It seems like there is no shortage of new and interesting beers from Sierra Nevada Brewing these days. What with their Ovila line, new 4-pack line, beer camp beers, and more; it’s almost hard to keep up. The nice thing is that all of these beers are brewed with Sierra Nevada’s traditional eye for quality. Basically, pick which ever one interests you and you’ll probably be very happy with the experience. Narwhal Imperial Stout is no exception.
Narwhal is Sierra Nevada’s newest entry in their new 4-pack limited release series. Hoptimum was the first. Almost immediately after its release, Narwhal took silver at the Great American Beer Festival in the imperial stout category. I was very excited to try this beer, not because of the medal, but because I enjoy just about every beer Sierra Nevada makes. And let’s be honest, the label is super cool. The design department did a great job with this one. After tasting this beer, I added it to my list of beer choices for Thanksgiving dessert pairings (How to Drink a Turkey Under the Table).
Appearance: Oily black with a brown head. Ok head retention.
Aroma: Espresso, cola, dried fruit, phenolic, prunes.
Taste: Bitter chocolate, powdered baker’s chocolate, raisins, deep roasted espresso. Very viscous mouthfeel.
Overall Impression: This is the driest imperial stout I’ve ever tried. It’s extremely well attenuated. The high alcohol level is also really well blended and unnoticeable except for the very thick mouthfeel. The sheer level of malt bitterness coupled with the dryness should match really well with richer, sweeter desserts. It should slice right through them like a really intense cup of espresso would. This is a very intriguing beer.
Availability: Nationally
10.2% ABV
10 thoughts on “Sierra Nevada Brewing 2012 Narwhal Imperial Stout”
I picked this up the other day (literally) and put it down in favor of Celebration. Today when I was looking for an IS, I passed on this in favor of Old Heathen. It will not escape a third time.
It’s really good. I’m not always the biggest Imperial Stout fan, but this one rocks.
I keep seeing this on the interwebz! Must find me a bottle. Sounds delicious!
I’m sure you could pair it with one of your whiskey samples!
I dunno… I might just want to have this one on its own. But I like where your head’s at!
The label looks awesome indeed. Might this become the first stout I might actually like? Can you get this (or any) Sierra Nevada in Belgium?
I didn’t see any Sierra Nevada when I was there. I did see some in a bottle shop in Paris though. And I know they export to Spain and England as well. But I doubt Sierra Nevada is shipping the imperial stout over.
Saw this in the store the other day and was intrigued. Narwhals are awesome. Narwhal imperial stout? Very awesome. I dig pretty much everything Sierra Nevada puts out too. I’ll have to pick some up and give it a try.
Yeah, I don’t think they even know how to make bad beer. Or if they do, it probably never sees the light of day.