Idiot's Review: Samuel Smith Imperial Stout

The problem with beer was that it wouldn't survive a long voyage, ergo rum and other distilled spirits. Still, beer later became a wondrous thing, with each community having its own unique brewery and style. We were loyal! That changed, but of late, Craft Brewing appeared and gone mad - with over 3000 of the buggers and 100's of weekly new releases, ergo a blood, er beerbath is in the offing. Until then - this section...
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How do you rate Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout (five is best)?

5
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Total votes: 3

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Capn Jimbo
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Idiot's Review: Samuel Smith Imperial Stout

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Samuel Smith Imperial Stout

Russian Imperial Stout | 7.00% ABV

The Bear recommended 4 classes of beers to get started, one being a "Stout", and recommending Guiness Draught or Deschutes Obsidian Stout as representative of the category. Since both of us are lifelong lovers of Guinness (especially from a nitrogen tap), we settled on the Sam Smith simply because the Deschutes was unavailable.


Our impressions are merged:

Lovely and classic Samuel Smith bottle and label from a very old and respected brewer. The pour produced an abundance of the expected cappucino colored foam, thus a slow and interrupted pour to reveal a dense, nearly opaque black coffee color.

Sue Sea referred to a lovely classic stout aroma, like Guinness, like strong coffee, cacao (not chocolate), expresso, nutmeg or hazelnut. I added a background bit of dark fruit, black licorice, nuttiness and roasted grain. Rather than a clear finish, the Smith's Imperial slid into what would better be described as a nice lingering aftertaste of coffee and cacao.

The taste was entirely consistent, with the nicely dry and bitter of a good stout. Compared to our usual beer - Guinness - the Samuel Smith Imperial Stout was smoother, denser, less bitter and more integrated. While Sue Sea and her beloved Guinness are on the same page, I am close but not quite as enamored of it, as I find it edgy enough to have to really be in the mood for it.

OTOH, I find the Sam Smith Imperial to be more sophisticated and balanced. To me it retains all the qualities of Guinness, including the bitters, but lacking the harsher edginess.

Lovely. We'd absolutely buy this one again, brilliant stuff.




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Special Note: we tasted this beer, after which we lit up da'rum's recommended accompaniment of what proved to be a perfect match - the Don Pepin Le Bijou 1922 Petit Robusto. If you care to read that review and you'll understand why...
http://rumproject.com/rumforum//viewtopic.php?t=1451
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schlimmerdurst
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Imperial Stout

Post by schlimmerdurst »

To me, an Imperial Stout is something really different from a "simple" stout. It's more intense, voluminous, aromatic and viscid than a stout. I love it for these properties.

Even more so when compared to a Guinness Draught. Guinness is stale dishwater compared to Imperial Stout - and has no chance against Samuel Smith's especially!
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bearmark
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Post by bearmark »

Imperial just means that it's higher ABV... usually >8% and it's not unusual to see them hit 10-15%. The richness that you're describing is just characteristic of a good stout porter. Guinness is a dry style stout and there are better examples of the style (e.g. Moylan's Dry Irish Stout).
Mark Hébert
Rum References: Flor de Caña 18 (Demeraran), The Scarlet Ibis (Trinidadian), R.L. Seale 10 (Barbadian), Appleton Extra (Jamaican), Ron Abuelo 12 (Cuban), Barbancourt 5-Star (Agricole)
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