Hales Pikop Andropovs Rushin Imperial Stout

Brewed by Hales Ales
Style: Imperial Stout
Seattle, Washington USA

On tap at the brewpub. Pitch black with a very nice creamy brown head. Didn’t pick up much of an aroma in the pub. Chocolate malt taste comes on strong, followed by a sharp sweetness. Not bitter at all with a deep coffee finish. Good stuff.

This beer pours a dark black color with no visible light and a fairly viscous tannish head with a small amount of lacing. The aroma is fairly light with a predominantly burnt cocoa and chocolate aroma with a hint of extreme hoppiness. Fairly basic aroma, nothing that knocks me out and not much in the way of sweet enticingness. The flavor is very dry as to be expected with a grainy chocolate/cocoaness. Burnt coffee grounds, nuts and roasted oats are what I mainly get. Also a hint of hoppiness here as well. Twigs and leaves type finish. Dry and standard with little to no alcohol presence. Mild carbonation prickling but once again fairly silky mouthfeel. Bitter finish as it warmed..definitely piney feel and what the hell is that...raspberries...reminds of feast of fools..blech! An odd imperial connoction.

22 oz. brown bomber bottle. No freshness date seen. Poured out a deep chocolate brown with a dark tan head. Aromas are fruity. Flavor is of soy sauce or teryaki sauce. Nasty, certified drain pour.

22 oz. Bottle: We shared this at a mini stout fest compliments of Indiana_Red. This brew is jet black with no head. It is like tart coffee. It’s too tangy for me, akin to shock tarts. It’s has a saucy element to it like Worschestshire sauce with hints of espresso. The nicest thing about this is its prolonged aftertaste which is quite tasty. Not bad. Thanks for the share factor Indiana_Red.

A soft spot in me heart, as this was my first Imperial Stout. It was on draft and I thought it was wonderful. Having tried some truly amazing Imperials, I don’t feel quite so blown away by this one; however, I still like it. It has standard stouts smells (coffee, chocolate, malt) and flavors (similar) with a decent amount of alcohol. As with most of Hale’s brews, I find the quality control on their bottles to be hit-or-miss. Try this one at the brewpub if you can.

Dark opaque appearance, negligible head formation. Heavily roasted, chocolate aroma, with sweet white wine fruitiness. Dry roast, dark chocolate flavor, fruity with some hop bite in the finish.

Huge chocolate frothy head out of bottle. Bottle cap has berry residue. Looks rich. Lots of coffee and citrus flavoring. Very interesting flavor. Not as heavy as I was expecting. Good flavor, hint of berry. Doesn’t have the gravity I was expecting. A little thin. Otherwise a solid beer.

Bottle.Thanks Mike. Deep dark black in color with a nice tan fluffy head. Aroma is alcohol and chocolate. Chocolate and malty flavor. Finish is dry. Rich tasting. Not bad.