Scotch Irish Tsarina Katarina Imperial Stout

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

Finally cracked this one open. Pous a beautiful deep dark black. Anise, roasted malts, chocolate, dark dried fruits. Slight smoke flavor. Medium full body. Well done

2005. Tasted in Dec. 07. Pours black with fine dark brown head. Sweet prune-like smells dominate with sour cherry and a whiff of coffee. Very tart flavor impression, tastes of bitter chocolate, tart cherry, and cidery yeastiness. Very little carbonation left on this one, wine-like mouthfeel; maybe due to the screw-cap more than age?

2005 vintage from a trade with Capflu - thanks! Pours a pitch black with a small brown head with poor retention. Aroma is of rich dark toffee candy & chocolate fudge - too bad it’s a tad recessed. Taste is lovely - figs, chocolate, enough hops to keep everything in line, sweet with hints of alcohol. A touch of smoke without being overwhelming. Body is reasonably thick and creamy, carbonation was a bit much at first - it needed to really sit a while before I could taste it properly. Probably one of the best Canadian Imperial Stouts. What a shame it’s retired!

05 bottle via mrmanning via hogtownharry. fucking darkest beer i’ve seen, thick brown head. the roasty nose is strong with this one. lots of dark fruit & brown sugar & a noticeable alcohol scent. i love this aroma, s’mores and booze, oh yeah. a bit over sweet but an amazing caramel . sweet cocoa lingers. very plummy notes in this with a bit of marshmallow(yes, marcus, i still taste marshmallow you are not alone) reminiscent of chocolate pie. 5 1 0 7 3 16

Lots of bright fruit and chocolate in this beer. Pours with a slight head, but quickly dissipates. Aroma is very much the bright fruit, hints of soy, and chocolate. Also got a decent amount of wood in this one with a touch of smoke. Pretty decently complex. Taste very much followed suit with the red fruit playing the most central role. Very nice.

Bottle from C’est What? Pours like a really dark cola, with little visible head. Smells of dark chocolate and port. Flavour is of tracle, coffee and smoke. There’s a bit of bitterness in there too. A slight hint of cheese suggests that this beer is past its prime, and isn’t something I look for in a drink. Really thick, almost treacly mouthfeel, leads to a nice warming aftertaste in the stomach. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think this was a great beer which hasn’t aged as well as could be hoped.

(Bottle, 2005 vintage) Pours a opaque black body with a thick creamy brown head. Aroma of wood, light smoke, roastiness, and dark chocolate. Flavor of roasted malt, vinous, and chocolate with a dry finish.

2005 bottle from Sarlaander (Aaron) tasted at Saarlander’s SoCal tasting with saarlander, cquiroga, dirty_martini & kittiesandbeer, JohnC and others. As Aaron said, this is a great beer that is a little over the hill, and that I probably shouldn’t rate it for that reason. So I skewed my overall rating from from 15 to 17, to not affect the beer’s average rating today (3.77): 8,4,6,3,15:3.6. It’s actually fun to try an over the hill beer to find out what it’s like. A bit sour, some cardboard. Still pretty decent to drink, just not in it’s prime. Rerate at RBSG: 3.7, dry, very roasty. but still good.