According to Lew Bryson in his book New York Breweries, this is the beer that got Garrett Oliver the job as brewmaster at Brooklyn in 1994:

He'd been brewing at a brewpub, Manhattan Brewing, since 1989. He could see the writting on the wall there, and one day when no one was in, he brewed up a batch of big imperial stout. "I took it over to Brooklyn as my resume," he told me.

I wonder what else has been bargained for with this beer? As far as I am concerned, it is simply amazing. Sipping beer, a big sipping beer similar in its aim to Old Rasputin from California, bigger than the version by Samuel Smith of Yorkshire. Brewed annually with some variation, the Winter 2004-2005 brew is 8.7% according to the brewery. A lace leaving fine rocky mocha head sits over inky dark mahogany. Licorice, chocolate, molasses and a thickness of coffee that you can imagine forms a half inch sludge at the bottom of the glass. There is mintiness to the hops that is in its place...but only relative to the massive attack that are the dark particles. That is what it seems to be filled with - dark particulate matter of the tastiest type. It almost has the baseball glove leather thing of some big red wines happening.

The sort of stout that makes Guinness drinkers question themselves. 99% of BAer's approve.