North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

Holy moly this beer is hoppy especially for a stout. Leaves you warm and slightly lit at the end.

Jeesh, almost as perfect a score as I can give it.... what can you add to the previous... pitch black, sticky head, flavors of licorice, chocolate, coffee, vinous dark grapes... all in balance... palate is creamy, heavenly... a great experience.

Bottle. veeeeeery dark pour...almost black. nice tan head that holds its own.Good chocolate and dark fruit mix with some caramel. Has a middleoftheroad carbonation that pleases me. Not the alcohol bite I figured from the smell, but not bad. good finish of hops.

Getting notebook online. Bottle. Pours black. Roasted nose of caramel and chocolate. Flavors smoky and roasted. Not too bad but I don’t see what all the fuss is about. I need to try again before I form my opinion.

355ml bottle (Beertopia, Nebraska) - Thanks Anna’s parents!
Practically black, healthy tight tan head, quite persistent. Roasty chocolate aroma, some pine. Pleasant carbonation, otherwise quite smooth palate. Retronasally quite fruity, some pine, ginger, and sherbet. Much of that in the taste too, but also an over-riding burntness in the taste. Very drying burntness, an almost astringent finish. Spoilt only by the fact that you get the feeling you’ve been chewing on a lump of charcoal, but otherwise very decent stout. Covers the 9% quite well, but the bitterness of the charcoal would easily cover a fair bit of booze.

This stuff is BLACK! I think that if I actually put a light right up to the side of this, it wouldn’t brighten up even a little bit. Has a sweeter aroma than most imperials. Hints of caramel, chocolate, raisin, and some kind of a smoke scent. Has a kind of bittersweet flavor. Kind of hoppy. Glad I finally got a chance to try this brew. Good job guys.

bottled. Pours pitch black viscous with a thick chocolate head. Quite a bit of lacing. Aroma is of roast chocolate, coffee, licorice, dark fruits, and quite phenolic. Flavor is sweet chocolate, roast coffee, caramel, and phenols. Palate is full bodied viscous; extremely smooth. Finish is bittersweet chocolate and a little too phenolic.

Bottle @ Mallaskukko, Turku, Finland. Pours pitch black with a long lasting light brown head and pretty lacing. Roasted aroma of chocolate, coffee and liquorice, maybe some vanilla. Full mouthfeel with medium carbonation. Coffee, lots of dark chocolate, some liquorice and roasted malt in the flavor. Overall this imperial stout is fine; full and complex. Everything you want from an imperial stout.