North Coast Old Rasputin Anniversary Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout

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

XII Anniversary Bottle from Lone Hill Liquor in Glendora.. Pours black with a 2 finger creamy mocha head.. Aroma is coconut, vanilla and bourbon.. Flavor is bourbon, coconut and chocolate.. Thinner then most imperial stouts.. Good beer but IMHO not worth the $23 or so its going for.

Old Rasputin 12th anniversary 16.9 oz bottle at home in a .3L St. Bernardus wine style glass. Corked popped with very little pressure. Poured this bad boy at 56 deg and started drinking at 59 deg F, using and infrared thermometer. Beer pours a pitch black with a brown sugar colored head that rose to 1 finger then subsided. Nose has chocolate with hazelnut written all over it, no bourbon or alcohol on the nose surprisingly. First sip was like a chocolate store exploded in my mouth, alcohol shines through but only after 10 sec of bliss. Not that astringent picked up some coffee and vanilla . Mouth feel is nice due to a balanced carbonation level and the chocolate/roasted grains are not coating my teeth that much. Excited to see how this one settles out in a year or 2, i’ve got one more and its going to pain me to wait and open it. If the price was a little better I would buy a case ($21.99). A great beer!

XII. 500ml bottle. Poured a near-black opaque brown, displaying a tan creamy head. Aroma of mahogany, vanilla, oak, bourbon, dark chocolate, hints of coffee, caramel, and with a slight tinge of ethyl. Moderate lacing on the sides of the glass. Upon sipping, this beauty boasts huge bourbon and vanilla, leading right into a warming roastiness, chocolate and caramel really standing out, while stretching out that vanilla-oak flavor at the mid-back of the tongue. Moderately sweet, definitely complimenting the "dessertiness" of this beer. Finishes moderately sweet and bitter with hints of dark fruit. Although incredibly delicious, this beer still tastes ..... young. Even after being aged in a Kentucky bourbon barrel for a year already. Most definitely a beer that will get better and mature with age. Cheers!!

Bottle from Ron’s. Pours onxy with 3-finger dark brown head. Nose is intense and complex; a mix of oaky bourbon, dark peaty malt, blackberry, oats, cacao. The palate is thick, rich, complex, with flavors of dark malts, cacao, anise, oaky earthy spirits, and blackberry. This one is a gorgeous beer, and wonderfully complex.

XII. Time to see what $24 of American beer tastes like... I believe the most expensive American I’ve ever bought. Well... off to a good start, pours a beautiful glassy near obsidian dark brown with a nice fluffy light and airy light brown/tan froth with thick silky lacing 5. Aroma is quite fruity and super bourbon forward, lots of vanilla, some coconut macaroons, faint dark chocolately roast under the bourbon 8.5. Wow... that is a lot of bourbon... and a lot of charred oak... and... well thats about it... where is my Rasputin? Just way way too much bourbon... coconut, bourbon, wood, light fruit, very dark bitter chocolate, quite dry for an Imperial Stout, ashy, light soy, char, plywood. Super fizzy sharp carbonation, med/full oily body, a totally odd combination, of course I’m sure this will change with age, super airy feeling. I feel dumb for opening this now... wish I had waited or just not bought it at all. The bottle/label/cork combo is just so super beautiful and tempting though!!! I guess when you go into the purchase knowing you are being ripped off... you shouldn’t expect to be completely satisfied. BCS blows this out of the water and you get 4 offerings of it for a cheaper price. I would like about 10 of my dollars back (yes, I know what it costs to barrel age... and that is reasonable). [ Okay... took almost two hours and 4/5s of the beer to finally figure it out... I think my palate eventually adjusted to the bourbon... which if not harsh then very strong, a great woodiness emerges, really quite lovely, very dry and slightly sweet/sour, lots of tiny tiny nuances all adding up, tongue depressor, chop-stick, wood-pipe, cedar, delicious oak, well took long enough]

Appearance: Pours a midnight brown with a mere pinstripe of brown bubbles. Aroma: A strong whiff of bourbon, featuring aromas of vanilla, caramel, graham cracker. Taste: Vanilla, chocolate pudding, caramel, toffee, bourbon and a touch of oak mixed with spicy hop bitterness. Mouthfeel: Silky smooth. Warmth from the bourbon characteristics. Overall: Just amazing, bold and perfectly balanced. Not as woody as I imagined it to be, but showcases the bourbon flavors from the barrel aging.

XII Vintage shared by DuffmanSW. Pours pitch black with a 2 finger mocha colored head. Aroma is mostly bourbon, vanilla and coconut with some soft chocolate undertones and a little bit of alcohol. Flavor is bourbon roast, chocolate and vanilla, very sweet, maybe a little too sweet. Palate is thick and smooth and it’s well carbonated.

Pours black, with a small tan head. Aroma has bourbon, but more plain oak than whisky. Sweet malts, slightly roasty, but the chocolate, coffee and molasses that you expect in the style are overshadowed by the wood. This one *definitely* needs to be served at the proper temperature. It has a bit of an alcohol burn - it doesn’t cover its ABV as well as the Bourbon County Stout. It’s seriously tasty - the highlight of a good beer night - but it pales in comparison to the BCS. Hotter, and not quite as smooth. Otherwise very similar. Still really, really good.