HopTown Old Yeltsin Imperial Stout

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

22oz, I think from HiTime. Thick black pour, looks oily, with very minimal head. The aroma is fairly rich and chocolatey, with some roast coffee coming through. First sips are quite pleasant, with a pleasing balance of roast and somewhat dark fruits, like overripe plums or even prunes. A pleasant mix, but somehow I feel this beer would be better with a richer, creamier mouthfeel. The taste just isn’t quite deep and intense enough to carry it as is. Still, a very solid RIS that I’d be stoked to drink again.

Sampled April 2007
When poured fairly vigorously, it ends up with a nearly three-finger thick, light brown colored head that sits atop an almost black colored brew. The aroma is richly malt focused, and has perhaps even taken on some aged malt notes. The aged malt notes seem to have accentuated some dark malt derived Maillard browning aromatics. These notes intermingle with notes of chocolate; a touch of warm rum & molasses; lots of well toasted, dry, biscuit malt character; some hints of burnt figs and even some notes of burnt concord grapes. It even takes on a rich, meaty, almost brothy like quality (is it umami?) as it warms up.

Thick and chewy, while not quite being syrup-like and certainly not cloying. This is definitely a sipping brew; it is served at about 50ºF (10ºC), which is a pretty good starting temperature. The malt is quite soft and enveloping, with a mix of dark chocolate, complex malty sugars and something akin to a chocolate shake made with lots of espresso-roast coffee beans. The finish tries to dry things out a bit with sometimes austere notes of toasted grain and burnt barley; in the end though this can’t shake the dark sweetness, as even a lightly sweet, rich molasses burnt caramel note seems to close things out. This brew is just so smooth; there is really not much hop bitterness here; just enough to keep things from being cloying. Up front it has a touch of sharp, burnt grain derived acidity, but this is well tempered and is not even an after-thought by the time the beer rolls past your lips. This definitely has some age to it (without a bottle date I don’t know how much though), but it has only just started to oxidize a bit (a touch of blackened sherry is noticeable); this has added a bit more malty complexity to this brew at this point, though this should still age quite gracefully for many years to come.

This is the quintessential smooth, sipping brew, the mouthfeel on this beer is just about perfect. The flavors and aromatics are quite good, but not nearly in the class that the mouthfeel sustains quite effortlessly. One thing is sure, I need to go back and down grade a bunch of Imperial stouts after this brew.

22oz bottle acquired in trade with DarkElf (thanks). Poured a dark, dark brown with red edges and an averaged sized brown head. Aromas of roast, some chocolate, burnt nuts, smoke, vanilla, and coffee grounds. Tastes of roast, smoke, dark chocolates, some dark fruits, and vanilla. A tad on the thin side for an Imperial Stout. Alcohol content well hidden.

Black. Small tan cap. Nose of smores, dark dried fruit, subtle coffee, roastiness. Flavor to match with more coffee, dark chocolate, bitter resinous hops in finish. Balanced medium palate. Thin for an imperial. Very drinkable. Good with chili.

Pours black but no head at all. Very smokey flavor along with a soy sauce kick this beer tasted like smoked salmon, which is good, cause I like smoked salmon. The roasty chocolate flavors had trouble showing through the salty soy sauce flavor and smoked finish and a slightly acidic finish showed up. This was pretty nice, very bold and "in your face" kinda brew.

Aroma of dark toasted malt, caramel and molasses. Opaque brown black color with very temporary beige head. Starts with dark sweetness, like molasses, passing to toasted malt, and having a bit of coffee and hop towards the end. Mouthfeel starts firm but thins quickly. Interesting. Worthwhile. Killer.

22oz bomber, no date. Pours a black with a half finger fading tan head. Aroma of roasty malts, caramel, molasses, soy, a bit of vanilla ____--I can’t put a finger on what though--a little hazelnuts, a tinge of earthy hops. ETOH so far is covered well. Flavor has much more roast and coffee in it--namely coffee in the bitter dry finish. There is also a bit of saltiness, not really soy anymore, and the molasses is still there. Alcohol is well hidden. Medium body, minimal carbonation--would’ve liked it a little thicker.

Coutesy Bobo. Thanks bobo. Pours dark black wit ha bubly light brown head. Smells of roasted malts, chocolate, and detected a little smokey bacon in there as well. Alot of sweetness around the tongue right away mixed in the with some malts and chocolate, and heavy on the coffee in the finish that stays with you for a little bit. Also has a touch of bitterness at the end that works well with the coffee. Nicely done.