Scotch Irish Tsarina Katarina Imperial Stout

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

this was good, and I was lucky to have it. (2005) poured into a large tulip. pours very black as night thick yet quick pour with a mild head that stays steady. creamy mocha chocolate aroma with a minor hint of alchohol. first sip you notice the front tingle of carbonation and the slight mocha smoked malty finish. as you set the glass down a thick lacing slowly slides down the edge of the glass staning its footsteps... very subtle and palatable yet exstremely complex, not an overpowering palate or flavor but a subtle demanding presence. seems very thick yet goes down easy. sweet front, smoky finish, mocha background, and slight smoked aftertaste. good stuff.

Bottle from case #9 of 2005 vintage. Well, here it is - rating #1000! If you’d told me 3 or so years ago when I first joined RateBeer that I’d make if this far - and that I’d have so many great beers with so many cool people in so many different places along the way - I probably wouldn’t have believed you. For this milestone, I decided to go with this fantastic beer from probably the best brewer in Canada, and one of the best in North America. It pours a thick, dark black with a small chocolate-brown head - beautiful! Aroma is rich and roasty with notes of toffee, chocolate, smoke and alcohol. Mouthfeel is smooth and velvety, absolutely luscious. Flavour is deep and complex, with notes of coffee, burnt malt, dark chocolate, dried fruit (prunes, raisins, figs), licorice, and a wonderful hit of hop bitterness in the finish. Simply stellar! Thanks to Perry for this heavenly elixir, and cheers to everyone I’ve shared a beer with over the last few years, and here’s to another 1000...

2005 Vintage. Tsarina Katarina Imperial Stout pours thick and viscous from its 341mL bottle. Raven black with a dense, noisy, quickly dissipating malted milk head. Loosely filtered with a sizeable dark band of sediment left in the bottle. An incredibly cohesive integration of smouldering campfire/drying tobacco, powdered cocoa and Turkish delight on the nose with underpinnings of sour cherry. Bitter chocolate slowly melds into sour cherry and lychee fruit. Mouthcoating oiliness and a dry lingering bitterness is fortified by warming alcohol. An incredibly rewarding tipple. Thank-you for your efforts Perry.

341 ml bottle at Volo. It poured jet black with a lovely thick tan head. Strong aroma of roasty goodness alternating back and forth between coffee and chocolate. There are lovely spicey notes with subtle hints of fruit and nut to round it out nicely. From the dirst sip right down to the last it was a most enjoyable beer. Great body and mouthfeel. Just enough carbonation to give it some life but not so much that you are belching like a frat boy. I will definitely be trying to secure some of this for my collection. It will do wonders to warm me up during the winter months.

341ml bottle, 2005 vintage - pours inky/oily black with a good tan/coffee head on top. Fairly thick and syrupy, and totally opaque (at least it seemed to me under the minimal light in the bar). Aroma is very roasty/hoppy, with an almost sour, vinous character. Though a bit surprising and strange in the aroma, the sourness marries perfectly with the intense roastiness in the flavour, and combining with the hops creates a bitter chocolate quality that packs a big punch. Alcohol is hidden perfectly, and marries beautifully with the combination of flavours here. Some coffee and anise take a back seat to the intense chocolate roastiness. Fruity as well, with a good mild bitterness in the finish. Not as thick in body as some U.S. Imperials, but lighter, like the British variation on the style. The big, intense flavour reminded me more of American brews however. Fantastic stuff!

341 ml bottle, 2005 vintage - pours an oily, limitless BLACK, with a nice sized mocha head. Aroma hoppy, slightly sour, and roastily malty. Chocolate, coffee, some smoke, too. Full, thick body that is all of the above but moreso - more hops, more malt, chocolate, sour cherries.....delicious. Perfect carbonation. Dark chocolate and plum in the mid-palate, which fades to some coffee and raisin flavours. Mild bitter finish. The whole is absolutely stellar. Perry is a national treasure.

2005 bottle, Beer Bistro. Tar black, small tan head. Looks oily. Wonderfully yielding smokey nose with no hint of alcohol. Simple smoothness. Buried inside are blackberries, figs, black cherries, and a touch of vanilla bean. Perfectly silken palate. No edges whatsoever. Just a whisper of carbonation left to carry the palate forward. Unbelievably, sinfully smooth. Rounds to a roasty but unburnt latte-like finish after passing through a dark chocolate stage and its oaty beginning. Ashamed to have not drank one more.

Licorice, coffee and mocha aroma, black, small cappuccino head. Full roast coffee flavour, some licorice too. Absolutely bitter, oily, terrific, silky mouthfeel. Wonderful! Well done Mr. Mason. A very large Thank You to Brian Morin of beerbistro.