Tsumi

 At 8.5%, Godspeed’s Tsumi is a burly imperial coffee stout. The beer, born at Toronto’s Godspeed Brewery, is sold in 355mL cans. It’s a near-black ale with a frothy tan head. 

Tsumi has a robust coffee nose; bitter with a syrupy sweetness. The flavour is big and bold, with black coffee notes and ample bitterness. The booze in this brew is undeniable and it has a thick texture.

A coffee beer with some attitude, Tsumi is an enjoyable ale from a brewery more known for their elite Czech-style lagers.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Chocolate Orange Blackburne Imperial Stout

Left Field Brewery in Toronto makes a chocolate orange version of their burly Blackburne Imperial Stout. This version tips the scales at a beefy 9.7% and it’s made with cocoa nibs and orange zest. Mercifully, the beer comes in 355mL cans, as opposed to a larger format. The beer is tarry, with a loose tan head.

Chocolate Orange Blackburne has a punchy orange peel aroma with substantial sweetness and heavy boozy warmth. The flavour is extremely sweet and it delivers exactly what it promises: notes of orange zest and chocolate. The beer has cocoa bitterness at the back end and an undercurrent of strong booziness. The underlying stout powers through, with a malt focus and thick texture.

Orange flavour in beer is one I’m typically resistant to, but this configuration manages to pass muster. I still don’t love the orange zest flavour, but pairing it with cocoa is a fairly effective combo.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Hibernator 2021

Hibernator 2021 is a 10% bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout blend that includes cherries, ginger, orange peel, and vanilla beans. This bruiser comes from Toronto and the gang at Bandit Brewery. It’s sold in 750mL bottles which probably shouldn’t be consumed alone before dinner, but what are you, my mom? Back off! Sheesh.

The 2021 edition of Hibernator is a darkest black, with a dark brown head. The beer has a gargantuan aroma, built around sweet, wood, and booze. The fragrance is sorta like a boozy chocolate orange, supplemented with bourbon-y vanilla. The flavour is extremely sweet, with notes of orange, chocolate, and molasses. The barrel-aging gives the the beer a woody depth and some big bourbon heat. The vanilla comes through well, but I wasn’t able to really pick up much in the way of ginger and some cherry tartness might have taken some of the edge off.

I think I missed out on H:2020, but I definitely liked H:2021 better than H:2019, which I found to be too coconut-driven. Here, there was a bit better integration of the flavour elements, particularly the orange peel. In truth, though, I still found the 2021 iteration to be way too sweet.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Between Two Evils Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stout

Between Two Evils Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stout is a substantial offering from the team at Dominion City Brewing Co. out of Ottawa. It’s an 11% ale, so a single 355mL can is an undertaking best not attempted on an empty stomach. The beer is dark, almost black, and poured with a crown of tan head that receded faster than my hairline.

Sweetness is the order of the day in the aroma—vanilla, brown sugar, and booze are the big three elements. The flavour is big on maltiness and sweetness. It’s woody, with vanilla and raisin notes, nestled along a bit of bitter molasses. There is also boozy heat through the roof. It’s got a thick, syrupy texture, too.

According to the can, Between Two Evils is aged for a year in recently emptied bourbon casks. The result is a sweet, woody bruiser of an ale with tons of bourbon character. Highly recommended.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Qawa

 Qawa is a towering imperial stout brewed with coffee and chocolate. The beer, born in Toronto, comes from Bandit Brewery, while the coffee is sourced from Propeller and the chocolate from ChocoSol. Sold in 500mL bottles, the beer is coal black and it pours with a dark tan head.

Aromatically, dark chocolate it absolutely the star of the show, though there is a comforting espresso subtext as well. The flavour is many things, but it sure ain’t subtle. The beer is sweet and malty, with enormous chocolate richness and jumbo boozy heat. Dark roast coffee is also well represented, particularly in the bitterness that mingles with persistent sweetness in the finish. In the margins, there are notes of leather and raisin. The mouthfeel is smooth, yet thick.

I try not to ascribe morality to food and drink, so I’m not going to use the adjective “sinful”, but this boozy bastard really is an indulgence. Truthfully, I found it over sweet, but not to the point of being cloying. The creamy/syrupy texture, though, is spot on for a dessert beer. Qawa really warmed me up over a cigar on a damp, snowy November Sunday evening.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Black is Beautiful--Merit Brewing Co.

