North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

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

Draft at Zeno’s. Aroma is pretty sweet with a generous head to it that went away quickly. Dark as night stout that keeps almost zero head. Flavor is both fantastic and uncharacteristic at the same time if you can believe it. Very Drinkable! A very good imperial stout ! Cheers!

Bottled (New Beer Distributers, NYC). Very dark brown coloured, beautiful lasting brown head. Complex aroma, chocolate, coffee, malts, liquorice, some lactic notes even. Bitter flavour, some dark fruits arise. Alcohol remains largely unnoticed. Lasting bitter and dry finish, which evolves long after you’ve taken the last sip. Everything an imperial stout should be. Fantastic stuff.

Pours very dark, almost completely black. Thin tan head. Strong coffee and chocolate flavors, strong alcohol finish. Like a cup of Joe from Starbucks with a kick.

draught at Tyler’s....jet black, small off-white head. lacing that sticks to the glass throughout. nose of roasted chocolate malts, mild espresso, and booze. Flavor is very similar to nose and leaves a very bitter taste on the palate. I used to love this stuff, now i think it lacks a little complexity. Still a great beer and among the elite of imperial stouts, but missing the flare that makes the others shine. did i say that?

This is a great beer, looks like any stout but tastes much better. Not a hint of alcohol, I didn’t even realize how strong it was until I checked the label after I drank the beer and boy was I surprised. Smoooooooth.7/4/7/5/16

It’s about time I gave this a proper rerate. An old favorite and this was definitely the first Imperial Stout I ever had. Completely black body with a medium brown head that turns into a surface covering sticky lacing. Aroma is strong with light chocolate with a good amount of bitter, leafy hops. Taste is similarly well balanced with sweetness of chocolate and bittering hops. Leaves an airy green piney leafy aftertaste. The aftertaste is light and fresh which balances the heavier flavor. Its a heavy medium body with a lightly below average carbonation. The mouthfeel comes out a bit silky. Just a bit of alcohol felt at the very back of the throat. I remember this to be a lot less hoppy and more roasty. Either I changed or the beer changed. But either way it’s still obviously a well crafted beer. 8/5/8/4/16

12oz bottle-An aroma of malt and a little hops on a black body with a nice tan head. Taste of dark malt, coffee, caramel, and a mix of flavors. Very intense stout with great taste.

(on bottle thx. Dixen forthis one)Very good, complex brew. Nose is kind of siruppy andcoffee-sh, makes a nice impression of black pepper. The mouthfeel is different strong on roast, almost a bit like coal, wood and liquorice. The finish has good balanced alcohol in it, just enough. Keeps you warm this one.

From a short 12 oz. brown bottle with a sketch of Rasputin on the label, no freshness date. I wonder why nobody puts a picture of Lenin on a beer bottle? Made a very good appearance, poured the darkest chocolate brown with a nice foamy clinging brown head that slowly reduced to a thin lacing. Had a big roasted malt aroma with whiffs of semi-sweet chocolate and alcohol, and a little fruitiness in the background.. Good carbonation and a smooth, creamy full bodied mouth feel, good drinkability. Had a delicious taste, a burnt, roasted mellow chocolate maltiness, the mildest touch of a fruity hop bitterness and a semi-dry sweet roasted malty finish, very smooth. One of my favorites from North Coast, an excellent Russian Imperial Stout.