Courage Russian Imperial Stout

1983 vintage at Kulminator in Antwerp. Very dark fluid, good looking small brown foam. A lot of coffee, licorice, and dark berries. Not so much chocolate. Aftertaste was not too long, a certain sourness was there too. Rather thin mouth feel. A nice stout aged with dignity

Sampled a 1985 bottle at the DC Local Gathering. Flat, oily black with zero head. Zero carbonation. Aroma is super boozy, sweet, toasted grains, molasses and burnt sugar. Flavor is burnt toast, dark chocolate, soy. Finishes with a weird sour coffee flavor. Definite alcohol burn on the end.

old notes from Kennet 05 - bottle provided by Hopdog - vintage 1980 - aromas of wood, chocolate, and mustiness coming off a dark dark brown body that had absolutely no head. flavors of chocolate, soy, and raisin, very sweet for something so old. tail was a little acidic, and was the only time i really realized i was drinking a 25 year old beer. over all, i think it was more of a glass of wine than an IS.

1993 Nip bottle. Thanks FooFaa. Smokey rich caramel, roasty aroma. A bit of oxidation. Pours in chocolate brown, with no head. Flavor starts a bit old, but then matures with some caramel, deep older raisin, and spice. Lots more spice than expected. It’s not overly oxidated. Holding on a little bit. Interesting to try. Dry and palatable.

1975 vintage thanks to all at realale.com: Loads of gas escaping on opening, this seems to have kept well. Pours a red/black. The aromas are of hoof oil and honey chop, a very horsey beer. Reminds me a lot of my childhood. Very fizzy, still young and lively in the mouth. Loads of chocolate and coffee. Salty. Epic. Shitting delicious.

1985 vintage. Tough one to rate, i’m a bit torn as to wether i liked this or not....on balance i did. Smelt really good, winey, sherry. Fairly thin mouthfeel which i expected and flavours varied from worcester sauce, sherry, intense molasses and then a touch of sourness. Finishes really quite bitter.

1977 from Gunhaver CPLYFO 09. Pours a syrupy deep brownish black almost still. Aroma is obviously oxidized to soy and slight salty meatiness- with dull stale tootsie roll chocolate and some roast that has turned to burnt paper and wet cardboard- very old fruits as well. Chocolate flavor- yet stale and a bit salty- soy and oxidized- green and slight minty, earthy leather, and dried tobacco leaf- spicy and getting some slight medicinal phenols- soy and Worcestershire sauce- beefy and meaty- too old and stale but always fun to try something this old!

Two vintages, courtesy gunhaver. 1993 and 1977. Pours a thick and syrupy looking chocolate brown, with no head or lacing. The nose gives notes of chocolate cake and burnt caramel, which are nice, but then a bit of unfortunate saltiness creeps in. Flavors are similarly off, soy sauce saltiness clouding what otherwise seems to be a fine, chocolaty stout. There’s a little cardboard in there too. The palate is flat and oxidized, yet still substantial and slick enough to come off as passable, but just barely. The ’77 was the oldest beer I’ve tried to date, and it did not make a case for long-term beer aging. The ’93 wasn’t much better.

Please note: I initially decided against rating these beers, as I feel they are way past their prime, but since others at the tasting enjoyed the same bottles that I did not, I’ll cast my minority vote.