Southampton Imperial Russian Stout

Brewed by Southampton Publick House
Style: Imperial Stout
Southampton, New York USA

I wrote a review of this beer last year and totally trashed it for horrible off-tastes. I actually poured half of the bottle down the sink. But for some reason my review disappeared into cyberspace and after a year of aging in my basement this beer has matured, mellowed and improved to a degree I never thought possible. It is creamy and complex with smoky chocolate overtones that make it one of the most intriguing Russian Imperial Stouts around.

To celebrate my rating number 11,900, I enter this top-50 beer, thanks to MaxxDaddy and jessbnjess for bringing it to Denmark and sharing. A pitch black beer with a brown head. The aroma is sweet with strong notes of roasted malt and chocolate as well as medium notes of sweet malt and caramel. The flavor is sweet with strong notes of roasted malt as well as medium notes of sweet malt and chocolate, leading to a dry and very roasted finish where notes of dark bitter chocolate lingers.

750 ml bottle - 2008 vintage; big thanks to riversideak for sharing this one as i’ve been trying to get it all year; pours jet black with 1" head; lots of meaty, smokey additions to the rich chocolate aromas; wowzers, i’m liking these slightly smokey impy’s more and more; lands on the sweet side for sure with lots of jerky, chocolate and sugar; thick texture and drinks silky smooth; dry and meaty finish; a completely different impy than I expected, but equally as impressive and not a letdown in any way

Bottle and draft at SHPH. Pours a black body with a tan head. Full bodied chocolate, brown sugar, dark fruit, licorice and coffee. Light alcohol warming well masked by a hazelnut finish. Good roasty stout.

Hand-bottled courtesy Ty5592! Pours opaque black with a thin but dense tan head. Aroma of dark chocolate, prunes, brown sugar. Creamy and viscous full body and minimal carbonation. Taste of chocolate. licorice and pine. Bitter chocolate and espresso finish.

750, capped and foiled. Thanks, Riverside! Jet black. Dense, creamy, moussy burnt tan head. Big coffee and chocolate nose. Pruney and plummy and smokey. Creamy medium body. Not at all thick, at least not overly so in any way. Meaty, smokey, chocolatey, coffeeish--lots of disparate notes chiming simultaneous, but all very harmonious and cohesive in their presentation. Long bitter smoke and coffee finish. Tons of flavor and personality, but no one thing is anywhere near too forward. Really a triumph.

Bottled, thanks Marsblursi! Realy black, dense beige creamy head. Yeasty chocolatey aroma. Medium sweet with chocolate sauce covering licorice. Salty and near full bodied with rounded grainy mouthfeel. Finishes with concentrated licorice and lingering sweetness.

(Bottle thanks to Maxxdaddy) Pours black with a dark creamy head. The aroma has a fantastic, deep roasty and burned malt profile of dark bread/pumpernickel, creamy dark chocolate/cocoa, blackberries, black currant, fruits,violets, sweet caramel, liquorice root/anise, burned, smoked rubber, and aromatic espresso coffee alongside a sweet vanilla note. Light vinous and yeasty with tones of earth, dough, black cherries, and very subtle raspberry and currant notes. A touch of hops. I really like serious maltiness in the aroma. The flavour is medium to heavily roasted and light to medium burned with tones of dark, juicy bread, blackberries, dark chocolate and coffee, salty liquorice, light smoke, and burned liquorice. The mouthfeel is fat, round a light oily with a medium carbonation and chewable profile. Aftertaste of burned coffee-like and light caramelly malt, light to medium hop citric bitter. Near full-bodied.