Courage Russian Imperial Stout

Formerly brewed at John Smiths (Heineken UK)
Style: Imperial Stout
Tadcaster, England

Serve in Snifter

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Vintage 1983, wow this beer is older than me! Sweet nose of prunes, raisins and some alcohol. Jet black body, completely still and no head at all. Quite sweet flavor, raisins. Nice one, but i think its too old.

’81 bottle. Black and oily. Coats the glass quite well. Huge chocolate and bourbon-like character in the nose. Very vinous, some rubbing alcohol in background. Debated on 10 for aroma. Flavor not as nice as aroma indicates. Chocolate sweetness up front, plenty of it, oxidation takes over rather quickly. Slight sourness detectable. Palate rather thin.

170ml bottle, vintage 1993, dark brown color, with no head, faint chocolate praline, madeira wine, plummy, oxidized sweet dark fruits in the nose, with a light soy sauce, molasses, caramel, leather note in the aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a nice port-like, chocolate, molasses, dark dried fruit sweetness character with a burnt molasses, fruitcake, red wine acidic, brown sugar flavor, and a faint coffeeish backbone, leading towards a juicy plummy, burnt molasse, red wine acidic dry finish.

Courtesy dsnowden. 1985. Black, brown edges. Thin layer of tan film. Nose of burnt, roasted malt and rich butterscotch/caramel, and light dose of sour oxidation. Flavor adds a good amount of milk chocolate to the sam characters. Body is medium, smooth. Would love to have a fresh-er bottle. Where’s that stash of ’93?

Courtesy gunhaver. 1993 version. Pours dark brown, with no head at all which isnt surprising given its age. Smells a little oxidized, but not too bad. Still had a little caramel and malty notes to it. The flavor was undercarbonated, but pretty silky smooth. Had a little oxidation and soy sauce effect going on, but didnt make it undrinkable. i got some of the caramel malt, and very mild chocolate undertones in there. tough to tell with this one because of its age, but cool to try an older beer.

Sampled a 1985 bottle at the DC Local Gathering. Flat, oily black with zero head. Zero carbonation. Aroma is super boozy, sweet, toasted grains, molasses and burnt sugar. Flavor is burnt toast, dark chocolate, soy. Finishes with a weird sour coffee flavor. Definite alcohol burn on the end.

Poured from a 170 ml bottle, thanks to Larry. Cap pops with no carbon hiss but rather an awkward squirting sound. Pours still and oily sienna brown with some golden tan around the rim. Aroma suggests chocolate and sherry for the most part, very vinous and deep, with a definite presence of sour, vinegar and wood oxidation underneath; hints of pineapple, caramel, and alcohol. First flavor is of molasses and a dried out, woody soy sauce; lots of burnt honey, vinous plums and ashy tobacco, all mildly soured with age. Oily palate is still and wet; finishes with some mild cheesiness, honey and caramel. Cool to try this, and looking forward to older vintages.

1993 Vintage: As much as I wanted to try this beer, I have to say that I was let down. I paid $15 for a bottle of this at Elmer Sudd’s and thought it would be heaven. First, the pour, dead flat with all sorts of black "floaties" of yeast. The aroma was a mixture of a red wine and coffee. The taste was similar to both, exhibiting a winey character, but at the same time, hidden coffee undertones. The mouthfeel was very thin for an Imperial Stout and that let me down a little bit. Also, the finish was rough because I was almost forced to swallow a great deal of the excess yeast which was very wierd in the mouth. This beer is one that a person should have once in a lifetime just to try. There are many better Imperial Stouts out there, and the favorite are the highly carbonated ones. This was just didn’t cut it in my book.

Dark beer with a yellowish head and a bitter/sweet aroma with a pure malt flavour. A very thick and sweet beer, more like a barley wine.

1989. Ebony pour, calm, still. Extremely oxidized nose, woody, vinous. Very complex fruitiness, plenty of grapes, marshmallow sweet aspects, mushroomy vegetal damp earth undertones. Very salty, soy-lkike. Sourish vinous palate, once again very salty, very woody, intense vegetal aspects. Surprisingly still some hops in there, powerful smoky oxidized finish. Medium bodied, rather slick. Interesting, I don’t think this is one of the great vintages, but I’d love to try one with less oxidation.