Portsmouth Kate The Great Russian Imperial Stout

Brewed by Portsmouth Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

Bottle shared by lb4lb at his tasting, thanks for sharing Deniz. Poured a deep brown/black color with a slight tan head that faded to nothing. Somewhat bland aroma of light chocolate, some roast, and caramel. Flavor consists of light chocolate, caramel, moderate roast and some light coffee, ending with a light hoppiness. Smooth and full on the palate. Overall, a nice stout, but not all it’s cracked up to be. Re-rate: 08 bottle. Overpoweringly sweet molasses with a awkward coffee finish that lingers. Unbalanced and one dimensional. Comparatively thin on the palate. Just don’t understand it.

DLD ’08: Growler shared by some nice lady: Pours dark brown to black with a tan head. Aroma, chocolate, roasted notes, coffee, some dark fruits. Flavor, coffee, roasted malts, chocolate, dark fruits, pretty tasty.

22oz hand bottle, thanks to Pantanap, shared with Drewbeerme and Holdenn. Dark black with small tan head. Aroma is roasted malt with nice dark chocolate, medium-dry sweetness, slight alc and plum, yeasty. Flavor is roasted malt, smoke, some grape/plum/purple fruit, chocolate, medium alc presemce. Medium body but a little watery. A pretty great beer but there are some definite off-notes. Thanks kan!

i should add that this 22 oz. beer was bottled from a growler and it was probably a bit more than a week before it was consumed. there was a hint of fizz when the bottle was opened, but just a hint. i think this effected my score on appearance and mouthfeel by as much as a full point, so keep that in mind. the appearance was black with little to no head or carbonation, with i think falls on the lapse in time before consumption. i feel like it would have been "all that" otherwise. the smell was wonderful. roasty, coffee, malty sweet, molasses. the complexity is astounding. nearly perfect. the taste is as complex as the smell. there is a good balance of bitter to go along with the sweetness of the beer. this beer is especially smooth. alcohol is present, but not too much. the mouthfeel of this beer is thinner than expected, but got more full as it warmed. i suspect that a fresh one of these would be ideal. WOW. i could drink these until i passed out. an awesome beer.

Growler... DLD’08... This beer rocks!... Pours black with a small, creamy, khaki-colored head. Decent, donut-like retention. Mocha nose with additional notes of vanilla, charcoal and dark berries (blueberry?). Full-bodied and creamy with soft carbonation. Bittersweet chocolate and espresso with terrific roastiness and tinges of port and dark berries. The lengthy finish leans on the sweet side, but is sufficiently burnt and bitter. World class beer! I wish I could remember who to thank for the opportunity to give this one a go!

12oz hand bottle from BrianK, thanks Brian! Black with a minimal tan ring for a head, more than likely due to the hand bottling. How long ago was this hand bottled? No idea. Lots of chocolate (milk and dark) and roast up front with some vanilla. Brown sugar and soy were lurking in the background closer to room temperature. Flavor is again very chocolatey with quite a bit of roast. This isn’t what sets this beer apart. The berry and vinous notes from before are still present with some light acidity. Very well balanced! As soon as I think it may be turning a bit sweet a nice push of roastiness confuses me. Ashy roasty dry finish with bitterness peaking only around a 2-3. Hints of berries and vinous fruits also arise. The only hints of its strength lie in my warm belly. Full creamy smooth body with minimal carbonation. Wonderful beer--I had a hearty sample from someone at Flossmoor from a growler, and though I didn’t feel like rating it, that sample pales in comparison to this hand bottle.

From a growler shared at DLD weekend. Pours a very dark brown in color with a slight head atop the beer. Smell is all cocoa and slight coffee. Full and creamy on the mouthfeel. Plenty of the cocoa and coffee in the taste as well. Has a definite malted milk ball in the taste. Very well done and tasty. Just not overly complex and trend setting.

22oz handbottle thanks to pantanap for sharing this "great" beer ... we’ll get to the great part in due time. But first the appearance. Black and thick with a beige soapy ring of a head. Nose grows on me as it warms. Its abundant with chocolate, roasted malt. and smoked notes that make it a little more interesting with time in my glass. Sweet chocolate, roasted malts, milky, with light burnt notes in the finish. Creamy body but the flavors become watery pretty quick. Overall the name would be less historically correct but more apt to what this beer truly is, if it was renamed Kate the Good. Kate is down on her horse, ... i mean luck if she thinks she’s more than a good stout, with so many other great ones out there.