4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20Note: Bottle is from 9/08.
Ar: Licorice, raisins, dark malt and currants.
Ap: Deep, opaque black with brown highlights - very minimal brown coffee colored head with little retention except for a thin brown ring.
T: Deep dark fruit profile up front - raisins, currants, plums - also some orange - sweet roasty flavors then take over, with coffee, ash and some soy sauce. Finish is warm alcohol and spicy hops with a nice grip of bitterness. A touch of sherry is noticable on the finish as well.
P: Oily and rich with substantial mouthfeel - yet finish is relatively dry.
O: A Russian Imperial Stout deserving of its status as a benchmark, and prototype, for the style; complex, luscious, and pretty to look at.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Love that this is in the regular lineup! Pours a dark black with medium tan head and good lacing. Aromas of serious roasted goodness with hints of chocolate, toast, and toffee. Flavors of pure roasted goodness.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 14/20
Bottle to Tulip snifter. Dark black pour with a beautiful red brown head that is thick up front and recedes quickly. Nose is sweet dark chocolate and coffee. Thick chewy mouth feel, coats the side of the glass and hits the palate strong with with dark fudge, dark fig, roasted malt and coffee. Quite the stout for sure.
3.8 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
(Bottled, 2011 vintage, thanks 50belair) Almost black with a small, firm and brown head. Aroma of thick and syrupy, roasted malt, molasses, a touch of oatmeal sourness. Flavor is roasted-malty, sweetish and syrupy, but balanced with loads of hop bitterness. Hides the ABV nicely. Quite full body, leaving sticky lips behind, lowish but slightly fizzy CO2. A quite clean and balanced, but straightforward Imperial Stout. Like a regular stout from which water is removed by freezing; that "something extra" you’d expect from a Ratebeer’s #11 beer is missing. 6648
4.7 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 19/20
A 2010 from the tap of Beverage World, this brew pours dark reddish brown black with a big tan head. Aromas and flavours of Mollasses cookies, spicy ginger snaps, cinnamon, bitter chocolate, coffee, hints of wet straw, grass, & vanilla. Full bodied, rich palate combines with crisp smoky roasted finish. Outstanding!
4.9 AROMA 10/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 10/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 19/20
Truly remarkable. The golden copper foam on top makes you delerious. An imperial without the harsh alcohol finish. I love this.
4.6 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20
All I can say is WOW. Some beers you hear so mu hype that once you try it you end up scratching your head. Not this one. Bottle from friends in the North. THANK YOU! Poured into a traditional English style pint glass. Thick caramel head and a very black, opaque pour. Very think to even the eye. The aroma was strong with coffee, chocolate, cocoa and roasted malts. The taste was very complex with coffee dominant, roasted malts, alcohol (booze taste), and dark chocolate. Mouth was very thick, yet smooth and silky. It was drinking a great chocolate malt shake with booze.
4.2 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
Great dark brown color without much head. Some coffee grinds and roast malt/hop prominent in the nose. A very thick beer with great texture. Definitely a winner. Glad to have finally found this one.
4.7 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 19/20
The fact that this is semi regularly available with wide distribution at a great price makes this a true winner for me. Very refined and blanced as I have noticed seems to be the trend with Bells. Soy sauce and creamy bourbon vanilla vie for attention in the mouth and up the nostrils. Medium bodied with a excellent carbonation level. Rich and dessert like. Fantastic. Glad I have three bottles for the cellar. RERATE. Now I have tried this fresh, with a year on it and three years on it I can attest to the incredible cellarbility of this beer. It gets fuller and more pungent, creating an amazing sipping beer. Huge.
4.3 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20
12oz bottle from steve
Been waiting a long time to try this one
And it was worth the wait
Pours a pitch black with a huge frothy beige head lots of clingys
Weird it smells like marmite and malt and i like marmite :)
Thick and creamy sweet malt very good and worth the wait
3.8 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
I got a lot of leather taste. Not my favorite, but not bad. Would love to try this aged.
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