Iron Hill Russian Imperial Stout

Brewed by Iron Hill Newark
Style: Imperial Stout
Newark, Delaware USA

Bottle. Pours a dark brown color, with a decent head and nice lacing. Aroma has some soy sauce, with some elements of bourbon. Slight caramel, too. Smells barrel-aged in some way. Some chocolate in the aroma, some soy sauce, also some slight oxidation. Finishes well though. Sharp bitterness, feels a bit old, but gets better after warming up.

bottle, from trade with eaglefan538. Good aroma, roasted grain, little licourice streak about it, new cardboardbox smell. Dark orangy black color. Small head on first pour, better head on second pour, little to no lace either way. Bitter flavor Bitter roast grain, slight sweetness, the cocoa side of things, little smoke. Medium body, lite creamy mouthfeel, bitter finish. Good to drink, not offensive, not a jaw dropper either.

20070120 Growler sampled at Paul’s. Nearly black with little head. Aromas are standard roasted malts, bit burnt, with dark cocoa notes and no noted hops. Body is thin but coating, oily. Alcohol hidden, seems much less impressive than expected as far as heft and level of alcohol presence. Finishes ashy and a bit bitter with sugary smack.

Bottle from The_Epeeist on 2/22/08. Thanks Chris! Tried at Lost Abbey with Julian and deftim13. Also tried a 2001 BA Leviathon tonight, which blows this away unfortunately. A pleasant hint of oxidation. Dark black. Quickly fading head. Sweetish. Mild. Some alcohol notes, probably enhanced from being served at room temperature. Excellent at room temp, but probably optimal at 55F. Malty. Very good.

Tasted at the BA Alesmith release. Flavors of chocolate and roasted malts. Some smoke. Very nice.

Thanks to miketd for bringing this to the Alesmith Release party line tasting. Lots of roasty and chocolate flavors. Hops come through on the finish, but not before the chocolate and roasted malts have their say. Very nice impy stout.

great style good beer. nice and enticingly smooth. the beer is balanced and jet black in color. chocolate and dark roast grain. very enjoyable.

From a 750mL Bottle. Generously shared by cquiroga. Dark black pour, with somewhat transparent edges of rusty tan, topped with a thick head of creamy tan. Roasty nose, filled with dark chocolate malt notes and wafts of minty hops. The roast has a borderline astringent character, especially paired with the hops. The lesser-roast malts reveal Very fudgy and melanoidin rich flavors with an almost spicy wood-like quality. Medium-full bodied, softly carbonated mouthfeel. Lots of bitter hops up front, followed by a wave of dark chocolate and dry oak bark. Chewy chocolate truffles filled with molasses. Flecks of flambeed raisins. Bitter finish, with a lingering roast astringency. A bit too much roast character, and I’m not a huge fan of the pairing with hop bitterness, but the richness of the dark malt flavors are quite nice. The bottled version is a certain improvement over the diacetyl ridden draft sample I tried (rating reflects the bottled version). Thanks for sharing, Chris!