North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

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

Black with brown head. Cognac and coffee in the aroma. The flavour is quite complex and rich. This is a very full bodied brew and the rather salty aftertaste lasts very long.

Bottle: Already pitch black, small and stable brownish head, distinctive aromas of sweet dark malt, roasted malt, coffee and dried black berries; heavy bitter-sweet flavour, medium to full bodied, very smooth MF; liquorice, hops in the slightly sweet finish. Superb stuff...........

Bottled. Jet black, and holding the glass up against the light, it looks clear. The head is tan and diminishing. Chocolate, mocha, some coffee and alcohol in the aroma. Lovely. That goes for the flavor as well, with coffee, mocha, chocolate, some hops, roastiness and alcohol. Full body and a long roasted finish with a warming note of alcohol, that stays for a good while. A really nice, complex beer that doesn’t feel like overkill. (070317)

A rusty coffee pot steams in the middle of the table, staring at its unforgiving masters...The air is thick with tobacco, fresh milk (the stable is right next door) and onerous oneiries...The feeblest Phoebus shines through the only (broken) window square of the disaffected room...It is in such a rustic setting that the most astute chocolate minds are discussing with rapturous emotion the state of their hop fields...Scattered dates, blackberries and hop resins remind them of times well-spent in passion and abundance...But, call them stubborn, stupid or enamoured, they are armoured with the determination of bringing back authenticity and quality in a multi-national-ridden cesspool of mass-produced blandness...This is Devotion...

Bottled: Dark, dark coloured with a chocolatelike medium lasting head. Aroma is sweet and roasted with notes of chocolate, coffee and spices. Is overwhelmingly roasted in the flavour. Lots of coffee, licorice and alcoholburn in the tastebuds as well. Has a lots of bitterness in the end. This is some heavy stuff. I thank herbjones for this.

This one;s been sitting in my cellar for God knows how long. Smells of dark fruit, chocolate and coffee. Tastes chocolatey with some mellow coffee notes and lots of fruity elements. Buttery mouthfeel and a sweet finish.

Jet black with a thin brown head falling back to a faint film over the surface. Some ruby colour sneaks through at the edge of the glass. Smell justs explodes out of the glass, coffee, chocolate, roasted malts and some faint fruit underneath it all. As it warms, the aroma becomes much more fruity and complex with raisins, plums, and cherries all vying for attention over a massive coffee smell. Soft carbonation allows the flavour show roasted malt, bitter chocolate, coffee, and a long bitter finish. Some fruit also sneaks onto the palate just as the bitterness starts to subside. Finally the alcohol warms you right up. Wow!

Deep brown and burgundy hue with a nice vivid light brown head. Very robust and strong aroma of roasted malts and oats. Caramel tones within the nose. Excited first touch to the lips and tongue, hints of spices, sap, pine, and pepper all underneath a fat tone of black licorice. Taste ends with an acidic and carbonated kick, and the palate is left scortched but pleased. A fine imperial stout.