The Duck-Rabbit Rabid Duck Russian Imperial Stout

Brewed by The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Farmville, North Carolina USA

Bottle. Jet black color with a foamy tan head. Roasted malts aroma with some hints of molasses. Taste was rich, complex and fabulous-roasted malts, coffee, molasses. Fantastic!

This bottled brew from Patrick767 at a rating party poured a head of foamy finely sized dark brown colored bubbles that were long lasting and left behind a opaque no visible carbonation black colored body and a very good lacing. The aroma was malty with a sweet mollasses note. The mouth feel was tingly at the start and at the finish with a biting malty aftertaste. The flavor contained notes of malt hops dark malt and brown malt. Delicious and one I would certainly buy again.

Pours super dark brown/black in color. Thin, brown head on top that fades quickly and leaves only a hint of lace. Smells of booze, and dark fermented grains and fruits, plums. A hint of chocolate in there. Different tasting, but good. Tastes of dark fruits, raisins and plums, with a little smoke. A bit of alcohol in the middle, and some coffee and chocolate on the finish. Thick palate, nice crisp carbonation. A bit bitter and also a bit of an alcohol twinge in there too. Definitely a different take on RIS. I like it

(Bottle (best by 1/08) via trade with <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?UserID=3 target=blank>Ty5592, thanks Ty!, cellared for 10 mos. after trade) Pours very dark brown, close to opaque. One finger of rather soft tan head recedes to a thin covering with more around edges. Aroma of chocolate, raisins, coffee, molasses, perhaps vanilla or wood. Oddly the aroma kind of died after the head receded. Mouthfeel is medium-full, fairly sturdy for the style. Flavor is mostly chocolatey along with coffee roast and raisin-y sweetness. Perhaps some light grape. Quite a bit of grassiness in finish. Lingering bitter coffee/chocolate aftertaste. Quite good with a bit of complexity but grassiness deters. Alcohol well-integrated.

12oz - Aroma of dark chocolate, vanilla, alcohol and burnt malts. Pours black with a medium brown head and great lacing. Flavor is not as complex as aroma with the burnt malts giving it an ashy and dusty taste that overpowers much of the better flavors. The chocolate and vanilla do show up eventually but not enough to redeem any points. Palate is dry and sticky. This is good, but doesn’t compete with the plethora of RIS’s out there.

From a 12oz Bottle. Enjoy by date of 01/08. Consumed in 01/08. Mostly transparent, dark black colored pour with a thick finger of creamy tan head. Fairly straightforward roasted malt aroma supplemented by a piney hop bitterness. There are some vanilla wafer melanoidins and gentle caramel mid-malt characters to fill it out a bit more. Medium bodied, moderate carbonation level with a gentle prickle on the tongue. Not bad, but the mouthfeel is a bit on the thin side for an imperial stout. Additionally, there is a small amount of oxidation present in this beer too, not surprising considering the closeness in proximity to the best by date at consumption, but still disappointing. A bit cardboardy and thin rather than fruity or port-like. Flavors of piney hops, roast coffee, and a bit of a dry leathery mid-malt. Gets increasingly roasty toward the finish, leaving a layer of chocolate and char to linger in the final smack.

Bottle. Pours inky black with a smallish brown colored head. Aroma is bittersweet chocolate, coffee, molasses. Flavor is roast, chocolate, toffee, coffee. Palate is full bodied, mildly carbonated, finishes bitter and warming. Very nice.

Sampled many times most recently courtesy of Capt. Cougar. Poured a thick black body with a huge brown froth. The aroma is big star anise, cloves, and dandilions. Flavors are black licorice, cloves, orange peel, floral hops, and a cokkie-like yeast.