North Coast Old Rasputin Anniversary Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout

Brewed by North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Fort Bragg, California USA

Pours black with a huge caramel colored head that lasts for quite a long time. Lacing is excellent and I can see the close knitting of the bubbles in the carbonation. Aroma is strong on the bourbon/alcohol front with a nice background of chocolate and caramel. Taste is strong on the dark malts with a nice finish of bourbon and booze. Hides the alcohol very well... quite tasty.

Bouteille de 500 ml, avec bouchon de liège, partagée lors d’une dégustation Ratebeer Montréal chez moi. Arôme: Odeur de chocolat et de petits fruits avec une pointe de vanille. Apparence: La couleur est noire opaque. Présence d’un mince col beige mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de chocolat et de petits fruits avec une pointe de café et de caramel. Longue durée de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement onctueuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Arrière goût légèrement chocolaté. (Rating #2929)

500 ml. corked bottle- Pours pitch black with decent lacing and a nice creamy head. Aroma is bourbon oak and black cherries. The flavor is a nice mellow burn of bourbon as well as vanilla and oak, what I like about this stout is the bourbon is not overpowering.

500 ml bottle shared by my buddy Zack. Pours black with a minimal, but lasting, tan head. Aroma is absolutely amazing - oak and vanilla rule the school, but coffee, chocolate and smoky malt blend perfectly in the background. Flavor follows, with chocolate up front and the bourbon dominating the finish, but otherwise well-integrated. (As opposed to, let’s say, KBS.) Mouthfeel is slick and substantial with little discernible carbonation. Finish is warming, but the alcohol is well-hidden. Overall, an exemplary BA impy, but too damn spendy compared with others.

Courtesy of MadMitch. Black with a medium deep beige head. Sweet aroma with hard roasted malt, dark chocolate, espresso and hoppy notes. Flavour was sweet with burned malt, dark chocolate, espresso, bourbon and hops. Finished burned and full. Nice one.

Bottle. Old Rasputin VII. Thx MadMitch76 for sharing. Pitch black coloured. Dense light brown head. Sweetness, herbs, cocoa, chocolate, coffee and roast in the aroma. Flavour of coffe, vanilla, sweetness, roast, light caramel and toffee. A flowery touch. Medium to full bodied. Sugary and roasty bitterness in the end lasting very long. Looking forward to the bottle, which is in transit from Cali.

North Coast Bourbon Barrel Old Rasputin Pours jet black (duh) with a slight reddish tinge at the edge of the glass. Little head that dissapates quickly. Aroma of bourbon, vanilla, coffee, roasted nuts and about eighteen other things. Some Alcohol on the nose. Flavor is boozy vanilla and coffee and malt. Very complex and enjoyable. Actually a little better than the regular version. Yummy.

12th Anniversary corked bomber poured into snifter. Complex aroma in this one. Oak, bourbon obviously; also, smoke, molasses. Pours black as Rasputin’s asshole with a half inch thick head that dissipates, leaving a collar of bubbly foam and decent lacing. Taste is smoky, full of vanilla, slightly sweet and finishes bitter. Chewy mouthfeel. Medium carbonation. Regular Old Rasputin is one of my favorite beers of all time, but I don’t drink it often enough to say if this is an improvement, just as good, or a lesser beer than the aforementioned brew. All I know is that this is one fantastic beer.