. Body is a little on the lighter side.
Pours a deep burnt umber color with a finger of eggshell foam. Nose is a mix of roasted chocolate, pine, spent coffee grounds. The palate follows with a smooth cocoa front end that moves into a earthy slightly smokey mid palate. Finish has a lot of bittersweet cocoa and some lingering pine.
at 8.5%...on th light side for an imperial, but that’s sooo not the point with this beer. it’s a super flavorful aromatic stout, and smells and tastes textbook for what an american stout is supposed to be. pours near black, but light can get through. I could smell the roast, coffee, and hops as soon as i popped the top. same as the flavor, but the taste has a hint of cocoa and dark fruit in the background too. smooth. hides the % well. quality beer! thanks to jlozier for this one."
Bottle courtesy of nickd717 shared with Deuane and Hojaminbag. Poured into a taster glass. Thanks again Nick!
A - Pours pitch black with a small one finger tall tan head, dissipating down a thin film, leaving light lacing down the glass.
S - Smells of dark roasted coffee, chocolate malt, licorice, and some earthy hops. A bit more roast than I was expecting in this one.
T - Flavors are very similar to the nose with the rich dark roasted coffee once again taking a slight lead over the rest of the flavors. The finish is what you would expect, more roast. This was OK but far from mind blowing.
M - Heavy body and flavor with moderate carbonation. Roasty feel with plenty of dark roast and light smoke in the finish, lingering for some time. Just a bit too thin for my liking.
O - I had high hopes for this one but it left me wanting a bit more. The flavors are all there for it to be great but it seemed like none of them wanted to take the lead.
This bottle was compliments of my cousin and his wife in California! Thanks!
Big bottle pours dark and heavy, with a great, tan, pillowy head.
Body about as dark as dark can get, just wonderful to look at!
Great aromas of molasses, smoked nut shells (pecan?), some charred grains, mild espresso, nice smoke.
A nice, heavy sweetness up front on the taste, rolling to a well balanced, but somewhat mild hops finish. The mouthfeel is pretty heavy throughout, with the sweet and hops sticking around for a bit, but in a pleasing way.
This is a great brew that lives up to it’s name! Damn heavy, and quite the ride at the same time! It’s great to try a brew from a part of the country I usually can’t try!
Prosit!
Bomber shared, pours dark brown with mocha colored head. Aroma is delicious. Coffee, chocolate and licorice. Medium bodied and full flavor. This one leads from licorice to coffee to bittersweet chocolate. Blended very well eah flavor complimenting the other. Excellent stout.
Drank during an awesome tasting at Thijs’ place 28-3-2014. Watery beer, compared to several others we had. Coffee is present. Not a deep beer. Though not very bad.
A strong coffee aroma. It had flavors of vanilla and coffee well balance between sweet and hops.
Dark brown, almost black; dense beige head. Chocolate, black coffee, brown sugar, roasted malt, and hints of vanilla. Milk chocolate sweetness. Creamy and smooth, medium bodied, and a bitter finish.
22oz bottle from capitol beer and taproom. Pours black with brown head. Big coffee taste with some chocolate and roasted malt.
22 ounce bottle from Capitol Beer & Taproom, bittersweet chocolate, roasty, not sweet.
On draft at KRBC. A real nice chocolate and malt flavor. Very mellow and silky smooth.
The beer poured outstanding with a solid dark cola hue to it, passes through no light at all, had a solid brown foamy head, and left decent lacing on the glass. The beer smells great with a solid espresso nose and a mild smokey finish with mild hints of dark chocolate. The beer tasted decent with a strong coffee and dark chocolate taste, a hint of birch on the back end. The mouthfeel is great as the beer was well carbonated, full bodied, and left your mouth feeling chewy. Overall, a solid beer if you love coffee/chocolate stouts.
GABF 2013. Thin bodied coffee stout. Fairly one dimensional. Could use more body and darker malt profile.
Bottle. Pours very dark brown with tan head. Subtle lacing on the glass. Aroma is sweet, with mellow chocolate and maple syrup notes. Taste is bitter chocolate with a sweet finish. Smooth mouthfeel. Slightly sweeter than I prefer, but overall very good.
Dark, dark brown, really nice tan head. I’m very impressed with this stout. Lots of roast, sweet malts, coffee, and chocolate. It almost seems to have an oak quality to it with vanilla notes throughout. Delicious!!
Bottle. Pours a dark amber with small creamy beige head. The aroma is roast, smoke, and chocolate. Thin mouthfeel with sweet roasted malt, coffee bean and nice sweet finish. Very good.
22oz bottle, purchased at BeerCraft. Pours a deep dark-chocolate color; medium-brown head with excellent retention and lacing. Cocoa-forward aroma, with bitter chocolate, roast, and light coffee; seems to pick up most of its bitterness from the dark malts, though hints of mineral and pine from hops. The citrusy, piney hop character is more pronounced in the taste: alongside bitter chocolate and roast, there’s an exceptional bitterness from the tip of the tongue through to the finish (bright pine especially comes through); the bitterness along with the lively carbonation and the dense milk chocolate and caramel at the core does start to feel like a bit of a mouthful, a bit heavy (kind of makes me think of Janet’s Brown from Russian River in this regard); still, very very nice in modest quantities; definitely some viscosity here, approaching imperial.