Sprecher Russian Imperial Stout

Bottle. Poured black with an almost black head. Intensely malty aroma of molasses and dark chocolate. The flvor is very sweet malty licorice and molasses. The finish is a robust, thick, lingering flavor. Maybe a little too over the top for an imperial stout and lacking complexity. Will probbaly avoid this in the future.

Big 1 liter flip top labeled as Brewmaster’s Reserve. Very dark pour with huge brown head. Big on the chocolate and alcohol aromas. Flavor was not quite as nice. Chocolate came through once again in the flavor, but was accompanied by some bitterness that would have been better had it been a nice burnt malt type of bitterness. Not too bad, I was just expecting more after the aroma.

Bottle. (thx for sharing, Papsoe) Black body with a small, tan head. Burnt, dryish nose, quite heavy, with mocha and some alcoholl. Dry flavor, quite burnt, with some licorice, mocha and a little alcohol. Full, dry body. Mocha, dried fruits, roasted malt and licorice in the finish. Dangerously quaffable for an imperial stout. (071004)

Poured dark, but not thick and black like I expected. A little too bitter for this style I thought. I got sick of it after a while.

Bottle poured a nearly opaque dark brown with a small lingering brown head. Aromas of dark fruit, bitter chocolate, coffee, light vanilla and a hint of smoke. Palate was medium to full bodied and smooth. Flavors of bitter chocolate, vanilla, light licorice, light coffee and hints of dark fruit and smoke with a smooth lingering bittersweet finish.

Bottle from Discount Liquors, WI. After many disappointments I don’t expect much from Sprecher but I’m always interested in trying an Imperial Stout. Pours a dark brown black with a tall fluffy tan head that collapses slowly. Aroma is lots of roasted malts toffee chocolate caramel and vanilla underneath that roast. Surprisingly layered. Roasted malt flavors with lots of coffee, molasses, caramel, some chocolate, vanilla, and currants. The thin body is really one of the only disappointing factors here. Although not as imperial as other stouts, quite tasty still.

Pours a deep black color with a nice tan head.Aromas of chocolate,caramel,coffee and roasted malts. Flavor is of coffee and roasted malts with chocolate and vanilla notes.Body is a little thin for a impy,but very smooth. It hides its alcohol very well.Nice chocolate aftertaste with hints of licorice peaking through.

Bottle. Thanks to Stine for sending me this. Pours a deep black with thin head. aroma is vanilla, chocolate, molasses. Flavor is full of vanilla, chocolate, coffee, caramel. I can see how some can say figs and dried fruit but I honestly didn’t taste any of that. A very mellow RIS. Meaning that this is kind of bland at first. Actually at first it is very horrid and I thought it was going to be my worst rated Imperial Stout. It’s possible that it is. Not a bad beer in any means but this really doesn’t know what it’s doing. At times it seems to be all over the place with many different flavors but not in a complex way, more of in a mess. Some fine tuning keeps it from becomming a great beer.