Epic Brewing - Exponential Imperial Stout 4.20 / 5.00 |
On the pour, this beer comes out of the bottle like oil. It pours smooth with a half inch of a khaki head forming with my vigorous introduction to the glass. A swirl shows plenty of alcohol lacing - something to be expected from a beer of this gravity. In the glass, light has no hope.
Smell
With each big whiff of this beer, I find more complexity. Chocolate malt is a big player for my nose and as with the lacing, the alcohol is apparent. It's wrong to describe a beer as another beer but I find that this immediately brings me to Ballast Point's Sea Monster Imperial Stout. I haven't had that one recently but the smell brings me back there.
Taste
Chocolate, coffee, malty goodness. Again, the alcohol is present but not in a bad way by any means. This strikes me as a great candidate to hang around the cellar for a year or two to see if all this alcohol mellows into a more even profile, but as a new bottle it brings a good array of flavor to the palate.
Mouthfeel
There isn't a lot of obvious carbonation when you look at the glass, but in the mouth there is more than enough to get the job done. I always love the texture of a imperial stout and this beer lives up to that.
Overall
I haven't had a ton of Epic's beers in the past but based on this first foray into their world, I'm inclined to try more. While I won't say this to be the best imperial stout, I may grab another bottle and do the aging experiment for a year or two and it's more than adequate for the price as a bottle to share on a cool evening with a friend.