North Coast Old Rasputin Anniversary Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout

Brewed by North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Fort Bragg, California USA

Bottle. 25.4 oz. Split with Vin. Pours a deep mahogany brown with a thin, wispy amber head. Aroma of scotch, cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate, banana, roasted malts, and oak. Full, tart mouthfeel with a smooth, deceptively mild body. Finishes with a slow, mellow warming. Outstanding Imperial stout in every aspect. Awesome brew.

Bottle pours pitch black with tan head. Aroma is straight bourbon with some coffee roast. Thin mouthfeel. Which is pretty consistent for the style for the most part. Flavor follows the nose and has a rubbing alcohol flavor upfront, followed by the bourbon, then the dark roast and coffee flavors, then finishes with a hot bourbon taste. Once you get used to this sipper it goes down much easier. Its just a bit hot at first.

Imperial pint, pours black as used motor oil, Aroma is huge chocolate and some smoothness like vanilla and lots of alcahol. Taste is much like the aroma smooth chocolate and big bitter and alcohol burn with a sweet finish. it is an awesome beer but not 22 dollars worth

Poured dark brown with very little head. What there was of the head was tan to brown in color and the body didn’t look anywhere near viscous as it fell into the glass. The aroma is dominated by bourbon with plenty of chocolate to take the edge off. The flavor is a piece of chocolate dipped in bourbon. The mouthfeel is light in body for what this is. Warming alcohol towards the finish feels right at home. Good. Not great. Certainly not great when you factor in the price of the bottle.

500 mL bottle. Pours a dark chocolate brown with a tan head that disappears leaving just a thin foamy tan residue on top and a little lacing on the glass. Aroma is vanilla, oak, light bourbon... very creamy and smooth. Taste is mostly dark chocolate and bourbon... doesn’t seem to have as much fruit and raisin as the original (I’m sure the bourbon flavor overpowers that a little bit), but I prefer the dark chocolate bitterness over the sweeter flavors anyway. Rasputin is definitely a beer that can stand up to the barrel... it’s just too bad it’s so pricey!

Overpriced 500ml bottle. Will not take that into account though, so, here we go... pours black with a small khaki head. Aroma is a very nice milk chocolate/bourbon duet with a lot of soft oak notes. Very pleasant really. Malted milk balls. Really no harshness imparted from the wood or the spirit which is nice. Some coconut in there too. This is similar to Goose Island’s though a little less intense and more milky. Great Lakes Barrel Aged Blackout comes to mind too, from the nose at least with a bit more bourbon. Coconut increases with the temperature rise. This is just a splendid nose, really. Flavor is similar though the body is a bit thin. The regular Rasputin doesn’t seem to have the body to be able to hold up to the barrel and unfortunately this holds true. The flavor is nice but nowehere near as good as the aroma and the body leaves a lot to desire. This was not bad but it could have been so much better.

Tap at Blind Tiger: Opaque deep khaki dense head. The aroma has a huge dark fruit richness- lots of rum raisin and vanilla/bourbon character. The chary black malt base comes through a bit. Silky/creamy on the palate. Big booze presence in the flavor and body. Lots of vanilla/raisin/rum qualities with that underlying tarry black malt and roast giving off mocha undertones. A bit too much bourbon for my taste- plus this Imperial Stout in it’s self is fantastic.

500ml bottle from Draegers in San Mateo. turns out I can get this in NJ anyway! black body, dark tan/light brown thick fluffy/rocky head. aroma is dark chocolate, some vanilla, bourbon, a little prune. some oak and molasses too. body has lively carbonation, dry boozy/bourbony malt, chocolate liquer, and oaky flavor, balanced by baking chocolate, roasted malt, and a little bit of piney hops. great blizzard beer!