Alpine Beer Company Boris

Brewed by Alpine Beer Company (CA)
Style: Imperial Stout
Alpine, California USA

Bottle from City Beer Store in SF. Pours black and heavy with a brown head. Coffee, roasted malt, and alcohol on the aroma. Same on the flavor, plus cola and some dark chocolate. Big alcohol bite, slightly unpleasant. A little light on the palate for the style. Pretty enjoyable overall though.

Bottle, thanks to alexanderj. Black, thick pour with some light brown head. Aroma is some rich roast, molasses, woody bourbon with light vanilla, and some milk chocolate. Flavor is a little messy, it includes all of the above, but just seems mushed together. Sweet dark malt, roast and woody bourbon.

Bottle received via trade with Beerlando. Pour was rich, black and had nice cookie colored head that quickly went away. Aroma of chocolate, plum, whiskey and rich malts. Flavor was coffee, stone fruits, a little smoke and some noticabale bourbon. I thought it was a little thin on the mouthfeel and wished it was a litte richer all around. An ok beer, but I wouldn’t trade for it again.

Appearance: Pours out an inky, black body with no real head formation beyond a few fat bubbles. Smell: Heady, malty aroma of dark chocolate, instant espresso powder, black currents (maybe a few blueberries), and only minor notes of vanilla and bourbon. Taste: Sweetish dark maltiness with a slight amount of bittersweet chocolate transition to a taste of coffee liqueur. As with the nose, I get a very deep, vinous fruitiness. Montage of bourbony flavors: brown sugar, vanilla, light wood. However, they do definitely take a backseat to the coffee and fruits. I don’t pick up, well, any hop flavors or bitterness beyond the bitterness coming from the coffee. Touch of earthy creosote on the fruity finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Low carbonation. Smooth mouthfeel. Drinkability: Hides its ABV rather nicely. Well, that was fairly pleasant, though not nearly in the top tier of bourbon-basted Imperial Stouts.

22 oz bottle shared by beastiefan2k. Pour is black brown, with a thin tan head. Aroma of big roast coffee and pine hops. Some oak woodiness. Nice, enough nose though a little overpowering on the coffee. Taste is stale office coffee with bright pine hops on top. Weird, and disjointed. Palate is thin-medium, with syrupy lingering coffee. Thanks for sharing this one Eugene.

Black body with a brown sugar colored head. The aroma has some coffee and bread crust. There is also some brown sugar. The taste has coffee, which dominates. There is also some tobacco and a burnt finish. This is ok.

Date: December 10, 2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: South Bay Drugs, San Diego
Vintage: 2008
Appearance: black, fine tan head, mirrored surface, bits of lace
Aroma: sweet bourbon and dark chocolate aroma with a big espresso character, touch of vanilla and oak
Body: big body
Flavor: rich chocolate flavor, vanilla sweetness is followed by the bourbon and then balanced by the espresso, touch of oak comes along with light bitterness, roasted character and associated bitterness keeps growing to balance the bourbon and vanilla sweetness and then some, chocolate and bourbon come back for another wave but without a lot of sweetness

Date: November 21, 2009
Mode: bottle
Source: cellar tasting
Vintage: 2008
picking up a touch of tartness that is killing the vanilla sweetness, kind of a barrel funk character,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.9/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *** /4

Black with a good, long-lasting tan head that leaves a spotty lacing. Smell of old burnt coffee, maybe a little chocolate, and some wood. Taste is of old coffee, roast, bitter chocolate, vanilla, and a metallic flavor too. Mouthfeel is thin with high carbonation.