Hales Pikop Andropovs Rushin Imperial Stout

inky black, impressive to the other people in the room. dark brown head. concentrated malt syrupy aroma. thinner in body than other impys with all of the tasty character still there. still sweet syrup, coffee and tar. tasty

3/22/08 On tap at the Cask Festival. Aroma is alcohol forward with dark fruit skins. Appearance is dark brown with a very low head. Flavor is very sour with a rough toasted malt astringency. Mouthfeel is full bodied with no carb texture. Overall, not bad and shows a lot of cask conditioned character.

Bottle. As if an octopuss shot this out, this is thick and black. The nice tan head skittles away a bit too quickly. The aroma is quite stark, hinting at flammable alcohol. This drinks with an odd mixture of things ... coffee, really sweet candy, and an alcohol burn. There’s also an unfavorable tartness that’s always rearing it’s head. This doesn’t carry with the balance I’d look for in a bigger stout. (#3428, 4/21/2008)

Inky black brew with a nice tan head. Aromas of big coffee and roast, with a little fruity sweetness, and a bit of alcohol. Flavors are similar with nice dominant roast and coffee. Sweetness is minimal, but is there in small amounts. Pretty creamy and smoothly drinkable.

Wonderful drink - Pours pitch black with a deep mahogany brown, frothy head. A liitle deceptive look as this drink is not nearly as BIG as it looks. MIld coffee and roasted malt backbone with a floral, veggie hop and leaf essense with a bit of raisin. A little too tart for this style (which comes across as almost a Raspberry type presence) and on the thinner side of medium bodied although it does have a nice and creamy mouthfeel.

sample @ cask fest and 22 oz. bottle - nice to see this brewed again; jet black with tan head; lots of roasted aromas and flavors; bitter chocolate in there too; smooth drinking with slightly dry finish

2008 Bottle - Aroma explosion, bananas, chocolate, coffee, dried fruit, vanilla...I have been completely unimpressed with the last few Hales beers I’ve tried so I was fighting to keep an open mind. This was actually decent. It would not hold a candle to a serious IP Stout, but bigger than I expected. Taste of burnt coffe and chocolate and alcohol. It doesn’t even have that much alcohol, but it still shows. Overall, I would drink this but not that often...

I had this in my cellar and had gotten it from a friend who lives in Seattle and knows my love of IPS,this was a dark black with a creamy head and not very strong but very tasty with hints of chocolate and roasted malts overall not a bad beer.CHEERS!