North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

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

(12oz bottle) pours jet black, dark tan head when swirled but won’t last. Nose of vanilla, and sweet dark chocolate. Taste is very bitter bakers chocolate, dry cocoa, and alcohol with a bitter finish and appropriately carbonated body.

Bottle @ Cardinal Stavanger. Pours almost pitch black with a 2 inch creamy tan head.Strong roasted malty aroma. Moderate sweet taste, heavy roasted malt, quite a lot bitterness up front, the end is more sweet burnt caramel, lovely.

Biggish brown head. Dark barely translucent red-brown body. Mild raisiny roasty toffee aroma with chocolatey notes. Sweet-dry alcoholic chocolatey toffee taste with marzipan and raisin notes. Fullish body. Hot mouthfeel. Dry roasty dusty wooden chocolate aftertaste is fairly short. Very nice, but perhaps a bit sweet and mild. (0.33l bottle at Olympen.)

Definitely the coffee aroma and flavor, but I also taste a hint of licorice. Whether it’s my imagination or not, that makes it for me. This is an excellent RIS.

This is not a beer for beginners. Has a very strong coffee flavor that hides the 9% alcohol quite well.

Very intense flavors, very rich and a great example of the Russian Imperial Stout style. This is one of my favorites.

1st June 2008. Silky smooth RIS. Milky chocolate malt and bitter coffee. Very drinkable but the bitterness is a bit harsher than the best RIS beers IMHO.