HopTown Old Yeltsin Imperial Stout

Formerly brewed at HopTown Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Pleasanton, California USA

Sample at the Most Honorable SuperHappyFun Stout Tasting: After reading the label, I think if it were me vs. a long Russian Winter, this wouldn’t be a bad beer to have along for the fight. This beer smells like it might keep you warm on those long, cold nights. Aroma is booze and vanilla. A very syrupy quality that leaves a coating on the tongue here. Dark sugars. Did I mention booze? This tastes stronger than 9%.

This was a 22 oz bomber i had for a while and it was not bad at all with a lot of roasted malts and hints of coffee and chocolate as it warmed the abv was apparent and it had a nice rich taste to it.CHEERS!

Sample at the Most Honorable SuperHappyFun Stout Tasting. Bottle from Park Lane Liquor in Lancaster, CA. This beer pours black with a medium beige head that recedes steadily. Stringy lacing. Aroma of roasted malt and coffee, plus some hops. Rich body with a chewy mouthfeel and flavors of roasted malt, coffee and hops as well as some dark chocolate. The finish is rich and smooth with sweet malt and coffee lingering in the aftertaste. Pretty good overall.

Vintage 2005 Pours opaque black with mahogany edging, and barely a quarter-inch of beige head. The whisp of foam dissapated quickly leaving a placid surface and few small streaks of lacework. Aromatics are full of dark chocolate, Kahlua, and espresso-drizzeled fudge. A hint of tart vineousity follows though along with a trace of nougat. A bit short of full bodied, but still chewy enough. Velvety, slick and oily. Lowish carbonation. Rich, dark chocolate leads off the pallet, with coffee infused fudge and charred cocoa nubs. Black forest cake batter drizzeled with a Kahlua reduction. Bitterness is balancing, and hopping in general is without a trace. Alcohol is barely warming and an afterthought at best. Finishes quite mellow and rounded, with a hint of vineousity. Very much like a aged Baltic porter. Great stuff and very well could be peaking at three years. Still quite fresh tasting and bold, but plenty of aged complexites and mellowness.

Bomber. Poured clear, very deep brown with a shorter cap of dense toffee head. My first impression on the palate with burger grease.. thankfully that dissipated promptly.. became molasses with some dark chocolate and coffee character.. roast was moderate in the aroma, and much more pronounced in the flavor department.. deeper, and it really hid the alcohol well. As mentioned, the flavor was more roasty with molasses, licorice, and coffee represented.. sticky licorice and soy with some coffee bitterness at the finish.. just too roasty without enough flavor development to make it really good. Heavier-bodied and slick with low carbonation on the palate.. the heavy roast stuck at points, and this never developed as I would like.. overall a decent and drinkable, but far from great imperial stout.

Pours black with a brown sheathing. Great smell of pit tree fruits, vanilla and blackened malts reminds me of a buttered sweet roll. Velvety smooth mouthfeel and way too easy to drink. Good taste is well balanced with sweet ripe pit fruit up front then bitter blackened malts to finish. Good stuff. 012606

deep dark color. small tan head. great heavily spicy aroma. very smooth flavor of roasted malt and pepper. a solid imperial.

Date: 12/02/2005
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, Strong Ale Fest

Black, thin tan head, big roasted aroma, creamy body, nice roasted malt flavor, easy drinking but not very complex

Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 2.9/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: *4