Stone Imperial Russian Stout

Bottle from Systembolaget. Pours black with a smal head dark brown head. Lots of malts, coffe and chocolate in the aroma. Well balanced for a strong stout!

Bottle. Black colour with a brown head. Aroma: Roastiness, coffee, cocoa, sweet malt, licorice mint, dark fruit, alcohol. Flavor: Roastiness, lots of licorice, coffee, sweet maltiness, chocolate, black fruit, a bit of alcohol. Balanced by quite a lot of hop biterness.

Flaske. Flot kulsort øl. Dejlig duft af malt med en smule alkohol. Smagen er brændt men på en meget balanceret måde. Bitterheden slår til allersidst, men igen på en måde der afbalancere varmen fra alkoholen. Virkelig lækker øl.

Bottle: Black colour, with a nice brown creamy head. Aroma of Dry fruits, raisins, dark Choclate, coffee and some aly nose in the end. Flavor is almost the same, smouth creamy mouth feeling, with a nice raisins, and choclate/coffee mix. This beer had a nice big body, and a medium to long raisins finish.

Bottle from Systembolaget. Tasted on dec 2, 2008 and on dec 28, 2008. Pours a pitch black color with a brown head. It dissapears quite quick, some lacing on the glass. Aroma of roasted malt, chocolate, toffee, coffee, liquorice and anise. Flavour is quite sweet first; notes of dark chocolate, lots of coffee, toffee (reminds me of the chocolate toffee-candy Riesen). Clear notes of liquorice and anise also in the flavour. There’s definitely hops in the background but they are not that prominent as I expected - on the other hand that is only good according to me. Nicely bitter finish. Much more balanced than other american imperial stouts I have had lately. Wonderful taste. Drinking this is like letting some chocolate toffee slowly melt in your mouth, and well, even better than that! Wonderful and filling in the mouth. Very creamy, quite thick, a bit sticky, but at the same time smooth. Wonderful and fantastic. This is defintely a very nice sipper. Despite the 90 IBUs it feels very balanced - not too bitter, but not too sweet either. This is how I want to have my imperial stout. Fantastic!

Now, I knew I was lucky when Ughsmash told me that I was getting a 2004 vintage bottle in our last trade. But what a treat: Pours an inky solid black with a brief loose-bubbled dark brown head - darker than any head I’ve ever seen - which disappears all to quickly leaving no trace, not even lacing, which is something I’ve noticed in aged beers. Wonderful enticing aroma - butter tart with dark sweet raisins and fancy molasses. So pungent, is the aroma that I probably spent more time inhaling than imbibing. Taste does not disappoint. While maintaining the requisite roastiness of a great stout, the raisin and molasses flavours really come out, as well as warming but not burning alcohol. Very fruity and complex with a hop taste that doesn’t conflict at all, lightly oily but unobtrusive. Thin but oily and coating body with decent carbonation that serves its purpose. What a treat - a great sipper, with new flavours in every taste. Many, many thanks to Ughsmash for the chance to taste this one.

Bottle. Pours a pitch black color,looks almost like motoroil. Aroma is sweet and roasted with some chocolat,coffee and fruity notes. Mouthfeel is creamy and thick. Taste is sweet with some nice balanced alcohol and chocolat,coffee and some hops. Great!

Growler of the 2008 vintage from Half-Time. Pours a luscious jet black with a thin to medium dark tan head. Dark roasted malt scents with hints of black coffee and bitter chocolate. Medium thick in the mouth, with very fine carbonation. Rich roasty malt flavors and a gentle bitterness show up again at the end on the finish. Very well constructed beer that hides its 10+% ABV very well.