North Coast Old Rasputin Anniversary Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout

Brewed by North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Fort Bragg, California USA

bottled, black viscous pour with almost no head, aroma of vanilla/oak and sweet roasted malt, flavor with big sticky dark fruits with wonderful presence of oak and roasted malt, light carbonation with lasting sweetness on palate, very appropriately bottled for special occasions

bottle thanks to cavie who obviously has issues with chocolate easter bunnies. poured black with a tan head that would not give up. aroma was bourbon, vanilla, caramel, and alcohol. flavor was bourbon, caramel, vanilla, and some wood followed by a medium body.

Source:500 mL bottle from Friar Tucks in Illinois.
Glass:North Coast snifter.
Appearance:Black pour with a half finger of brown head.
Aroma:Heavy bourbon and vanilla notes.
Flavor:Heavy bourbon, vanilla and chocolate. The finish is dark bitter chocolate.
Palate:Full body with soft carbonation.
Overall:This was pretty hot for my taste, but still a great beer.

Old drowland sent this one. It’s seriously pointless to try and look through this. There is no light, period. You know, is it superfluous to place a dot after writing the word "period"? Shouldn’t that word fulfill the dot requirement? Giant brown head that doesn’t go away. Aroma has the bite of a sharp chocolate beer. Sweet and smooth. Doesn’t bite too harshly...more like a nibble. Soft chocolate taste, like the ease of milk chocolate. Reminds me of a milk chocolate Easter bunny. You know the kind you eat the ears off first? Yeah, that one. I remember waking up early on Easter so that I could search for eggs, and there was always 1 or 2 that mom would forget about that we would find in late July. And you always ate that candy anyways, you know you did! Finish is of a dark chocolate bitter. Great taste, could have a better aftertaste though. Has the burn of alcohol. Bad bunny.

[bottle] Very oaky vanilla aroma. Sweet and inviting. Oily thick black velvety appearance with a light brown, dense foam that lasts and laces the glass. Delicious velvety oaky vanilla flavour with tons of chocolate and some coffee. The oak flavour is strong and transcendent, but is offset by a gentle dryness and black malt bitterness. Not much hops character, but that’s no problem. Surprisingly, the body is not as full as others, medium to full, moderate carbonation, vanilla oak finish.

Bottle at Chris-Os Pre GBBF 09 tasting ... Deep black ... sweet roast malt nose... sweet toffee .. lots of roast malts ... caramel ... lots of toffee ... little bourbon

Bottle shared by badnewsbeers. Deep brown/black opaque body, thin to medium persistent ochre head. Nose of oak, bourbon, and rich, chocolaty, roasted malts. Silky body with great balance between bourbon and oak notes and the chocolate, coffee, licorice, and roasted characteristics of the imperial stout. Outstanding mouthfeel. Excellent.

XII. Pours black with a small tan head. Aroma is predominantly of coffee and vanilla. Flavor is sweet with mocha, vanilla, and a light touch of bourbon. Coffee flavors are amplified in the finish. Not as boozy as I expected. Very well rounded between the sweetness and the roast. Full body and bordering on sticky, but not distractingly. A very good beer in what is becoming a very boring style.