Beer 200 - Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout with Hamburger

Samuel Smith's beer is brewed in the U.K. at a small traditional British brewery in Tadcaster, Yorkshire.  This bottle was bought at Spec's liquor downtown Houston and drunk at home in Katy with dinner of Nutisystems hamburger patty, roast corn and steamed broccoli.
web site: http://www.samuelsmithsbrewery.co.uk/

The web site says "This distinctive type of beer was originally brewed to withstand the abuses of shipping in foul weather to Imperial Russia. It was a favourite of Russian nobility whose taste for the finest food and drink was world famous. A rich flavourful brew; deep chocolate in colour with a roasted barley nose and flavour that is a complexity of malt, hops, alcohol and yeast. Fermented in ‘stone Yorkshire squares’.  Serving Suggestions • Espresso coffee; Stilton and walnuts; baked sultana and lemon cheesecake; steak au poivre; caviar; rich apricot glazed bread; coffee trifle with roasted almonds. Best served at about 15°C. Ingredients • Water, malted barley,  roasted malt, cane sugar, yeast, hops, seaweed finings, carbon dioxide"

Unfortunately the taste of my dinner was completely obscured by the strong chocolate malt flavor in the stout.  Corn, broccoli and low fat hamburger meat are no match for a beer of this strength (7.0% alc/volume), strong taste and character and it doesn't help that stout is not one of my favorite tastes.  I've often said that the reason Guinness introduced 'extra cold' draught in the UK, was so that many people could get the cachet from drinking Guinness without actually having to taste the beer since the coldness numbs the taste buds.