Portsmouth Kate The Great Russian Imperial Stout

Brewed by Portsmouth Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

Thanks again to "hannont" for a chance to try a another phenomenal beer that I’d not otherwise get to try. Colour... onyx with a thin dark head. Nose... gobs of dark brown sugar, molasses, mocha and a hint of soy. Palate... holy sweetness!! Nice CO2, extraordinarily coating and viscous, caramel, treacle, high cocoa mass chocolate, creme brulee, and a finish that is usually reserved solely for grandiose operettas by Gilbert and Sullivan!

Brewed in the USA.... Courtesy of Dan from Beer Advocate, thanks again for sharing this hard to find Imperial Stout with us. Pours black, like old engine oil with a thin off white head. Aroma of chocolate, molasses, dark fruit and malts. Taste is also of molasses, with some bitter chocolate, burnt malts and vanilla flavors. Mouthfeel is kind of thin in body, slick on the tongue and has a wonderful smooth finish. This Imperial has been on my radar for some time now and thanks to a new friend this has become reality. :)

Bottle shared by Dan (FooFaa) at the Beer Advocate - Brass Rail gathering. A 2009 vintage. Many thanks for opening this. Poured a black viscous liquid, much like used motor oil that is 1000s of miles overdue for a changing. The smell was of molasses, cocoa, and maple syrup. The flavor had a ton of molasses character along with some coffee and chocolate notes. Thick and very smooth for it being so young. It reminded me a lot of Dark lord albeit with less coffee flavor and a bit thinner in the mouth. Still quite fantastic though.

#826, my daughters birthday, and a tribute to the 2009 Phillies on a great season regardless of the outcome in the next two games. I’ve been trying to get this beer for a while and finally landed one. 2009 bottle, pours a thick black, light tan waterfall leaving a tall frothy light brown head that laces the glass all the way down. Really strong aroma, hit me as I was pouring. Tart red wine, roasted malt, some vanilla and coffee. Also an orange juice kind of note.....really interesting. Hmmmmm......this is special. Black cherry and sweet red wine mix well with roasted malt and some oaky earth notes. Mouth is creamy with light carbonation. Lots of lingering tart and sweet syrup in the finish. This is a special beer, now only if I had more!

2009 bottle. Pours a deep almost black with a smaller bubble tan head. Aroma of molasses, caramel, dark fruits, cherries, vanilla, oak, chocolate and light alcohol. Flavor of dark chocolate covered tart cherries, molasses, caramel, vanilla, tobacco, some tartness coming through. Also some chocolate notes along with almonds.

Sampled at the ’09 RBPTE, courtesy of MrChopin. Huge nose on this, with caramel, molasses, chocolate, date, wood, and vanilla. Light hoppy quality, heavily malted and sweet. Clear black body with creamy dark lasting head. Full bodied, oily and alcoholic with medium carbonation. Full and rich with tons of chocolate, molasses, and some vanilla. Roasted malts and heavy sweetness. Delicious impy stout.

This bottled brew from a DLD beer festival poured a small sized head of foamy finely sized dark brown colored bubbles that were mostly lasting and left behind a opaque no visible carbonation dark brown colored body and a poor lacing. The mild aroma was roasted malt and dark malt. The mouth feel was thin weakly tingly at the start and at the finish with a nice roasted malty hoppy aftertaste. The flavor contained notes of hops roasted malt and dark malt.

Received via trade. 2008 release. There are beers that transcend words and are just better left to be tasted instead of read about, because reading surely doesn’t do it justice (at least my words don’t). There are better wordsmith’s out there who can do it justice, but there is no doubt in my mind that this is world-class beer.

The beer pours out an inky black color, rumbling body with a dark tan frothy head. Head retention in impy stouts is paramount for me because I enjoy a nice creamy head to last the entire pint. While the size of the head varied during my pint, it remained no less than a 1/2" thick the whole time. The aroma was just as decadent as can be. Huge notes of rich dark chocolate dipped cherries, vanilla coffee, port wine, brown sugar, molasses and soft anise notes. Sublime.

Flavor is just as impressive and wonderful as the aroma. Milk chocolate and coffee saturate the palate. Warm kaluha dark chcolate brownies and caramel sauce are my first thought. Port wine characters really exlode after it gets warmer, and it just pulls you in deeper. I’ve had stouts where chocolate is a major player, but this is a star in Kate the Great. It’s like the brewers took some of the worlds greatest desserts and crammed them in this bottle for us beer geeks to enjoy. I even had Bud Light drinkers going..."holy shit" after sharing it around the pool. Bravo.