Two Brothers Brewing Company Northwind Imperial Stout

**Aroma:** “The big oak and coffee notes play off each other well, with the chocolate and roast to support underneath. Dark cherry esters, oaky vanilla, oak char, whiskey vanilla, and tobacco, with a hint of maple.” **Flavor:** “The chewy woody oak is a bit overpowering. Low to medium vanilla presences reminds me of French oak, and it blends with the peach and cherry notes coming from the coffee and the beer. Some sweet cherry, sherry, dates, and marzipan. Very thin-bodied, more like an old ale than an imperial stout. Great caramel and toast malt character, and the roast and chocolate notes help to blend the flavors. Some fusel alcohols and whiskey, with tobacco and vanilla, as well as a mild hops flavor and bitterness.” **Overall:** “There’s a lightness to this beer that was unexpected, likely from the lighter stone fruit esters, but the body and vanilla help as well. The barrel character isn’t overdone and adds a nice complexity without drowning out or muddling the coffee stout underneath. However, the boozy-whiskey with the overpowering char from the barrel lose the beer element. It’s a nice beer, but it’s thin and tastes out of its style.”

“Subdued aroma highlights fruity esters, oak, spirits with a hint of chocolate, raisin, toast. Nice balance between the barrel and the beer. Flavor is sharply boozy, with the roast elements subsumed in the boozy concoction. Clean and focused on the booze. Enjoyable, but lacks complexity. Oddly sweet. Simple.”

**Aroma:** “Big dark chocolate and coffee aroma. Big plum, dates, moderate cherry, light acidity, moderate caramel, light umami, light earthy hops, some brown sugar notes. A backbone of bready malt. I’m sitting by the fire with a snifter of...not barleywine, but this beer. Rich malt complexity with sherry, dried figs, and raisins, and warming alcohol. More caramel than roast, but the coffee and chocolate are there.” **Flavor:** “Lovely complex malt sweetness—like chocolate-covered Fig Newtons, or maple syrup, with a touch of earthy hops to help balance. Like a shot of strong expresso, no cream. Complex and deep, but a bit intense so sessionable is not part of this section. Big cherry, light plum, big chocolate, moderate coffee, light hops bitterness, touch of alcohol, moderate caramel. Aftertaste: big chocolate, touch of coffee, light bitterness. Starts out like a thinner-bodied barleywine, but the hops and roast bitterness crack that illusion. The promise from the nose is here, but it doesn't quite mesh as well in the flavor because the lingering hops and slight astringency add some harshness. Hops flavor is as big as the roast. Sherry, malt, dried fruit and esters are still nice, though.” **Overall:** “Very tasty, but could use a bit more carbonation to help the flavors pop. Love the fruitiness. Fun dark-fruit dominated imperial stout. The chocolate, caramel, and roast notes are present throughout with just enough hops to balance. It is fairly well carbonated, but that works to bring out the brighter fruit notes. The nose had me, but the flavor not so much.”