Portsmouth Kate The Great Russian Imperial Stout

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

Bottle of 2008 that my friend Greg allowed me to sample (Thnks, Greg). Pours dark black viscous with little tan head that fades quickly.. Roasted flavors in the nose. Swet flavors right away, fig, prunes, raisoans. Slight brandy flavor similar to port but much lighter. Finioshes bitter eith a tone of dark chocolates. Very little but perfect finishing hops. Really a great beer. It did not quite live up to my hyped up expectations, but it is still a very worthy beer. Top 50 in my opinion.

Bottle. Pours a black color wit a small tan head. Has a roasted malty chocolate, licorice and chocolate aroma with some hints of vanilla. Smooth roasted malty chocolate and coffee flavor with hints of licorice and some vinous dark fruit hints. Has a smooth roasted malty chocolate and coffee finish with some bitterness in the aftertaste.

08 vintage. big thanks to brian for this one. pours pitch black with small tan head. aroma is sweet, burnt malts, soy, caramel, coffee, chocolate. drinks with a caramel sweetness and coffee on the front and moves to burnt malts, bitter chocolate, soy, and roasted malts. no alcohol present. very tasty

Late entry from Noogfest High Five. Midnight black pour. Roasty, chocolate, smooth, and cherry. Very sweet, almost has a grape soda quality. Delicious RIS.

Sampled at the January ’10 Metro Detroit tasting. Thanks to whoever brought this beauty! Poured near black with a touch of brown and a nice thick brown head. Aroma was full of coffee and booze with an undertone of dark chocolate. Flavor had a bit less booze and the coffee and dark chocolate notes meshed nicely. There was also a slight hint of licorice on the tongue. Quite thick as well.

Courtesy of Sarcastro

Bottle: The aroma consists of chocolate, caramel, roasted malt, vanilla, and faint black licorice. It pours a dark brown with orange highlights around the edges of the glass with a minimal beige head. The flavor starts with chocolate, faint black licorice, and vanilla. The finish is moderately hoppy with pine and light-moderate roast and light coffee. Medium-full bodied with mild carbonation.

Not sure what vintage this was, the bottle lacked marking. Black with a small beige head that settles fast into a small ring of lacings. Roasted malts, molasses, chocolate and a hint of soy in the nose. Perhaps a hint of toffee. Very balanced, not overly powerful but very pleasant. No sign of the alcohol in the smell. The taste is somewhat sweet with lots of roasted malts, hints of dark fruits and pleasant chocolate flavors. Molasses. The finish is somewhat bitter with a hint of alcohol and lingering notes of licorice. Very well balanced composition. Not overly full-bodied. Mild carbonation. Surprisingly easy to drink. This is definitely not the biggest imperial stout I’ve come across. It doesn’t display any overpowering in-your-face flavors. Instead, it comes out as really balanced, very tasty and very easy to drink. I was actually a bit surprised that its character was so ordinary. But after thinking about if for a while, I think this is what makes it stand out - it’s just a top example of how a plain old imperial stout should taste like. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

Pours solid black with a thick brown head that lasts. Aroma- dark chocolate, vanilla, slight alcohol, roast malt. Taste is thick sweet rich chocolate and roast malt with some dark fruit. Bitter cocoa finish.