De Molen Rasputin

Huh, this beer is really interesting. It is a shade light and thin for an imperial stout, yet it is packed full of hops and has an aggressively floral taste! On the pour, the body seems a bit thin. Head is fine, but a touch scarce. Aroma is oaky and a touch roasty, but not really unusual nor exemplary. Flavor is exceedingly floral and hoppy; this hits before the roastiness does. This is an extremely balanced beer for the style (not that Imperial Stouts are necessarily supposed to be balanced), offering a ton of hop bitterness in addition to some medium-intensity bitterness. At the finish, I caught some caramel and bitterness. A wonderfully complex beer! Mouthfeel was very dry and appropriate. I didn’t love this beer, but I found it fascinating. For that reason alone, I’d highly recommend it.

In short: A fantastic chocolaty 10+% Imperial Stout that manages to remain somewhat dry and highly drinkable. One of the very good Impy Stout I’ve had.
How: Bottle 750ml, probably 1+ year old. Tasting session with Montreal crew.
The look: Dark brown body topped by a beige ring of foam
In long: Roasted notes and chocolate on the nose. Body is simply fantastic, big cake mouthfeel but never syrupy despite the high abv. Great taste. Chocolate cake, a bit floury, brownies, light raisins. Ends with a short but sharp bitterness. I especially liked its relative dryness that made it more drinkable than a beer of that gravity should be. This bottle totally blew away the syrupy and not highly drinkable Lost Abbey Serpents Stout that we opened right next to it. If Rasputin had as much class as this beer he would have never been the drunken group-sex lover that he was. Luckily for the real Rasputin he had as much class as a Clipper City Heavy Seas imperial stout.

750ml bottle #289/524. Not a completely dark pour, almost a dark red with a tan head. Kind of a smokey aroma, a little bit of dark fruits. The flavor reminds me more of a barley wine, slight roastiness and a little bit of coffee bitterness. Pretty good.

[Bottled. Thx ekstedt] Dark brown with a medium tan head. Vinous aroma with a lot of sweet fruitiness. Dark sugar and licorice in the flavour.

<i>Bottle (75 cl) from Systembolaget</i>. Black with medium beige head. Fruity, nutty and caramelly with spicy and earthy hops, and some dark chocolate. Medium bodied and very soft carbonation. Well balanced, dry finish with moderate bitterness. Belgian yeast?

75 cl bottle thanks to ekstedt. Cark reddish brown to black color, tan head. Sweet, alcohol, some spice, scent. Sweet, salty, acohol taste. Medium to smooth mouthfeel, low bitterness.

Bottle: Clear dark red colour, with a werry nice creamy head. Aroma of raisins,dark Choclate, som citric, and bitternes in the end. Flavor is almost the same here, has a bit of cocoa,dark choclate,dry fruit/raisins in the end. Nice big body, long citric/fruity finish. Complex beer this one.

Bottle. A sweet aroma, reminds me a little bit of cacao, malty, a hint of raisin. The head is large, light brown and creamy-fizzy, long duration. The body is black. A really long staying taste, light bitter. Malty and oily taste (light motor oil in a positive way). The body is creamy-oily, nearly no carbonation and a quite heavy body. A really nice beer, worth every cent.