HopTown Old Yeltsin Imperial Stout

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

Poured from a bomber. The body is ultra black and has a beige head with excellent lacing and retention. The aroma is very lactic. Butter creme frosting aroma. :) Some roasted malts but the lactic hides that mostly. The flavor is hugely coffee and dark chocolate. There’s also a dark fruit present. I suspect that this beer could go bad in the next couple of months.

Opaque black with a thin film of medium brown colored head. Roast malt, old fruit, and alcohol aromatics. Roast malt flavor evident, but downplayed compared to the fruit notes and grassy hop characters. Finish is coffee astringent. Mouthfeel is full yet fairly smooth.

Pours black with a small tan head with no lacing. Citrus, caramel, and roasty malt in the nose. Hoppy at first then malty and warming. Thick texture. Good imperial stout! Thanks Doug!

A motor oil black beer with a tanned colored head. Smell reminds me of a oatmeal stout because of its chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies aroma. A firm roasted malt and arabic coffee flavor adjacent to an expired plum juice background. Strange and different from other imperial stouts in its own way.

(22 oz bottle: $5 at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, CA) Ooh, wow, the nose is pungently earthy, mulchy, and mushroomy, right up my alley, but it’s pretty unusual for the style. That strong, earthy flavor is also the dominant flavor of this brew. What I’m not getting is a strong sweet roastiness that is typical of the style. In fact, it’s fairly sour and the palate is bordering on dry. The beer finishes with a bit of roastiness, but it’s still almost lost behind the sour earthiness. Very dark brown in color, fully opaque except at the edges, and topped by a small, tan brown that dissipates fairly quickly. So, I don’t know what to make of this Imperial Stout. It’s very unusual, and I like the nose and flavor, but what I’m tasting makes we wonder if maybe the bottle is old. Will retry at some point in the future.

Small brown head, fair retention and no lace. Pitch black with a neat red glow when held just right. Medium sweet malt nose, light charcoal notes along with roast and a hint of licorice. Med/full body, slick, lightly oily. Roast flavors up front, black licorice more noticeable in the flavor as it warms. Light notes of plum and raisins. Finish is medium dry with a light smokiness and vinous notes. Thanks Cliff!

The aroma had roast, coffee, alcohol esters, a woody note, and a very slight hint of dark fermented fruit. The flavor was roasty w/ coffee, and a slight oaky note. The mouthfeel was full bodied, well-rounded, and creamy.

Big and deceptively well balanced. Ages extremely well. Very robust and surprisingly soft mouthfeel. Bittersweet chocolate and espresso flavors with some mild liquorice and even a touch of dark fruit. Mild hop bitterness when fresh dissipates with even a short term cellaring.