HopTown Old Yeltsin Imperial Stout

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

Bottled, thanks marbles! Pours very black. Sweet and raw with loads of alcohol. Grassy and warming with licorice loads of bitterness - a lot like Fernet Branca. Too sweet and unbalanced.

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

It’s tough work being editor at Ratebeer - I was obliged to attend a kegger last night. Well, more like a casker if you want to be specific. In order to break of the hop blast of Sgt. Major’s IPA, I brought along this beauty. Black, but lacking foam; cherry, alcohol, vanilla sugar, almonds, demerara - great aroma; sweet body, toffeeish, lots of malt but less roast and fruit than your average Imperial. Palate contains many of the aroma elements, but in a more laid-back, less expressive way. Delicious way to finish things up.

(bottle) Viscous black body with minimal brown head. Aroma is strong malty, chocolate, vinous, light cherry. Taste is rich malty -- medium sweet, chocolate, vinous, some coffee. Medium hop bitterness in the finish, together with vinous light alcohol. Palate is very full and rather smooth. Impressive IS.

(Bottle) Pours a black body with a thin light brown head. Sweet aroma with alcohol. Flavors of roasted malt and coffee. This beer warmed me up!

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.

Opaque, deepest brown, thin light brown head. Oldish nose, leathery somehow, heavy on the hops despite its advanced age (2yr+). Annoying soy notes, oily.. It doesn’t improve much in mouth. The fruity hops pair nicely with the chocolate, but glue-like off undertones bother the general appreciation and keep coming back and forth to rubber and root, plasticy flavours. I fear this is just not one to keep more than a year, but what’s the purpose of an imperial who can’t tough through time a bit. Light to medium bodied, moderately roasty, small bubbles prickle the tongue sides. Average.

Bottled: Oily black with a thin covering of tan head. Bursting with ripe fruits and vegetables(grape, melon, and cucumber), brown sugar, and lots of roasty malts, perfectly balanced with western hops. And that's just the aroma. Body is somewhat dense, yet smooth, lightly sweet and bitter with a touch of alcohol in the finish. Becomes a little more cloyingly bitter around room temperature. One of the better imperial stouts I've had in a while. Thank you herbjones!