Michigan Brewing Russian Imperial Stout

Formerly brewed at Michigan Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Webberville, Michigan USA

Serve in Snifter

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Hand-bottled sample: Pours a viscous oily black with dark brown edges and a thin dark tan head. Young earthy dark roasty malt aroma has some mild smoke and green hops. Starts with sweet sticky maltiness, some dark fruit complexity and a bittering hoppy finish. A nice, but young imperial stout. This should age really well. Too bad they don’t bottle it.

Hand bottle. Thick black pour with modest head. Big roasty coffee aroma, with some chocolate. Flavors were roasty malts predominantly, with chocolate also, and a tad bit fruitier than the aroma. Alcohol was still a bit hot on this, but overall, a very nice impy stout.

Hand bottle with a big thanks to the shipper (Sorry but I forgot who sent it). Poured black with a small tan head and brown legs. Very big aroma of freshly brewed black coffee. Roasted malt with a touch of chocolate. The flavor was sweet with plenty of coffee bitterness and nice amount of hops. Just a touch on the hot side.

Draft at MBG Winterfest. Poured a black color with an average light brown head that lasted and produced good lacing. Heavy sweet roasted coffee and molasses aroma. Medium to full body. Good complex roasted coffee and chocolate flavor with a burnt sweet long finish. Good complex sweet brew.

tasted at Michigan Winter Beer Fest....perfect jet-black impy appearance....aroma is very strong, and consists of strong roasted coffee and chocolate, raisons, and molasses...flavor is not quite as complex, and is somewhat overpowered by its roastiness/burnt characteristics...nice palate

This seemed like a good place to start at the Michigan Winter Beer Fest, before things got crazy. I believe this was the non barrel-aged version. Raisiny aroma and flavor with molasses, toast, coffee, and chocolate. Sweet, malty body. The complex sweet-yet-bitter aroma was the best part about this beer. Very well-done.

22oz bottle hand bottled by MikeMac on 2/18/06 - via trade! Thanks Mike! - Pours black as night with a slight mocha head that faded relatively quick. Aromas are light of chocolate, roasted malt, and coffee. Flavor is much deeper and stronger. Dark chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, molasses, dark fruit.. Sweet and creamy smooth on the palate. Great mouthfeel. Well hidden alcohol. Slightly astringent but not overly so. Glad I got to try this one.. Very nice!

Hand bottled by MikeMac. Pours black, with a brown head. Aromas are chocolate, roasted malt, as well as some dark fruit. Flavors are roasted malt, chocolate, coffee, and dark fruit. Palate is nice, ending a little bitter and with some astringency. Alcohol is there, but it doesn’t sem like 12%. This should bottled and made more widely available. Really good stuff.

Growler: Pervious ebony. Dense, whipped light-cinnamon cap of foam. Aromatically malty with surface notes of fresh bread, char, caramel, chocolate taffy, and graham crackers. Hints of ink and black currants. Tight and soft carbonation. Finely conditioned. Initially mellow, with a fluffy aerated fullness that delays the brisk char tingle. Strongly bittersweet at the center. Soothingly viscous body, with velvety espresso and meaty molasses lightly splashed with well-placed vinous acidity. Hop presence is minuscule, but fresh notes of citrus exude with each burp. Ashen malts are amplified as a forceful brush of oaken dryness skims the palate. Light phenolic snap carries enough strength to allay some sweetness, but doesn’t throw any “off” plastic flavors. Flavors are immense, but there’s merely a trace of alcohol. Mineral astringency stops just shy at becoming overbearing thanks to the enormous body. Finishes with a firm fusion of cookieish malt and tongue-buckling char, as black currants, tar, and java softly linger. This was quite the treat. Thanks, Styles!

From the Tap, Thanks to MikeMac for this sweet necture: Pitch black with dark mahogony brown. The best lacing I have ever seen, all the way around the glass.. from top to bottom. Palet was thick and chewy. Taste had a slight alcohol burn for the first 2-3 sips, but quickly smoothed out to a nice coffee sweetness. Also had hits of rasins, pines, figs, and some nice lightly sweet chocolate. Some sips had a subtle fruit hoppy warming sensation. other had notes of smoth cedar An awesome brew if you can get your hands on one...