 

My first taste of a beer from the Black is Beautiful initiative came from Hamilton, Ontario’s Merit Brewing Co. According to the label on the 500mL bottle, the proceeds of Merit’s version of BiB support the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion’s Black Youth Mentorship Program.

Their take is an 8.7% imperial stout. It’s a very dark beer with a long-lasting tan head. The brew has a sweet, chocolaty aroma with sticky molasses notes. The flavour is decadently sweet and strong, with chocolate, leather, and and dried fruit notes, and a bitter/acidic French roast coffee finish. It is also conspicuously boozy, which gave me some joy.

If Merit’s BiB is any indication, I’m going to have a lot of fun tracking down as many variations of this beer as I can. Their take is boozy, bold, and balance—a terrific after-dinner ale.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Dominion Delivery--Giants of the North

An imperial stout brewed with almonds, vanilla, milk sugar, cacao nibs from Hummingbird Chocolate, and maple syrup from Cheslock’s Sugar Bush, Giants of the North comes from Dominion City Brewing Co. in Ottawa. Sold in 355mL cans, GotN contains a ribald 10% alcohol. It’s a hella dark ale that pours with a thin tan head.

GotN has a rich, sweet aroma with malty, chocolatey notes. While there isn’t a lot of maple in the nose, the flavour makes up for it with verve—maple sweetness is evident from the second the beer touches your tongue. Alongside are chocolate and vanilla notes. The mouthfeel of this robust stout is syrupy and sweet. Other than a bit of dark chocolate, there is very little bitterness.

The sweetness and booziness combine to make Giants of the North Imperial Stout a hefty ale—a choice after supper sipper and, I would theorize, one that would be excellent with vanilla ice cream (I have a second can of this stuff and I may test this theory out). It’s too sweet and strong to even imagine a second can, and I might have liked a bit more bitterness to add some balance, but I really enjoyed this strong ass sweet stuff from Dominion City.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Dominion Delivery--Dark Night of the Soul

Dark Night of the Soul is a big ox of an Imperial Stout from Dominion City Brewing Co.—a 10% ale made with cocoa nibs from Hummingbird Chocolate, vanilla, and hazelnuts. The Ottawa, Ontario ale comes in 355mL cans that advise “meditate on this and it will be revealed.” It’s a near-black ale that pours with a thin layer of tan head.

DNotS has a sweet, confectionery nose with big cocoa and vanilla notes, complimented with ardent booze heat. The beer has a smooth and thick mouthfeel. The front end of the flavour is rich, malt-driven, and toothsome, driven by two-thirds of the palate of Neapolitan iced cream. The finish turns gloomily bitter, though the sweetness only lets up a bit.

A jumbo booze ball, sure, but DNotS is ale also a complicated brew. If you like stouts with a dessert-y vibe that aren’t gimmicky pastry oriented, this is a grand option.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

3 Frogs

Second up from Barcelona’s La Cervesera Artesana was their smoked imperial stout: 3 Frogs. 3 Frogs was a bruiser, at 11.5% alcohol. My 330mL pour arrived looking black and bleak, with just a ring of tan suds. It had a wildly potent smokey aroma with scotch whisky peatiness leading the charge.

3 Frogs was smokey from front to back, but it transitioned from sweet to bitter along the way, with the top end incorporating treacle sweetness and the back tobacco and leather elements.

I have seldom sipped smokier beer, though 3 Frogs lacked balance—it was too heartily

smokey, at the expense of finesse. Additionally, the front end struck me as a touch too sweet, providing an unusual flavour profile. On the positive side, the strength was agreeable and the peatiness of the smoke didn’t seem at all artificial.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Kremlin Russian Imperial Stout

Walkerville Brewery’s limited edition Kremlin Russian Imperial Stout is a 10%, 60 IBU brute sold in a seriously impressive matte black 750mL bottle with a representation of the Moscow Kremlin on the label.

This beer from Windsor, Ontario is black and pours with a tan head. It has sticky molasses and roasted malts on the nose and a flavour packed with coffee, plum, leather, and vanilla notes. Kremlin has a sweet to bitter progression, with a back end that touches on high cacao chocolate and yesterday’s espresso.

As with many Russian Imperial Stouts, I feared this one would be either too sweet or too bitter; however, it really split the uprights, offering a beer that is big and balanced, with only a slight lean toward too sweet. It’s also highly boozy and assertive. Walkerville’s take on the RIS is laudable. It might not be the very best I’ve ever had, but it’s worth mentioning in the conversation. As I often whine, Ontario’s breweries don’t always stout like I’d like them to, but this one is aces.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Triple Play Fan Pack: Blackburne Imperial Stout

Named in honour of Lena Blackburne’s Baseball Rubbing Mud which is used to treat MLB baseballs, Original No. 3 Blackburne Imperial Stout is a 9.7% ale made by Toronto’s Left Field Brewery. Sold in 355mL cans, the beer is black with a thick tan head.

