North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

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

The Guinness lettering on my pint glass was jealous. Very small, tan head with an almost black, but red tinted color. Aroma is very rich with apples, cinnamon and rye bread. The full mouthfeel is great with the style. Flavors of hops, oats and rye. This is nice and rich. A very good imperial stout.

Opaque with a creamy tan head, great lacing, just sticks to the glass, full-bodied. Raisin, bittersweet chocolate, woody port like aroma, excellent. 1st taste, raisins, pop of hops, vinous. Middle of the glass, chocolate tones coming through, sweeter, warming. Further down, the hoppy bitterness reclaims it’s territory, I’m not dead yet! The smokey malts are still there too. Wow, the final sips are wonderfully balanced, a fizzy fruity (blackberry?) attack followed closely by smokey malts overthrow of my palate, I must now surrender to the twisted Rasputin and his wonderfully complex namesake. Damn, this is simply a great beer, glad I saved it for last! Must find more...must find more... damn it all, why didn’t I buy more the 1st time!

Bottle at Stockholm beer festival ... Deep black ... lots of roast malts ... bitter chocolate ... lots of roast malts good but very typical Imperial stout ... little swet definitly lots of chocolate.

Thanks to Linc for this bottle. Intensity without integration is my feeling on this one. I always feel a bit uncomfortable drinking a beer that nearly everyone has rated above 4, and that I find should be rated a bit lower. It could be that this beer needs some time to settle down and allow everything to mellow out, but at the moment it's a confused rush of alcohol, tangy carbonation and bitter bitter hops. Colour is nice - chocolate with scarlet depth. Aroma is powerful - chocolate, alcohol fumes and damp, rotting hay. Mouthfeel is syrupy and tangy with the carbonation until that dies down, then it just becomes syrupy. Flavour is chocolate again, and some lactic stout, then roasted barley, then the dry bitterness. The mouth is left with an unpleasant bitter mucus. I then dug out a bottle of Sam Smith's Imperial Stout and compared the two. The Sam Smith's didn't impress me as much as it has done on previous occasions - so maybe it's my mood?

Bottle. Head. Brown longlasting. Body Black. Sweet, hoppy, bitter, chocolat, liqorice, man I like it.

Pours black with a medium tan head. Malty aroma was sweet and roasty. Malty sweet flavors of chocolate, caramel, and coffee. Hoppy flavor and finish. Medoum to full body.

Picked up a single bottle with damaged label from Cellars Wine & Spirits. Pours an opaque very dark brown brew with an off-white thick and lumpy head. Slowly dissappears to an excellent lacing. Aroma reminded me of Kingford’s lighter fluid at first but then orange, toffee, sweet dark fruits, bitter hops, and a little coffee. Flavor is like a heavy porter with coffee and dark chocolate flavors. Palate is gritty at first and then smooth. Finish and aftertaste is a little bitter which I expect from an Imperial Stout.

Bottle. Beautiful almost black pour with a mahogany glint on the edges. Head was initially 1/2" and frothy, but died down after a few seconds. Very nice lacing as this brew got in my belly. Aroma was wonderful, with milk chocolate, roasted barley and assorted dark fruity malts. Struck me more as a sweet stout in the nose, which certainly isn’t a bad thing. Flavor has the pop of a nice imperial... deep roasted barley, currants, a shot of espresso, bittersweet chocolate, and a citrus twist with some well-balanced bittering hops. Alcohol made a nice warming presence at the front of the finish, and some roasted coffee was with me for a while after this was gone. Great complexity and pure enjoyment throughout!