Ninkasi Imperiale Imperial Stout
Special Release Series. Rich, full bodied and surprisingly smooth, Imperiale Stout has a big roast hit up front, and rich, dark malt flavors balanced with ample hop bitterness to finish.
3.5
158 reviews
Eugene, United States
Community reviews
On tap at the brewery. Pours black, tan head. Aroma is roasted malts, chocolate and coffee. Flavor is similar. Really unremarkable for an imperial stout.
22 ounce bottle. Pours almost black with a nice tan head. Aroma of malt, chocolate, and some coffee. Taste is roasted malt, dark chocolate, dark fruit, coffee, and some vanilla. Finish is somewhat bitter. Nice.
This was a pretty solid beer. Beautiful black color with a tan head, this was full-bodied but not too roasty. Good stuff.
Bottle during the Superbowl. Poured a tan head on a black body. The aroma has a big dose of roasted malt, black licorice and coffee. The taste delivers on the roasted malt and some pine bitterness. The texture is smooth with moderate carbonation. It has a mixture of roasted maltiness with strong bitter. As it warmed I was able to enjoy the maltiness more. The alcohol was hidden well.
~Sweet chocolate aroma with roast, prune like fruitiness
~Pours pitch black with big thick frothy tan head that last.
~Chocolaty bready flavor with coffee like roastiness. Earthy hop bitterness. Surprisingly well balanced for an imperial stout.
~Medium full bodied with low medium CO2, lingering roast finish.
~This is really drinkable and smooth. Dangerous beer. Im drinking it somewhat quickly. Going to hit me hard. Fine with me, my family is driving me nuts.
The Ninkasi Imperiale with the beautiful label had a nice balance between mealtimes and hopiness. We cheered this one to Jeff, the birthday boy.
Black in the glass, but surprisingly light in colour as it’s being poured. Light brown inch of foamy head. Aroma is toast, cocoa, and...soap? Have a sip and it’s char, chocolate. Really dry for the style. And bitter, bitter. Excessive carbonation takes away from the experience.
Bottle.
Head is initially small, frothy, light brown, mostly diminishing.
Body is black (non-opaque, flashlight tested).
Aroma is moderately malty (cocoa powder, chocolate syrup, roasted grain), with a note of vanilla.
Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter.
Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter.
Full body, syrupy/velvety texture, lively/soft carbonation, moderately alcoholic.
Not much going on in the nose, just the usual stout aromas of chocolate, roast, and vanilla. Pretty syrupy sweet in the mouth, with just barely enough bitterness to make it drinkable. Kinda sloppy and simple overall, but there are certainly worse examples.
Bomber from Albertsons. Pours out black with a creamy dark beige head. Body seems a little watery, aroma a nice mixture of roast grains and chocolate, taste echoes the aroma with accents of wood, nutmeg and vanilla. Abrupt finish, little alcohol warmth.
Bomber pours brownish black with a tan head that doesn’t stick around. Aroma is roasty, maybe some earthiness, and a bit of soy sauce. Flavor is light roast, some coffee, slightly bitter finish. Pretty watery for a impy. Drinkable but lackluster.
Rating #2700. 650ml brown bottle. Deep dark brown in colour, thin beige head, nice lace rings and sticky foam in the glass. Aromas of roast and bitter chocolate. Taste has dark chocolate, roast, bit of sweeter chocolate notes in there as well. Good bitter roasted notes. Medium length finish with lingering hops, and big roast. Medium to full bodied with a smooth mouthfeel. Overall, a good imperial stout, but nothing here is really blowing me away.
Pours a dark, opaque black with a huge mass of light beige head. The head dies slowly leaving a few creamy looking rings on the glass. The nose is roasted heavily with notes of dark chocolate, oats, earthen malts and hops. A robust bitterness at the forefront with light chocolate and dark fruit notes. Rich and medium to heavy in the body with a slightly creamy mouthfeel. A bit of a let down with an underwhelming flavour in the finish and mild hop bitterness. Overall, a good brew but a boring Imperial Stout.
After some bits n bites and microwaved frozen indian food i figure i may as well say the hell with doing anything productive. Unless my nose stopped working I’d say this has very little aroma beyond a very nice rich roast and i’m not about to spend precious time figuring this out when I have rotting in front of a computer to do. I want to be able to actually see the aroma coming off of my imperial stout like a mirage. Maybe it’s the Napalm Death that is crushing my senses. Very good appealing flavour with zillions of molecules of yummo roast, supporting sweetness, chewed out chocolate bitterness, dull orange, ultra light pepperish heat, and whatever else. A lightweight should not demolish a full bottle of this in 23 minutes at 11pm. Solid brew. Quite smooth and highly drinkable at a fast rate. Smell comes around. I blame this stupid ass Leffe glass - I may as well review this out of my cat’s mouth. I see a litre of Bryers in my immediate future.
Chocolate brown, with a surprising thinness in the edges. A root beer float worth of brown, pockmarked head.
Aroma is oily, plum-heavy, chalky charcoal. The stone fruit aroma is heavy and excellent. Notes of dusty cocoa, sweet milk chocolate. The resinous hop is very slight but adds a nice accent. There is a sweet cherry as well. Very complex nose.
The malts are purely burnt, the black bottoms of a cookie baked 10 mins too long. There is a plum/raisin component, an earthy dark fruit.
The feel is soft and creamy. It’s a very good imperial stout, and one that is surprisingly sweet to balance the burnt malts.
