Hales Pikop Andropovs Rushin Imperial Stout

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

Black with a dense, brown head. Flavor and aroma of burnt and roasty malt, light smoke, bittersweet chocolate, coffeee beans, subtle vanilla, and just the right amount of hops. Medium/full palate, balanced. Solid brew.

Draft at the brewery. Pours deep black with a thick, diminishing brown head. Beautiful roast and sweet malt nose, with both of those announcing themselves distinctly on the attack and standing up throughout. The usual coffee, char, and sweet-enough-to-balance on the palate, with a beautiful rich, crisp hop finish. Big creamy rich body with enough carb to keep the goop from overwhelming. All that said, this is not an exceptional RIS, just a very, very good one. Tough category to stand out in.

typical impy appearance (dark brown to black with medium brown head)...aroma is of bitter and roasted notes, and can be compared to that of a baltic porter...flavor is quite similar, with added coffee, chocolate, and some raison...nice palate

Deep brown body, medium ochre head. Bitter, roasty malt aroma. Rather thin body, but bitter, piney, and roasty, with touches of chocolate. Medium-bodied. No noticeable alcohol. Dry but rich.

Pour is black with a nice dark brown tan head...smell is alcoholic and somewhat fruity with earth fruits...strange....definately some chocolate to the nose, but it just seems strange...taste is yeasty and sweet...earth fruits and some chocolate and a lot of cherry and red wine flavors...smell seemed horribly alcoholic compared to the actual ABV...

Chocolate, coffee, dried fruit, caramel, etc.. Pretty decent aroma. Dark black in color witha hint of ruby orange and a thin, brown head. Flavor is roasty, but thin. Some coffee and roasted chocolate, but it just tastes "small." Medium full body, slightly creamy. Thanks Brigadier for sharing this one.

Tosa Tasting - June 24, 2006


Thanks to acertain for trading this a few months ago. I finally got a chance to open it towards the end of the night. Unfortunately after so many excellent Abbey dubbels this was a letdown, especially for something that advertises itself as an imperial stout. If it were only a dry stout it would get slightly higher marks - this is nowhere near what I’d expect from something claiming to be an imperial.

Aroma / Appearance - Roasted malt, grain and a slight scent of black licorice. This was nowhere near the complexity I would expect from an imperial stout - no coffee or expresso scents for starters. The body was somewhat on target. It poured a deep black with a thin tan head and weak stringy lacing. Overall, at best this was shaping up to be average.

Flavor / Palate - A grainy, slightly buttery consistancy struck my tongue preceding a hint of wheat and roasted malts. There may have been a hint of coffee flavors, but if it was there it was day old coffee left in the bottom of the pot overnight. If this were a dry stout, I’d say that it was much closer to style but as an imperial it completely missed the mark. The flavors are both too shallow and too simple for an IS. Nonetheless, if you were to hand me this without telling me what it was, I would likely enjoy it. A solid beer that just falls short in its self-defined category.

Medium-thin pour to a semi-opaque midnight brown color, with no head and only a hairline, beady tan line around the edges. Black rubber sole shoes, dark chocolate fudge, dwindling campfires, slow roasted pool toys and lactic espresso spilled on the counter digress the nose, shortly overcome soon thereafter by something all too familiar with chewed dog toys. Thin, bashfully bitter room temperature gas station coffee is the first flavor modifier. Separated layer of tiramisu topping. Washy flavor fall out is all too familiar with yesterday’s coffee coolata leftovers from Dunkin Donuts. Rubbery tar heels circumvent the plastic plant personalities. Flat-lining, medium-bodied stout generality. Bland mocha cocoa brownies sans ice or a heartfelt sugar component bring things to a close not a moment too soon. Thanks for sharing, Brigadier!