Drink & Dissect: Suntory Craft Select Imperial Stout

Many people have ranted about the Suntory Craft Select series being basically lobotomized versions of the styles they claim to represent. This has especially been the case with their latest offering: 

Suntory Craft Select Imperial Stout

A lot of this stems from the fact it is a measly 6%, so I decided to kick off a new series called Drink & Dissect where I'll analyze a beer side by side with it's BJCP definition.

Let's look at the BJCP definition of an Imperial Stout and break this beer down:

History: Brewed to high gravity and hopping level in England for export to the Baltic States and Russia. Said to be popular with the Russian Imperial Court. Today is even more popular with American craft brewers, who have extended the style with unique American characteristics.

OK so far. Nothing conflicting there.  

History: Well-modified pale malt, with generous quantities of roasted malts and/or grain. May have a complex grain bill using virtually any variety of malt. Any type of hops may be used. Alkaline water balances the abundance of acidic roasted grain in the grist. American or English ale yeast. 

It appears any hops and malts are fine so I guess Suntory remains in the clear.

Vital Statistics:	OG: 1.075 – 1.115
IBUs: 50 – 90	FG: 1.018 – 1.030
SRM: 30 – 40	ABV: 8 – 12%

Now things are getting tricky, 6% is somewhat below the cut off for an Imperial Stout. Even if we go by Imperial simply meaning a ramped up version of a regular Stout the average Suntory beer is 5% so 6% isn't much of a boost and is lower than other past Suntory beers.

Appearance: Color may range from very dark reddish-brown to jet black. Opaque. Deep tan to dark brown head. Generally has a well-formed head, although head retention may be low to moderate. High alcohol and viscosity may be visible in “legs” when beer is swirled in a glass.

Let's take a look, to give this beer it's best chance to impress I decided to use my Spigelau Stout Glass. The color is I'd say on the very dark reddish-brown end of the spectrum, the head is a light beige and it is not opaque. 

The head retention is moderate with it slowly dissipating and leaving some spotty lacing behind. So in terms of the appearance the color is right but it isn't opaque enough while the head is too light in color but has decent head retention/lacing. So 1.5 out of 3 points covered.

Aroma: Rich and complex, with variable amounts of roasted grains, maltiness, fruity esters, hops, and alcohol. The roasted malt character can take on coffee, dark chocolate, or slightly burnt tones and can be light to moderately strong. The malt aroma can be subtle to rich and barleywine-like, depending on the gravity and grain bill. May optionally show a slight specialty malt character (e.g., caramel), but this should only add complexity and not dominate. Fruity esters may be low to moderately strong, and may take on a complex, dark fruit (e.g., plums, prunes, raisins) character. Hop aroma can be very low to quite aggressive, and may contain any hop variety. An alcohol character may be present, but shouldn’t be sharp, hot or solventy. Aged versions may have a slight vinous or port-like quality, but shouldn’t be sour. No diacetyl. The balance can vary with any of the aroma elements taking center stage. Not all possible aromas described need be present; many interpretations are possible. Aging affects the intensity, balance and smoothness of aromatics.

Wow, that is quite an amazing description! The aroma from Suntory's Imperial Stout is most definitely not rich & complex. It has more of a sweet sugary fruitiness. I can see that the fruitiness has a plum like character to it which falls into the style description for fruity esters.

Malt character would be on the subtle side, it's hard to pick out. I could get hints of burnt toast, a smidge of roastiness, a whiff of chocolate but really fruitiness dominates the aroma. Not really what I'm looking for in a purported Imperial Stout and more than the moderately strong from the BJCP guidelines but does match the prominent Fruity Aroma written on the can "フルーティーな香り".

The hop aroma is very low to non-existent but this doesn't conflict with the style guidelines. There's no alcohol character which at 6% I wouldn't expect and thankfully this beer is free of the dreaded diacetyl.

So in this case I'd say it is a miss in terms of the aroma, the things you'd expect in a stout are there but they are not there in the right proportions. 

If you go strictly by the guidelines however I guess it could be considered acceptable "The balance can vary with any of the aroma elements taking center stage. Not all possible aromas described need be present; many interpretations are possible."

