Last month we shared the five top-rated coffee stouts on Untappd during 2021, so logically we wanted to make that espresso shot a double. Imperial or double coffee stouts are amped-up versions of this style—richer, more intense, more indulgent, higher in alcohol, and with a bit more of a caffeine kick.

As we've mentioned in the past, the exact history of coffee stouts is a bit murky. We do know that brewers began experimenting with beans and beer in the 1990s. Regardless, what's most important is that today, countless breweries across the country brew their own creative variations, making coffee stouts as ubiquitous as...well, your morning cup of joe.  

Logically, once these rich, indulgent coffee stouts picked up like the steam coming off your cappuccino, American craft brewers took these beers even further. Often aging them in a variety of barrels, breweries began releasing Imperial versions. 

From a coffee version of one of the rarest beers in the world to one painstakingly aged for eighteen months with ten pounds per barrel of Dark Matter coffee (aka the midpoint of the theoretical bourbon barrel-aged stout-coffee continuum), here are Untappd's 5 Highest-Rated Imperial/Double Coffee Stouts of 2021:

1. Barrel-Aged Endless Night & Day - Trillium Brewing Company

2. Supermassive Cafė Deth (2021) - Revolution Brewing Company

3. Proper Dose - Horus Aged Ales

4. Coffee Abraxas (2020) - Perennial Artisan Ales

5. Quadruple Shot - Tree House Brewing Company

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If you think these Imperial and double coffee stouts are bigger and buzzier, you should see some of the craziest beers Hop Culture and friends are trying each week. On each episode of The Craziest Beer I Had This Week, we drop a new crazy beer we've cracked. Watch last week's episode and don't forget to subscribe to Hop Culture's YouTube channel so you never miss a beat on the wild beer we're drinking next!