Portsmouth Kate The Great Russian Imperial Stout

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

Crushed at Dark Lord Day 09. Thanks to whoeve brought this. Big black pout with off whith a brown head. Big aroma of chocolate. Taste is fruity and chocolatey. Actually surprised by the depth and amount of dark fruits in this one. Smooth motuhfeel, nice body. Overall really cool, awesome beer.

First and foremost, a HUGE thanks to StFun for giving me a ridiculously huge dark brown pour of this at DLD 09. A big carbonated frothy pour, milk chocolate aroma. Flavor was creamy, a little coffee and some vanilla. Although a very good and solid beer, it didn’t quite live up to the hype. If you get the chance, sample it, but don’t trade big(IMO) . As for you StFun, I owe you a debt of gratitude for sharing this one(and some coffee bender)!

Black with a good light brown head on top. Sweet aroma of mainly caramell but also with notes of orange/chocholate candy, light hops, cookie dough, apples and fine liqour. The body is medium+ and very slick. Flavour is also very sweet of vanillja, light chocolate and raisins with some additional berry fruit and roasted malt in the fairly dry finish.

In short: A typical, very standard, but above average Imperial Stout. Smooth, well made, very good but over-hyped.
How: Bottles 22oz, 2009 batch. Consumed fresh shortly after release. Shared by Chris (Ebenezer’s owner) at Ebenezer’s
The look: Black body topped by a long-lasting small tan head
In long: Medium roastiness, medium chocolaty, some roasted coffee beans, some (but not much) dark fruits flavours, some dark caramel to tie everything together. Appropriately hopped, well balanced. This is not one of those intense brutal sipper that ratebeer likes so much, this is actually a relatively smooth impy stout. While drinking it I was trying to pick-up something that justified the hype around this beer. Many hyped beer are over-hyped but they do usually have something special. This one is a very standard, although above average, imperial stout like we’ve all had many many times. Like a Yeti (not oak aged yeti) and many many others. A superior impy stout but not one that stands out from the crowd either. I can’t imagine anyone giving this a bad rating and the only reason some people give this beer a top rating (but not the 100 other ones just like it) is because of the hype/rarity. Kate The Above Average Russian Imperial Stout.

bottle, marked as 2009 with a crooked label ;-) Shockingly, it pours black with a brown head. Dark chocolate flavor with what tasted to me like a tanginess reminiscent of raspberries. Nice mouthfeel & finish, overall I like it a lot.

Pours to a dark brown/black body with a very thin off-brown head. The aroma is roasty black malt and light oatmeal. The flavor has a really charred tannic black malt that reminds me of Brooklyn BCS. The palate is roasty and medium bodied. Dry. Very nicely balanced.

Review #700. Much, much gratitude to MrRetardedMonkey for passing this gem along. 2008 bottle poured into a tulip. Pours pitch black with a large, creamy tan head that sticks to the side of the glass on the way down and remains a big bubbly collar for the duration. The aroma is pretty much textbook RIS with tons of dark roasted malts dominating the nose throughout. There is plenty of nuance on top of that with licorice, chocolate and some dark fruits in there as well. The taste is more complex than the aroma indicates. It’s got an initial chocolate and dark fruit sweetness that blends seamlessly with the dark malts that form the backbone. The finish is slightly bitter with some bakers chocolate and licorice. The mouthfeel is medium bodied for the style with plenty of carbonation. Despite a relatively low ABV for the style, there is some alcohol burn in the finish though nothing too distracting. This is a great RIS and one of the truest to the style that I’ve tried. It doesn’t blow you away with any aspect, but as a package it’s excellent. Thanks again Scotty for the opportunity.

Bottle acquired via trade with Tweety. THANKS PAUL!!! Liquid coal with a dirty cocoa head and sticky lacing. Aroma is rich dark chocolate, roasted coffee beans, vanilla and brown sugar. Fresh Starbucks, chocolate ganache, molasses, toffee, and raisins. Silky smooth on the palate. Quite sweet; dessert in a bottle really...but VERY good!!!