New Belgium Lips of Faith Imperial Coffee Chocolate Stout

Any new one in the lips of faith line, one we should be careful not to refer to as an imperial stout. Rather this is a chocolate stout, with coffee, and since it's 9% ABV, we can call it "imperial"...but it shouldn't be compared to Russian Imperial Stouts. I'm drinking from tap, so I can't read the gobbledygook for you, but I'll throw a link up for you to read it for yourself.


Solid stygian blackness, beneath a gorgeous deep tan head, long lasting, creamy  and luscious.

Aroma: chocolate first on the nose, sweetness aplenty, rich and lovely. Mocha delight. The glaze on a scrumptious chocolate donut. Coffee hasn't revealed itself yet. Very pleasing, nonetheless.

Taste: In the mouth, cocoa sensations resonate, with coffee notes rising up to greet them. This is delectable. Now we're dunking that chocolate-dripped cruller into our morning cup joe. Getting the best of all worlds. It's the most intense, the richest, the fullest, or the deepest, but it's tasty and drinkable, beside the high ABV. Fullish body, long, but not overly intense finish.

Alcohol isn't showing just yet, and, as noted before, there's not trace of "imperial stout" flavors, like dark fruits, char, dark rum, molasses, etc. Just chocolate, with coffee beans peeking in at the sides.

Someone asked me if this was a "Belgian-style" stout, and I replied, no, just regular, plus coffee, plus chocolate, plus imperial. But through their name and their past brews, people expect everything NBB makes to have a Belgian bent of some sort. Personally, I'd like to see more of this, especially now that they've embraced their hoppy nature, or formed one, or something.

No, this is not barrel-aged, or vanilla bean infused or whatever other gimmick we need to use these days. It's just a darned good beer. Really nice, and very flavorful.
What's wrong with that, I'd like to know, so here I go…again…
.......

it's a good beer, and you can drink it.