De Molen Rasputin

Brewed by Brouwerij de Molen
Style: Imperial Stout
Bodegraven, Netherlands

Bottle (2009 Vintage). Pours very dark brown, almost black, with a big creamy tan head that lasts for ages. Nose is slightly vinous and quite fruity and has notes of milk chocolate, cherry, roasted malt and dark fruits. Flavour is similar to aroma but bigger with notes of caramel, berries, rum, vanilla and more dark fruit mixing with with the chocolate, cherry and malt elements. Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy and also has lively carbonation. This is a very fruity, but very good, imperial stout and while it is great now, I get the feeling that it would be even better with a few years on it.

2008 Bottle #48 - Pours a thin dk brown with a small tan head...aroma is roasted fruit and some milk chocolate, sweet malt...flavour is not quite as expected, fruity and smooth, roasty, plum?...who knows?...interesting imperial stout...

Black with big, fizzy, creamy tan head / Winey nose of roast barley and grapes / Medium to full body, malty but somewhat thin and acidic, and with fair finish / Reedy flavors of dark roast coffee, cocoa, grapes, prunes, and vanilla / A fair stout, but no Old Rasputin.

Bottle I purchased in Chicago (Binny’s): Deep amber brown with a tan fluffy head. Dry aroma with nice yeast character- fruity and phenolic with some dry cocoa notes and prune. Fluffy light body with a dry flavor. Again there’s some cocoa in the flavor along with mild dark fruit notes (dates, but not sweet) with lots of spicy phenolics. Quite an interesting and against the grain Imperial Stout. Almost seems like the yeast strain is Belgian- but it works quite well here. Nice job. Oh, and there’s no way I would’ve guessed the high ABV.

Had this a few times now. This was the best bottle I have had so far. dark hazy brown black color with a small head. Aroma is nice and rich. Spicy, sweet, chocolate and a bit creamy. Nice body. Flavor is sweet, mellow spice, vanilla, wood. I like this a lot.

Bottle at Peter’s tasting. Pours a hazy brown with a medium sized tanned beige head. Slightly sour roast notes, wood. Medium bodied, huge carbonation. Roast, chocolate, cherry and plums. Finishes up with more spicy carbonation and some light slow roast bitterness.

Bottle at home ... brewed 27 march 2008 ... bottled 3 may 2008 .... bottle 476... drunk 3 october 2009 ... deep brown .. tan head ... sweet cheery and raspberry roast malt nose ... sweet cherry .. one of the fruitiest imperial stouts ive ever had ... really realy nice and the best of the evening (vs del cucato verdi and Smuttnose imp stout) ...

750-milliliter from Healthy Spirits, San Francisco. Rolled the dice on this one for $27. I figured that it would be great considering it was an "imperial stout" and had the name Rasputin in it. Poured a dark brown with a large frothy head. Aroma was very Abbey/Belgian in nature, not at all stouty. Flavor confirmed that this was more of a Belgian Strong Ale/impy hybrid if anything, with emphasis on the Belgian part. It had a little bit of chocolate and roasted malt, but was mainly of bread, spice, and cream. Like Bernardus 12 meets Sierra Nevada Stout. Weird. Not bad, but was just surprised, and then disappointed because I was all set for a thick, chewy imperial stout, which this wasn’t. Still hearty, nice once you get the hang of it. Medium mouthfeel/viscosity. Overall, good to very good.