Hoppin Frog BORIS The Crusher

Brewed by Hoppin Frog Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Akron, Ohio USA

Serve in Snifter

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Bomber. Deep pitch black body with a semi-dark caramel brown head - burnt appearance. Rich and smoky grains in the nose, starchy, oily aroma of tobacco and licorice. Mouthfeel is rich, silky, oily; full of smoke - like expedition stout minus the heavy chocolate and dark fruit, and a little less thick. The oatmeal is very light, very hard to detect under the smoked malts, but it does bring a positive quality to this beer. Texture is a little fizzy up front, or at least "fizzy" for a 9.5% beer. However, as good as this imperial stout is, it fails to stand out in a category cluttered with very similar examples, and the more examples seem to be the same, the less they are enjoyed and appreciated. That’s how it happens. So while this is truly a good stout, it could almost be ten other stouts under a different name (though thankfully the small hint of oatmeal helps a bit), and that I find uninspiring.

Bottle picked up at Consumer’s Beverages in Niagara Falls. Pours a dark/ opaque brown/ black colour with a pretty big bubbly dark tan head with full walls of lacing. Smells like some coffee and milk chocolate like malt, quite sweet. Tastes rather sweet, with chocolate and some coffee bitter and malt. Really smooth.

Tap @ beer temple. Pour pitch black, with a small, creamy, thick mocha brown head. Aroma is packed of coffee, chocolate, oatmeal, caramel, roasted malts. Taste is sweet up front, with a rather long and bitter aftertaste. Full bodied, with a semi-flat carbonation.

Color, black with brown chocolate milky head. Nose, milk chocolate, pear, cherries, dark chocolate, fudge, green apples. Taste, dark chocolate, coffee, pear, toffee, rasberries, licorice, green/red apples. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Aroma of chocolate, oatmeal, coffee, malts, more alcoholic as it warms. Pours black with thin mahogany head some lace. Taste chocolate, brown sugar, coffee, sweet malts, very complex. full body, slight bitterness. thick and dry on palate. slight bitter coffee, alcoholic finish. fantastic imperial!

Pours pitch black with a medium tan head. Aroma is roasted malts and coffee. Flavor is roasted malts, coffee, chocolate and hops. Exquisite.

15 cl. draft tasting glass @ Delirum Hoppy Loft // black but not the blackest of black, little tanned head // smell is cocoa (main), light liquorice, some toffee, chocolate, smooth dark fruits, touch integrated roasted malts with a certain dash of vanilla // taste is cocoa, plenty of mocha, coffee, sweet upfront with some smooth integrated dark fruits, going into a roasted (smooth) and reasonably lasting bitter finish, touch hops & hop bitterness in the finish // smooth touch oat body // light body // solid but not a high flier within the style // apparently in the states the price point of this is very sweet

The Beer Pipeline strikes again!! Thanks Tony, I had been meaning to track this one down for some time. Pours a ruthless and opaque brown-black into my Minneapolis Town Hall glass, thin very dark tan head, spotty to poor lacing. Nose is very oaty, which is something I like, and quite sweet... Reminds ne a bit of homemade chocolate pudding in terms of aroma, lots of easy to pick out mocha notes here too. Very accessible and soft nose, while still expansive and complex... Flavours are moderately sweet, with soft carbonation and lots of oats, red licorice, and fudge. Big black forest cake in the midpalate... Big, decadent, soft, and dessert-like without being aggressively sweet or boozy. Great stuff!

Wow! Black as used engine oil, and about as viscous. Strikingly similar to FBS, just a little boozier. Roasty and bitter but smells like a bowl full of oatmeal. Delicious!

On tap at Beer Temple. Black, brown head. Aroma of coffee, hard roasted malts, chocolate, laurel, liquorice, moccha, sweet. Flavour is sweet, hard roasted malts, hops, chocolate, moccha, laurel, sweet and hard roasted bitter finish. Medium to full-bodied, soft carbonation. Had some Yeti-qualities imo. Good.

Draught@Viisi Penniä. Black color, tan head. Oaky aroma with vanilla and chocolate. Velvety flavor with sublime chocolaty notes, coffee and licorice. Very full body, light carbonation. Excellent example of the style.