North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

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

Pours with a black body topped by a thick light brown lasting head with lots of lace. Sweet malty aroma with a good roasty character with chocolate and slight citrus notes. Sweet roasty malt flavor with chocolate notes and some bitterness. The finish is bitter and roasty. Full bodied, relatively smooth with a slight tingle and slightly warming.

Deep ruby-brown colour with a small tan head. Rich, complex aroma with notes of chocolate, coffee, vanilla and liquorice. Flavour is equally complex - bittersweet chocolate, roasty coffee, whiskey & brandy, and a warm, bitter finish. Remarkable stuff.

Very good. Port wine, caramel. I can't decide if I prefer this or the more hoppy Rogue Imperial. Excellent, and priced well.

Very dark, head lasts longer than on most stouts. Great flavors--very complex. Burnt flavors and maltiness abound. Terrific beer.

Yardstick Imperial Stout. Finger-wide brown head forms and fades quickly, leaving behind the business end of this brew. Smoky, chocolate, coffee aroma is a mere prelude to the masterful blend of astoudingly complex flavors. First sips bring chocolate, followed quickly by Vienna roast coffee beans, anise, peaty single-malt scotch, mysterious hops well balanced by perfect sweetness. Unlike many West Coast Imperial Stouts, this one is not overly hopped. Takes me immediately to a rainy day in the Highlands, or a late-night Seisun at a pub in Ireland (even though it is "Russian"). I would give this a perfect score except I am rating the bottled version, while I hear it is a revelation on tap, pushed by nitrogen. The complexity deepens as it warms. I disgaree with those who have said the palate is thin. Drink a bottle and understand the gesture of the man on the label.

This beer smells like chocolate and looks beautiful, with a head that fills out only after its been poured. The taste is complex, yet fantastic. I don’t really taste any coffee, but spices are nice. Fantastic. Sometimes just seems a little too alcoholic.

Mostly black with ruby tint, medium tan head. Hops and roasted coffee and chocolate in the aroma. Starts out bittersweet, creamy, sharp coffee/espresso flavor, big malt, then some black cherry and chocolate, plenty of hops also. The key word here is powerful. This a full and huge beer, while at the same time delicately complex. Great finish, not too bitter. Oh yeah, and plenty of alcohol in this one. Packs more punch than the Bolshevik revolution.

A beutiful beer. A dark complex brew, chocalate, coffee, balanced with enough hops to not be so sweet. A beer you can drink on a cool night in front of a fireplace.