Mouthfeel: Full to very full-bodied and chewy, with a velvety, luscious texture (although the body may decline with long conditioning). Gentle smooth warmth from alcohol should be present and noticeable. Should not be syrupy and under-attenuated. Carbonation may be low to moderate, depending on age and conditioning.

This beer has a medium to light body that verges on watery, nah screw it - it is watery. Carbonation is low, there's no smooth warmth from the alcohol, the texture isn't velvety or luscious and it's not chewy. According to the guidelines in this category Suntory Craft Select Imperial Stout fails on every point.

Flavor: Rich, deep, complex and frequently quite intense, with variable amounts of roasted malt/grains, maltiness, fruity esters, hop bitterness and flavor, and alcohol. Medium to aggressively high bitterness. Medium-low to high hop flavor (any variety). Moderate to aggressively high roasted malt/grain flavors can suggest bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate, cocoa, and/or strong coffee. A slightly burnt grain, burnt currant or tarry character may be evident. Fruity esters may be low to intense, and can take on a dark fruit character (raisins, plums, or prunes). Malt backbone can be balanced and supportive to rich and barleywine-like, and may optionally show some supporting caramel, bready or toasty flavors. Alcohol strength should be evident, but not hot, sharp, or solventy. No diacetyl. The palate and finish can vary from relatively dry to moderately sweet, usually with some lingering roastiness, hop bitterness and warming character. The balance and intensity of flavors can be affected by aging, with some flavors becoming more subdued over time and some aged, vinous or port-like qualities developing.

Again this big bold style has a massive description. This beer's flavor isn't rich, complex, deep or intense - it is roasty with a medium bitterness that seems to derive from the malts rather than any hops. I can see some of the roastiness suggesting bittersweet chocolate but there's no coffee, no alcohol, no diacetyl (yay!) but it's got some burnt and fruit notes. 

The finish is moderately sweet and does have lingering roastiness. I'd say Suntory hit about half the points they should have in terms of flavor.

Overall Impression: An intensely flavored, big, dark ale. Roasty, fruity, and bittersweet, with a noticeable alcohol presence. Dark fruit flavors meld with roasty, burnt, or almost tar-like sensations. Like a black barleywine with every dimension of flavor coming into play.

Looking at this category Suntory didn't do too bad: it is roasty, fruity & bittersweet with dark fruit notes. However, anything to do with the Imperial monicker is lacking: no intensity, no tar-like sensation, no alcohol presence and definitely no comparison can be made to a barleywine from this subdued six-percenter.

Comments: Variations exist, with English and American interpretations (predictably, the American versions have more bitterness, roasted character, and finishing hops, while the English varieties reflect a more complex specialty malt character and a more forward ester profile). The wide range of allowable characteristics allow for maximum brewer creativity.

Well I'd guess this would be a Japanese Macro-Brewery variation and while it is tasty enough it is underwhelming to those expecting an Imperial Stout anything like the suggested examples below.

Commercial Examples: Three Floyd’s Dark Lord, Bell’s Expedition Stout, North Coast Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, Stone Imperial Stout, Samuel Smith Imperial Stout, Scotch Irish Tsarina Katarina Imperial Stout, Thirsty Dog Siberian Night, Deschutes The Abyss, Great Divide Yeti, Southampton Russian Imperial Stout, Rogue Imperial Stout, Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout, Great Lakes Blackout Stout, Avery The Czar, Founders Imperial Stout, Victory Storm King, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

My main takeaway from this Drink & Dissect experiment is that Suntory Craft Select's Imperial Stout doesn't qualify as an Imperial Stout according to the BJCP guidelines. While some of the necessary qualities are there the low ABV and weak mouthfeel means it should be more properly be a English Porter or possibly an Irish Stout. I'd say it can compare favorably to a Guinness which may be what they were going for. If they'd labeled it a Stout or Porter than there would have been fewer beer geeks in Japan scratching their heads and saying WTF?!?!?!?!!!

All this being said get ready for two new beer releases on December 15th, 2015 in what I assuming is a commercially successful series: IPA and Amber Ale.

For further reading on the Imperial Stout, check out this article from All About Beer here.