North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

bottle, pours black, tall dark tan head. Black patent malt, and strong dark roast coffee nose. Bitter chocolate and coffe flavors that end very bitter, like chewing coffee grounds or munching on a bakers chocolate bar. Slight maple syrup sweetness upfront, but all bitter in the ending. Creamy mouthfeel, full bodied, and tasty.

I think people are missing one of the most incredible aspects of this beer ... quality vs. price. Might I add, you’re not out waiting in an extremely long line at some "beer release festival" in Indiana waiting to hopefully purchase and pay $15 for a single bottle. No. I paid $6.99 for a 4-pack today. Perhaps it’s my Jewish blood praising North Coast for it’s generosity. Cheers!!

Pours dark with a very nice brown/dark tan head. Nose of chocolate, coffee, slight woodiness and hints of raisin. Flavor is very balanced, notes of coffee, chocolate, slight taste of alcohol. Finishes extremely smooth with a burnt, malty taste. One of my favorite stouts.

Bold and black. Smells of raspberries, raisin, and a hint of black licorice. Has a wonderful balance of dark chocolate, and burnt roasted malt, with a moderately bitter aftertaste. This is a beer that is very warming and complex and slowly enjoyed. The dude on the label kind of scares me though.

From bottle at Winking Lizard in Canton, OH. Citrusy/skunky/super bitter dark chocolate aroma. Black pour with almost no tan head (again, probably due to the bar using the wrong glassware). No lacing and a cross between bitter cocoa and lemony hops in the flavor with a small kick of alcohol on the finish. This is delicious stuff.

Poured thick and dark with a beautiful brown head. Very complex flavor with strong coffee, hints of chocolate, caramel, and raisin?, very robust, a true man’s beer, and delicious to boot!

12 oz bottle. Poured dark black with a medium long lasting dark tan head. Tastes strongly of dark chocolate and espresso with a roasted, toffee and resin taste. This is truly an extraordinary beer.

"Extremely dark brown pretty much black with a thin film floating on top and a thicker layer ringing the edge of my glass, fairly standard look for the style. Coffee aroma with a nice bitter chocolate and sweet berries. Yum yum yummy aroma maybe a touch mild though, alcohol starts to show up when warmer but its very mild. Very burnt flavor with a sweet creaminess in the back ground. Lots of coffee in the flavor but its not a coffee bomb. Beer has a nice thick full creamy mouth feel. The burnt bitterness of the flavor lingers for a very long time. Flavor becomes chalky when beer warms. Nice impy stout very easy drinking. Nat says this smells like prunes and booze."