This brew is a pitch black color with a medium beige head that recedes gradually to a wispy film. Patchy lacing on the glass. Roasted malt, dark chocolate and hops in the nose. Medium to full body with a roasty malt and coffee character and notes of chocolate and earthy hops. The finish is roasty with a malt and dark chocolate aftertaste. Pretty good overall.
Bomber, thanks ctomson! Roasted malt aroma with notes of chocolate malt. Pours black with one finger of light brown head that sticks around and not much lacing. Rich chocolate and roasted malt flavors to start. Finishes smooth, but just a hair dry with a touch of hop bitterness before it smooths out again and leaves only chocolate on the palate. Excellent imperial stout!
The aroma is not especially enticing, chocolate, booze, odd sour milk. The appearance is black, off white head. The flavor is bittersweet chocolate, booze, pine. The flavor is an improvement over the aroma. The finish is roast, sweet, pine. Enduring. Medium, medium/thick in body. Decent, pretty good overall. Not a standout in this style.
A pint of black with a thick brown foam. Light liqueur scent with chocolate highlights. Tasty rich dark chocolate mousse with nice bitterness. An elegant aperitif.
650ml bottle pours almost black in color with a 2 finger light brown head that leaves some spotted lacing behind. Aroma is chocolate with maybe a hint of licorice and dark fruits and light roasted grains. Taste is a raisin and chocolate malty sweetness with a hint of licorice and a grassy hop bitterness. A little light in body for the style with light carbonation. Overall, this is a smooth, easy drinking IMPY that could sneak up on you quickly if you had more than a couple.
Pours deep brown with a tan head. Aromas of pine hops and metal. Taste is semi dry and bitter. Flavors of metal rods, roasted line cones. Alcohol is apparent. Sharp and slightly offensive. This is mediocre at best, but I’ll chug it because I’m ISO high boost tonight.
Bottle at Mr. Goodbar in Buffalo, NY. Heavy on the chocolate. Impressive looking pour, just like you’d expect for an imperial stout. The ABV is deceptive...not as boozy as expected. Cool logo on the box too, with the domes reminiscent of St. Basil’s in Moscow. Good stuff.
Bomber poured into a snifter..dark pour with fluffy tan head..aroma of coffee,chocolate,roasted nuts..dry,malty coffee taste.pretty good.
Bomber from whole foods 14th. Pours dark obviously. Dark chocolate, bitter, some espresso. Pretty nice.
22oz bomber pours with a nice deep dark mahogany body that supports with a somewhat thin mocha colored head. The aroma offers up an even mix of black licorice, chocolate and dark roasted to burnt maltiness as well as a bit of dark roasted coffee, molasses and more chocolate into the end of the draw. The taste starts with some sweetness, dark roasted malts, some chocolate and black licorice spiciness. It smooths out to midway with some molasses and dark chocolate joining all of the roastiness. Pretty nice.
Bottle. Pours a deep black color . Sweet malty with no boozy taste really. Easy drinking. Not bad.
Poured from bomber into a snifter
Appearance – The beer pours a pitch black color with a one finger head of tan colored foam. The head has a good level of retention, fading to leave a decent level of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is heaviest of a roasted malt smell with some notes of dark chocolate mixed within. Some nice sweeter smells of vanilla, caramel, and brown sugar as well as a little bit of dark fruits of cherry, plum, and raisin are there as well. A bit of coffee as well as a hint of a smoky smell round out the aroma, creating a rather dark and roasty, warming smell overall.
Taste – The taste begins with a roasted malt taste with a rather sweeter chocolate flavor consisting of a semi-sweet chocolate mixed with vanilla and caramel. More roasted malt enters the taste as it advances further from the start with some of the sweet fading just a tad. All while the sweet fades a bit, a decent showing of a coffee flavor as well as some toast and smoke flavors come to the tongue. In the end, with a bit of graininess as well as the onset of more roast and dark chocolate and coffee flavors, one is left with a moderately, but not too sweet mocha flavor to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is on the slightly thicker and chewier side with a carbonation level that is quite low. For the style the carbonation and slightly thicker body are nice (although a little more thickness would have likely been even better) making for a good and intense stout flavor to soak into the tongue.
Overall – A rather nice stout overall that is very approachable and that at only ~ $5 for a bottle is a great value. This is a great imperial overall when considering price/characteristics.
22oz bottle, Very dark pour. Roasted malt nose. Rich flavors of roasted malts, followed by mild coffee, and some dark fruit in the background. This is challenged by the bitter hops. Everything comes together in the finish.
Pours black with a one-finger tan head, solid retention and very nice lace. Aromas of dark chocolate, roast coffee, a touch of dark fruit, smoke, and some alcohol. Flavors were somewhat more robust, with semisweet baking chocolate, espresso and roast up front with hints of dark fruit and warming alcohol. Full body, rich creamy mouthfeel, moderate carbonation and a touch of bitterness in the finish.
Bottle, shared at Thanksgiving dinner with guests, either 2011 or 2012 vintage, I can’t recall. Surprisingly "undense" pour for an impy, medium brown with golden highlights. Milk chocolate, aniseed, light coffee, moderate bitterness. Can an imperial stout seem "lighter", but still satisfy? Oddly enough, this one does.
22 oz bottle from QFC in Portland, OR. Aroma is malty and smokey, with hints of coffee and ash. Mouthfeel and taste begins creamy and sweet, and finishes slightly dry and astringent. I like the hop/malt balance and fact that the beer hides the high alcohol content very well. As is usual for me, I don’t care for the smokiness and dry finish.