Scotch Irish Tsarina Katarina Imperial Stout

Formerly brewed at Heritage Brewing Limited
Style: Imperial Stout
Carleton Place, Canada

#1600: 2005- Pour is dark black with a thin brown head...smell is rich and roasty with cocoa and yeast...taste is incredibly sweet with lots of cocoa and some vanilla and lots of earth fruits...not a lot of roastiness at all...sweet fruity chocolate finish...

Bottle from the beer swap: Finally got to try this one, been after it for a while. Black pour with a medium tan head. Aroma prunes, some alcohol, and chocolate in the aroma. Flavor had some dry dark fruits, big roasty malts that lent the usual coffee/chocolate notes in. Medium bodied, could always be thicker. Quite enjoyable though, glad I finally got my hands on one.

2005 Bottle Sample @ TFOB: They promise it tastes better the longer it ages, and this year-old is a nice stout. Pours deep black with a huge dang near leather brown head. Raisins and licorice heavy in the aroma, as promised, and arrived in the flavour as well. Add in the traditional roasted coffee and chocolate flavours and you’ve got a very nice, well-rounded stout. I plan to buy some and put it away in the cellar for a while.

Bottle at the Toronto Festival of Beer. This bottle could have used a couple months in the cellar because it tasted very sweet and immature. The flavours were all there but didn’t really have the depth and harmony I was looking for. Coffee, port, and raisin notes but no hint of licorice. Will have to rate this below Wellingtons. Cheers!

JUST got to this one at the toronto beer fest! Amazing dark brown body with a beige head. Some nice brown sugar notes and smooth malt and scotch. A touch watery, but still impressive.

12oz from radiomgb, thanks. See through darkest brown, apparently filtered. Swiftly fading beige head. Hmm… While I’m not the biggest imperial stout fan, I didn’t rate this from the first try I gave it thinking the 2nd might be better, but this is definitely not improving. The gentle vinous aspects seem less assertive than they used to be and there’s more ascorbic, vegetal acids than I remember. Final impression is soured tobacco roastiness, adequately strong burn toast, dark chocolate and cookies. Medium bodied, medium-high carbonation.

Bottle - June 2006. Pours a pitch, impentrable black color with a lovely brownish tan medium sized head. Aroma is chocolate, dark fruits, licorice. Tastes of chocolate, tobacco, light molasses. Mouthfeel is medium, oily texture, very balanced, not cloying at all, aftertaste being very pleasant and subtle. It has a sour tang to it. It hides it´s 9% very well, it´s extremely drinkable for such abv. Thanks Lubiere for sharing.

Bottled @ Sk8vikings blind porter/stout tasting. Beer no. 21: Pitch black coloured. Dense dark brown head. Sweetness, roast and chocolate in the aroma. Flavour of brown sugar, coffee, roast and some grassy and herbal notes. LIqourice is there. Is quite full bodied. Sweetish roasty bitterness in the end.