1221 Imperial Stout

I was really upset that I missed out on this beer when it was released for the Fountain Square Brewing Company's End of Days Party. That was one of those weeks where there were too many good beers and too little time. If I couldn't take it home in a growler it probably wasn't happening.

When I found out that they were releasing it again for their Winter Luau, I had to have it.

Me, El Duque and my Saintly Wife got to the brewery when they opened at 2:00 to make sure we had a seat and to check out some of their house beers. The vibe was cool and laid back. We had a sampler then moved on to some of the seasonals. All in it was a great day, but I was in a hurry to get to the 1221 Imperial Stout. Thank God they tapped it early because I was able to get the beer at 5:30 not 6:00.

The 1221 Imperial Stout poured out a dark black without a hint of brown on the edges. The head was a mocha color and sat light and fluffy about half an inch thick. There was great lacing as the beer went down. It had a 11.1 abv, but the IBUs were not listed. Because the abv was so high, you got a tiny 8 or 10 oz glass, which made me sad, so I had two.

There was a great smokey aroma to the beer. It mingled well with scents of sweetness and cocoa. The beer had a thick syrupy mouth feel. It coated everything without sticking around too long.

It had a big chocolatey flavor with hints of brown sugar sweetness. It was incredibly heavy and over the top, which I LOVE. It had a very light hop finish (I was expecting more hops from an Imperial), but it had a very nice boozy quality. Behind all that sweetness there was a great, light but pleasant smoked flavor. This is what I thought the maple smoked beer that I had from Rogue should have tasted like. The smokiness helped to balance everything and kept he sweetness from overwhelming the brew.

This was a wonderful beer. It was well balanced for an imperial stout. It was so good I bought a shirt.

I give it a 5