The beer has a rich roasted malt aroma accented with chocolate and leather notes. Blackburne has ample kick, with a warm-as-hell booze bill and loads of sweetness. It’s a bit woody with some mocha and dark fruit up front and tobacco and dark roast coffee nethers.

Strong and robust, Blackburne Imperial Stout is a beefy entry in the panoply of Ontario dark ales. It’s a bit sweeter than would be my ideal perhaps, but it’s outsized and flavourful.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Mara

Mara is a weird one. It’s a 9% alcohol bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout brewed with salted peanuts. Born in Toronto and sold in 500mL bottles, Mara is the brainchild of Blood Brothers Brewing. It’s a dark brown ale that pours murkily and with a thin tan head.

To my beak, Mara had a salty, slightly smoky aroma that incorporated a lot of its peanut pedigree. The flavour is honestly pretty wild—it has nuttiness and saltiness, but these notes are played against heavy chocolate elements, coffee, booze, and a woody sweetness. The beer tastes strong, but not 9% strong. And the back end is sweet, with a bourbon streak.

Mara is a weird one. It’s salty, smoky, and strong. It’s sweet, yet savoury. It’s good and interesting, but at $12 a bottle, I’m unlikely to reach for it again. It’s a bit more novelty than truly excellent beer, but there is some flair.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

King in the North Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout

Another entry in their series of beers co-branded with HBO’s epic Game of Thrones, King in the North Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout comes from Brewery Ommegang. Brewed in honour of fan favourite character Jon Snow, this ale is a member of Ommegang’s “Royal Reserve Collection”. The beer is an 11% alcohol pugilist sold in frosted 750mL bottles. According to the copy, it’s aged at least six months in bourbon barrels.

Unsurprisingly, KitN has oodles of boozy sweetness, woody aromatics, and roasty malt notes. A definite slow-sipper, KitN is powerfully sweet and impressively strong. The flavour is rich and roasty, malt-forward, and woody as hell. It has a syrup-thick mouthfeel, but it narrowly dodged the threat of cloyingness.

I don’t think I’ll ever fully embrace the capitalistic combo of synergy and opportunism that comes with branded beers. However, I did love Game of Thrones and Brewery Ommegang rarely disappoints, so if ever there was a combo to pull it off, this might be it. KitN is a big, sweet, strong, and tasty beer. It’s close to too sweet, but the boozy, woody, malt-bomb gets the job done.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Minutes to Midnight

Minutes to Midnight is a mighty 11.1% barrel aged imperial stout brewed with vanilla, cherries, and cocoa. Born in Toronto to Bellwoods Brewery, M2M comes in 500mL bottles. It has a powerful and wildly sweet aroma that is primarily woody with bourbon notes, along with some cherry elements. The flavour is extremely potent, with vanilla and chocolate leading the charge up front, with sour cherry waiting in reserve. Nestled among these flavours are notes of molasses and tobacco, as well as a huge crush of ol’ fashioned booze.

Another bulky edition to Bellwoods Brewery’s catalogue of strong ass stouts, M2M is a strong and flavour-packed ale. To my mind, it’s a touch too sweet and the cherry is a little to dominant at the back end, but the overall effect is still quite enjoyable.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Tsar Wars Imperial Stout

With perhaps one of the best name-and-label combos in Toronto craft brewing, Tsar Wars Imperial Stout is basically an irresistible purchase. Sold in 500mL bottles, the labels feature Northern Maverick Brewing Co.’s polar bear mascot decked out in a Darth Vader helmet and some Russian military garb. The beer, classed as a Russian Imperial Stout, clocks in at 8% alcohol and 30 IBUs, both of which are on the low end of the spectrum for the style. The Toronto-born ale is near-black in colour, under a thin layer of tan head.

Tsar Wars (incidentally, a name that is wildly susceptible to autocorrection) has a sweet, sticky, boozy aroma. The scent encompasses leather, fruitcake, and molasses notes. The flavour charges ahead with roasted malt, molasses, raisin, and a bit of dark chocolate. It finishes with some warmth and java bean bitterness.

