Dark, Medium and High ABV
Baltic Porter, Imperial Stout, American Stout, Oatmeal Stout
Notch Baltic Porter, Old Rasputin (Imp Stout), Obsidian Stout (American Stout), Narwhal (Imperial Stout), Samuel Smith Imperial Stout, Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout
Imperial Stout: there were some surprises here. Old Rasputin had a ton of hop character on the nose and ample bitterness on the palate. There weren’t overwhelming boozy flavors, alcohol warmth, or much residual sweetness. I thought it was like a high ABV Black IPA (it was delicious). Narwhal, on the other hand, had much more warmth and booziness with medium-low amounts of American hop aroma. After comparing these to the others in this tasting though, I could pick up alcohol warmth in each that I didn’t find in the other beers. Doing the fast swallow and quick exhale helped a lot to emphasize the warming sensation.
American Stout: lots of American hops on the nose (less than Old Rasputin), lots of bitterness on the palate, and flavors of coffee and chocolate (no booze). I couldn’t detect alcohol warmth with the fast swallow/exhale- it was effervescent compared to the Imperials.
Sam Smith beers: the Oatmeal stout was super fruity/estery on the nose and palate, and the Imperial smelled/tasted like a stronger version. The guidelines for the exam state Sam Smith’s Imperial as a commercial example, but it’s only 7% ABV (the guidelines say Imperial Stouts range from 8-12%). The alcohol warmth was much harder to detect than it was in the American Imperial Stouts, but after smelling/tasting carefully I could pick up some boozy aromas and slight warming on the palate. After swallowing, the Oatmeal stout was much cleaner/drier on the palate.
Baltic Porter: very similar aroma to the Sam Smith beers- very fruity and estery. I had a hard time detecting alcohol warmth on this one- it was pretty dry with toasty/lightly roasted malt character that were the main notes of the flavor profile (along with the yeast character)- the warming wasn’t a big part of the experience. The giveaway for me on this one was a lack of burnt/charred/heavily roasted malt that the stouts had.
