Review: Fort Garry Kona Imperial Stout (2013)

Remember last year it took so long for Fort Garry to release Kona, all because they had to wait on some painted bottles, well this year, they didn't have that problem! I like to think that I pushed Matt from Fort Garry to the point that he HAD to bring back Kona again, as every time I saw him, I kept saying "you know what you should do? bring back Kona". That and the beer winning silver at the 2012 Canadian Brewing Awards for Imperial Stouts is pretty damned good accomplisment!

So here we are.. in 2013 and Kona's back! If you want to check out my original review, It's available here.

Appearance: I love the painted bottle, but last time around, I would've prefered a paper labeled beer so the bottle could be reused and it wouldn't have taken as long to receive for bottling, but still love it. Pours a thick, dark, black coffee, like any good stout. On top is a triple-triple-esque creamy foam, slightly nutty.

Aroma: Coffee! It's an aroma reminiscent to walking in to your favourite coffee shop and smelling fresh coffee being brewed, slightly stronger in aroma than Manitoba's original stout - Half Pints' Stir Stick Stout. Has a very slight spiciness to it (not as "peppery" as last year), and a bit of a cream aroma in there. Coffee is the #1 item in this beer it seems.

Taste: Roasted malts, coffee coffee coffee, slight nuttiness to it and that typical "coffee" aftertaste you get when you drink a cup o' joe. Much more mellow than last year's batch by far. There's a bit of a weird "city water" taste in the background, kinda chloriney or something? I have no clue what, but I can't describe it, though thankfully it's minimal.

Ft Garry Head Brewer Matt showing off the
Silver award from the Canadian Brewing Awards!

Overall Thoughts: A solid stout, rich coffee notes if that's your thing. Personally I prefer last year's edition more, but I'm having no trouble gulping this down. The nuttiness and roasted coffee flavours are well appreciated. Soon I'll do a comparison test of last year vs this year to see if there's any big differences, but at any microbrewery, there's got to be differences each year!
The beer costs $6.30 before tax and has 6.5% ABV and 50 IBU

Kona Stout Review - 2012