best stout kit I have brewed. The first time I brewed this kit I was HOOKED! I've brewed this many times for Christmas time as a base recipe and build on it. Cocoa nibs, vanilla bean, cinnamon, dry hopped. DME instead of LME, YUM! The last one topped at 14% and was off the HOOK!

Recipe was easy to follow and clear. I have gotten several comments from friends as to how good this Imperial Stout beer turned out.

We added to the recipe for the stout with an extra 5 pounds of malt extract in the hopes of elevating the ABV to greater than 8%. Our estimation is it should be somewhere north of 15% when completed. When we initially put this stout into the primary fermentation tank it did not appear to be active. That was until the following morning when we opened the controlled cooling unit. It had blown out the water lock bubbler and covered the inside of the unit with dark rich foam. You can see in the third picture the black form completely filled fermentation tank. On a lighter note, the cooling unit smelled incredible LOL. We retrofit the bubbler to a 3/8 inch tygon hose and placed it in a bucket of sterilized solution. Fermenting at 66°, day nine still extreme fermentation. We will age this in the Bourbon barrel somewhere between two and six months. We will keep you updated.

So far so good! 2 weeks in, I expect after transfer it should be better in 2-3 months. I woul give it 6-9 months but nothing lasts that long.

I have brewed this twice. The beer is very dark, smooth, and rich in flavor. I keep the CO2 around 12 PSI in the kegerator. I used the WLP007 Dry English Ale - White Labs Yeast both times.

This is a great stout kit!

One of my favorites. Takes about 6 months to ferment in the bottle. I age another year then start opening. I have some that are 2 years old, keeps getting better and better.

My last Imperial Stout was a homemade all-grain recipe. I got lazy on the next one and went with this extract kit. With an otherwise high grain bill, extract is much easier in my setup. I added cocoa nibs, chili pepper, oak and bourbon, so can't comment on the taste of the kit by itself. But it made a great base and tasters say the result is better than my all grain batch which had the same additives.

I've made this one twice, once with S-04, and once with US-05 yeast. Much better with of 05. My only complaint is, it's not dark enough!

This is the one I most want to keep for myself. It is stout-dark all the way and very bitter too, but neither in an unbalanced or bad way. I love that bitterness--it is totally by design and I'd have it no other way. I have bottles that are 9 months now, and it's the best bottle under my roof. My fav. beer is a pale ale, and on the dark side, this stout is #2, easy. I also find it is a worthwhile product as an extract batch, maybe no need to do all grain if you are meticulous and patient. I'm so happy with it that I will probably do it as extract again. *BTW, if you age this in secondary, (mine sat 2 months in cool-temp secondary) you absolutely need to add yeast at bottling. I used about 10g of the 11g S-04 dry yeast pack at bottling.

This is one that just keeps getting better!This "Black Gold" is wonderful.., but it is not for the faint of hart. It has a bold taste that will linger for a wile on the pallet. The head is creamy and last for ever (or at least till you have your last sip). Aging is the key. You can enjoy it young, but patience is worth it. I just found several bottles that I had stashed and forgotten about over a year ago, I do not share these!

This was the second stout I have ever brewed. I added 1 pound of organic chocolate nibs during secondary fermetation for a few weeks, I also added 1/2 pound of cocoa powder. A really smooth stout. Next time I will be adding a touch of milk sugar and some expresso. Everyone loved this brew it went rather quickly !

I brewed this using the best of both worlds yeast with great results. I first brewed shallow grave porter and then dumped the stout on the yeast cake. I leave it go for three weeks than bottle in liter bottles. I also bottle some 12oz bottles to test each month for the next 9 months to a year. This beer and both the porter are amazing. Cannot say which I like better

Brewed this, aged it for a few weeks in a bourbon barrel and then into the keg to age for 6 months. So far everyone has loved it (maybe a little too much). My wife says it is the best beer I have ever made. This makes a perfect winter brew. This next batch will hopefully age a year. The alcohol was still a little forward although mine did come out on the high end (8.5%)

I brewed this and used a few additives during bottling. It was a fun little experiment. Try peppers, oak cubes, and whisky soaked oak cubes. Vanilla might also be nice but I haven't tried yet. Most of the trials were very tasty.

I have brewed this kit a few times and it is one of the household favorites. Like others recommend, aging this one is required to get the best results. I have added Bourbon soaked oak chips to the last couple batches and that fits the style very well. If you like big stouts give this one a try.

As a rule, I don't like stout beers, I brewed this for my daughter. Brewed it with the recommended yeast and let it bottle condition for 6 months, then opened one bottle a month till it hit the one year mark. Man oh man....it was good. I could drink this stuff, and I don't like dark beers! My daughter loves it and didn't want me to give any away. I gave some to my friends who like dark beer,since I don't drink the stuff, I really didn't know if really was any good or not. They all loved it! One described it as an alcoholic coffee. It looks like motor oil in the glass, but tastes great! If you can keep it for a year, it gets better and smoother as it ages. Down to my last 7 bottles and wish I had made more last year!

Very very good. Conditions well over time! You need to keep a batch going at all times because the taste is completely different as it conditions. Try to keep it in bottle for 6 months!

Brewed 10 gal of this in the spring 2009 and after the recommended time in the fermenters, bottled and put away for Christmas. If my memory serves me right, I remember it being very potent and a little raw around the edges. Nevertheless it was gone in no time. I had the wisdom to stash away 6 - 22 oz bottles which I discovered a few weeks ago. At celler temperature, slow poured into a pint glass, it had an incredible dense head. Bliss isn't strong enough of a word to describe the smooth flavor, porter-like as the recipe review promised, strong and perfect in all aspects, a true delight and sadly now just a memory. So- here I am getting more of it and couldn't help but share on this page.The theory / strategie this time: stash and throw away the key.

Tried one at 3 month bottledmmarkmandnit is really good. Waiting for another 2-3 months tonsee how aging improves.

Like Tim H above me, this was my first attempt at an Imperial Stout. I initially thought the half pound of maltodextrin would be a bit much, but the finished beer was nicely balanced, especially once we crossed the six month mark.Not as heavy or extreme as some Imperial Stouts on the market; a nice introduction to the style.

It was my first Imperial Stout and it turned out quite well. I did fermenting in two stages and then bottled it. About 3 month after I boiled it tasted great.