North Coast Old Rasputin Anniversary Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout

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

500ml bottle. dark brown/black pour with a large tan head, the aroma of bourbon (vanilla, oak etc) hits you immediately (and I don’t have a good sense of smell). The palate is lighter than expected but I get flavors of chocolate, dark fruit (cherries plum) and the bourbon. It would be interesting to age a bottle of this.
Earlier Rating: 4/20/2007 Total Score: 3.8
Thanks to tever for getting this beer for me. It pours a very dark brown with red highlights. The head is light brown and frothy. The aroma and flavor hit you with vanilla and bourbon. What’s surprising is how light the body is. The bad news is that the 11% ABV sneaks up later and hits you. A nice brew, but surprisingly light bodied

Rasputin XI bottle shared at a BeerAdvocate gathering. Black in color with a nice creamy brown head. Great aroma of coffee, chocolate, roast, bourbon, and vanilla. Flavor is similar and very complex with bourbon and oak standing out and mild dark fruit notes. Smooth, creamy palate that is not quite as full as I’d like, but still good. Excellent stuff. UPDATE: Tried Rasputin XII as well. Not quite as good as the XI but still very good. 8/5/8/4/17 = 4.2

Bottle 16.9fl.oz. @ home.
[ Courtesy of Maria ]. Clear dark red brown color with a small to average, fizzy, virtually none lacing, fully diminishing, beige head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, chocolate, bourbon, wood notes, moderate alcohol. Flavor is heavy sweet and bitter with a long long duration, and a alcohol bourbon finish. Body is medium to full, texture is oily, carbonation is flat. [20090317]

On nitro-tap, regular Old Ras is the finest stout in America. But bottled? It just doesn’t take well to bottling. But the bourbon barrel-aged Old Ras X is downright spectacular. This beer is everything an American beer should be. I wish I could take it to Belgium to show the beer-lovers there how fine an American bottle-conditioned ale can be.

XI Anniversary draft @ Redlight. Pours black with creamy brown head. Aromas of burnt malts, oak and vanilla. Roasted malts and vanilla are the dominant flavors. There is also some oak with a touch of chocolate. Full body with soft carbonation and a creamy mouthfeel. Excellent

Very tall dark tan head which stands for a long time. One of those heads you might be able to float a dime on. Slight bourbon scent in the aroma. Not huge. Initial sweetness is quickly overpowered by bourbon-soaked oak and vanillas most pronounced flavors. Actual warming in throat after taking several drinks. Little bit of sludge in the bottom of the bottle. As Old Rasputin is one of my favorites I was really looking forward to this one, but I’m honestly not sure right now. Will have to lay one of the bottles I bought down to let the oak settle out.

Version XI on cask at Redlight. Black velvet pour. Smooth chocolate aroma with big notes of vanilla and barrel wood. Tatse is rich and smooth, lots of chocolate and vanilla, caramel and coffee. The barrel adds an extra layer of smoothness to this. Just awesome.

X Bottle. Man was this good. So smooth and creamy. Nice and rich. Molasses, caramel, vanilla, coffee, chocolate. A nice bitter roasty balance. Very good.