Cold Weather Beer Review: Guinness Imperial and Gingerbread Spiced Stout
Guinness Imperial Gingerbread Spiced Stout
I hate cold weather. But I love cold-weather beer.
Yeah, I know, you can drink an imperial stout any time of year, and I do subscribe to that. But man, there’s just something about squatting on my couch during a snowstorm that makes me crave a great big chocolatey, high-octane stout. So naturally, when I got my hands on bottles of Guinness Imperial Stout and Guinness Gingerbread Spiced Stout, I settled in and waited for the thermometer to bottom out and for my front lawn to turn white.
First, here’s a look at what these beers are: Guinness Imperial Stout is finished in Kentucky bourbon barrels, a 10.3% alcohol beast; Guinness Gingerbread Spiced Stout is even bigger at 11% and brewed with allspice, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg before being dropped into bourbon barrels.
Guinness Imperial Stout
Guinness Imperial Stout
The first one I grabbed was the Guinness Imperial, pouring it into a tulip glass and watching the jet black body produce a thin, dark tan head that unleashed a bevy of aromas: Coconut, chocolate, toasted marshmallows, dark dried fruits like a touch of raisin, and maybe even black licorice.
Not surprisingly, the flavor profile doubles down. The alcohol flavor is present but not prevalent, while notes of the barrel come forth in trickles. The beer is moderately thick and creamy on the palate but with an astringency on the back end that balances it fairly well.
I was half expecting an amped-up version of the classic Guinness Irish Stout, but this is not to be compared closely to the flagship brew. It's bigger, more nuanced, and, frankly, a completely different animal. And it’s quite pleasant although the alcohol finish does accumulate and become a distraction about halfway through the pint. A nice pour, but I definitely have enjoyed superior barrel-aged imperial stouts. For my money, just give me all the Founders KBS on the planet and I’ll be happy.
Gingerbread Spiced Stout
If Guinness Imperial is a different animal than the classic stout, then Gingerbread Spiced is a different species entirely, at least in the beer world. Same jet black body, slightly lighter head, and on the nose just a hint of the spices that are to come, drizzled in between the chocolate and caramel sweetness.
Guinness Imperial Gingerbread Spiced Stout
Then the first taste opens up the spices in a way the aroma didn't predict, in a sort of contained spice explosion that hits calculated points on the palate with precision, with big fruity and chocolatey sweetness coating the middle of the tongue and jaws, and Christmas spices aplenty lighting up the back and sides of the tongue. The mouthfeel was creamy with slightly less astringency on the finish than its counterpart, and the alcohol flavor a bit less prevalent. Comparing the two, this is a winner by a nose.
I personally wouldn’t pair either of these with a meal, as I prefer to bask in them independently, but suggested pairings for the Imperial Stout would be steak, rib roast with rosemary and garlic or chocolate desserts. As for the Gingerbread Spiced version, suggested food pairing recommendations would be roasted pork with fig, vanilla panna cotta or crème brûlée.
These were limited winter releases, but if you get lucky, you’ll find them in 4-packs of 11.2oz bottles at a suggested retail price of $19.99.