Grand River Russian Gun Imperial Stout

Brewed by Grand River Brewing
Style: Imperial Stout
Cambridge, Canada

Serve in Snifter

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500mL bottle from the brewery. Really cool image on the bottle of a Russian Cannon. Pours an almost completely opaque dark brown witha small tan coloured head. The aroma is very typical Imperial Stout charactertistics, nice GR malts with signatue hops, no booze, very inviting actually. The flavour follows suit nicely, hitting all the classic elements of a good Imperial Stout, coffee, roasted malts, dark chocolate, cocoa powder, with a nice hop presence that you might almost miss. Really nice malt structure here, and the palate is rich and full but nice and soft for a 9% beer. A bit of a chalky feeling comes out as this warms which I kind of like. And no gross soy sauce! Yeah! I’m giving this a high rating for the following reason: I think many here are under-rating it due to high expectations both of this brewery and this style based on many American examples. There is nothing particularly unique about this Imperial Stout except for a few small GR characteristics, but for what it is, a genuine Ontario-brewed Imperial Stout, this is a remarkable acheivment. Compare it to every other IS ever brewed in this province as a guideline, not what brewers in another country have/are doing. It’s a very nice, classic Imperial Stout that goes down pretty easy.

500ml bottle. Dark brown body with nice mocha head, good retention and lacing. Aroma is bready caramel at the first sniff, coffee, old cheese, sausages, smoked malt ...unusual. Taste is overwhelming roasted malt, some smokiness, brown sugar, herbs, wormwood. A little oily, and not much of alcohol heat.

500 mL bottle. Burnt sugar, espresso coffee and bittersweet chocolate aromas. Pours black, with a tan head, lots of lacing. Sweet, but the bitterness combined with that burnt aroma generates an unpleasant aftertaste. Full bodied, sticky with low carbonation. Not a bad stout.

An beer which I enjoyed drinking, but doesn’t pack the eye popping punch I expect from the style. Liquorice was the strongest flavour for me. Not as complex as I would have liked it though.

Gift from SJ. I wasn’t expecting much, but it was a solid Imperial stout. Nice roast, chcolate, coffee and dark fruit notes. A good dry finish with a hint of tartness. Good body. I enjoyed it.

Thanks to GT2 for picking this up! Pours a beautiful thick black with a decently sized, somewhat bubbly light beige head. The nose is marked most notably by raisin, prune and other dark fruit mixed with caramel, toffee, peanut brittle, and touches of chocolate and roast. Flavor holds a bit of increased bitterness through roast and baker’s chocolate, but still quite a bit of caramel malt, molasses, and fig. Too light on the palate, sort of like a blend between an english strong ale and a light porter. Still ok though.

500mL thanks to solidfunk. Pours deep cola ruby to near black with a larger, rocky, sheen mocha head. Creamy lacing. Quite the nice pour. Excellent, frothy lacing. Nose is lactose, almost milk stout, sweet toffee and raisins, toast, Marmite. Not bad- rich aroma. Taste is watery, slightly metallic, quite bitter, excellent baker’s chocolate and smokey malt. Almost like Guinness Foreign Extra: thinner in palate but still quite rich. Smoke character is actually quite excellent. Bittering hops are prominent and add excellent balance. Much better than I could have ever expected. Very strange little beer- but I’m not going to lie. I like.

Bottle thanks to GT2. Very dark brown pour with garnet hints and a tight frothy tan head. Thick lacing. Really big dark fruit and toffee character in the nose, with big bakers chocolate bitterness and character in the flavor. Brownies and toffee follow with hints of cocoa nib. Too much toffee character. Medium to full body with an oily body. Not quite enough carbonation for me. Really not bad at all, but not world class by any means.

The name promised so much more than the beer delivered. Looks good in the glass, but it is not as thick as I would like.

Sample at the Strange Brew Tasting on 02/18/2012. Pours a dark brown color with a medium tan head that recedes quickly. Short strings of lacing on the glass. Aroma of cocoa and roasted malt. Medium body with flavors of smoked malt, fruit and chocolate. The finish is chocolatey with a short charred malt aftertaste. Fairly average overall.

Bottle shared by a friend. Dark brown pour with a medium tan head. Smoky nose with dark fruit and lots of roast. Hammy smoke flavor with a bit of chocolate before a bitter roasty finish.