Excellently-named and well-packaged, Tsar Wars is a pretty fair ale, too. It could definitely be stronger (I’d have liked it to be in the environs of 10%) and more assertively hopped, but the flavour is quite agreeable and, for a strong ale, approachable. This is certainly the best Northern Maverick offering that I’ve sampled.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Spencer Gift Pack: Trappist Imperial Stout

The Spencer Brewery’s Trappist Imperial Stout is an 8.7% alcohol brew from Spencer, Massachusetts. The certified Trappist ale comes in 330mL bottles. It’s a near totally black ale with a fairly thick tan head.

Spencer’s imperial stout has a warm, malty nose with a whiff of anise. The beer has a malt-driven flavour that is rich in molasses and leather notes. The front end is smooth, but the back end has some bitterness, some funky yeast, and a bit of smokey tang.

Not the best imperial stout I’ve ever become acquainted with, but not a bad one either, Imperial Trappist Stout is a strong and flavourful beer worth trying.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

The Blood of Cthulhu

The Blood of Cthulhu is a fractious imperial stout brewed with cherries, raspberries, and cranberries. It’s a 9.5%, 50 IBU bruiser from Gravenhurst, Ontario’s Sawdust City Brewing Co. Sold in 473mL cans that amateurs ought to consider sharing, the beer is a nearly opaque black grog that pours with a tan foam. As the can reads, Cthulhu is “as black as the blood of a malevolent demigod.”

Cthulhu has a powerfully malty nose enhanced with tart fruit and dark chocolate. The flavour has those same elements, but their prominence is staggered, with the richness of sweet raspberries and the blast of tangy cherries leading the way. Chocolate notes are well represented, too, supplementing a thick, syrupy mouthfeel.

Cthulhu is a serious imperial stout, but it’s more than boozy bombast. There are layers upon layers of flavour, making it a complex sipping ale.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.

Bring Out Your Dead 2018

During a crisp fall afternoon, my brother came by to play some cards and watch a little football. Seemed like a perfect opportunity to split a 500mL bottle of Bellwoods Brewery’s Bring Out Your Dead 2018. This imperial stout is an 11.4% brute aged in cognac barrels. It’s a black brew with a thin tan head.

Brother’s thoughts: potent grain aroma coupled with a lot of molasses and a bit of chocolate—smells complex and tasty. The beer has a flavour palate that is close to the nose, though with more bitter coffee notes. Doesn’t actually taste as strong as it is. Brother’d buy this for himself as a treat, but it’d never be a regular occupant of his fridge.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Stout Man says: Massive booze and wood aroma features a sticky molasses vibe. The mouthfeel is thick and syrupy, channeling a warm and sweet flavour. The beer blends classic barrel-aged elements with some notes of leather, cocoa, dates and raisins, and a shock of booze.

A fine ale with some bluster, this stuff is grand as long as you have someone to share it with.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Imperial Biscotti Break

Gargantuan and sweet, Imperial Biscotti Break is made by Danish brewer Evil Twin Brewing in Stratford, Connecticut. It’s a mighty 11.5% imperial stout brewed with coffee, vanilla, and almond. Sold in 1 pint cans, this is a beer not to be trifled with.

IBB is a black ale with a tan foam. It has an assertively sweet and strong nose, rich in vanilla and espresso notes. But the sweetness in the nose is nothing compared to the flavour—a syrupy, vanilla-soaked booze ball with notes of sweetened coffee and some warm amaretto drizzle.

I tend to be dubious of big, dessert flavoured ales. I find them too sweet and often a bit artificial. Evil Twin’s Imperial Biscotti Break lived up to half of that equation—it was certainly sweeter than I’d have liked, but there wasn’t a whiff of artificiality. The vanilla and almond flavours were nicely integrated, but I’d have liked a bit more java bitterness to provide a semblance of balance.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Steakcake Stout

Steakcake Stout gets its curious name from a dispute between the brewers at Double Barley Brewing, one of whom thinks that the 10% alcohol imperial stout pairs best with sweet desserts, while the other prefers hers with a cut of beef. Brewed in Smithfield, North Carolina, Steakcake comes in 355mL bottles.

This strong stout is black highlighted with amber. It pours with a sudsy tan head. It has a slightly sweet, malty nose. It tastes rich and malt-heavy, with a bit of molasses, brown sugar, and a sweet but bitter finish.

Steakcake came my way via the amazing and generous KC. I found it to be an alright take on the strong stout. The strength is grand and the aroma works nice. As for the flavour, it is potent, but at the same time it lacks depth.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.