Hales Pikop Andropovs Rushin Imperial Stout

Pours a viscous BLACK with a brown head. Aroma is nice, smokey and roasty. Taste is of roasted malt, coffee, hops and cherries. Slightly bitter. What I didn’t like was that it was very sour on the back end. Needs more sweetness. Mouthfeel is full, round and creamy but not as thick as you think it would be. Decent.

Dark and oily with a small light brown head. Aroma is coffee and malt. Flavour is roasted and sweet, finish is smooth, lightly smoked and bitter.

Black with a small kahki head. Aroma is malty and full of chocolate with a hint of plum. Burnt,and roasty with a hint of dark fruits. Could use a bit more body to compete with top notch imperial stouts.

Black with dense brown head.Nearly neutral nose. Slightly fatty smoky malt taste with medium roasted bitterness

Black with no head. Coffie and chocolate powder in the nose. Taste is chalky and rough, the nose is much better than the taste. This just did not do anything for me.

Black body with small, brief tan head. Looks great. Aroma is roasted coffee and chocolate and a note of cherries. Mouthfeel was a bit astringent and the flavor not consistent with the aroma. Something lost between the aroma and the taste. Not bad but certainly not exceptional.

Coal tar Black beer with a creamy brown head. Burnt grain aroma, coffee, caramel citrus. Flavor is tart, bitter chocolate, a bit of bitter for the sake of bitter and molasses but it could be burnt as well. Not one of my top stouts

Pitch black. Dense and creamy, light bronze ring. Tangy aroma with notes of tar, cocoa, blackberry, buttered caramel, and trace oxidation. Bubblegummy yeast, cotton, iron, and roasted barley undertones. Fairly metallic and acidic. Slippery, yet silky smooth texture. Medium body. Starts with a vinous, sweet malt interplay as the phenols lurk beneath the malt barrier alongside tangy iron and black cherries. Dark chocolate and fuzzy notes of cocoa match the delectable espresso onset, which culminates at the core. Charred malts provide most of the balancing bitterness at the finish with a mild cinnamon and earthy hop dusting. Yogurt and chocolate truffles dominate the aftertaste amid continual whispers of espresso, soured plum acidity, and ink. Very faint phenolic belches. Acidity inevitably prevails in the flavor, once you witness the aroma, but espresso dominates the finish, which is what I seek in the style. Highly reminiscent of Siberian Night, from the appearance, to the berry assortment and ink notes; only this has lots more acidity, a less alluring aroma, and a thinner body. In the end, the acidity becomes fatiguing and the mouthfeel loses too much body. Mediocre example.