Stone Imperial Russian Stout

Pours very heavy and dark with a deep, tan head to match. Smells a bit of roasted malts and chocolate. Also smell a "soy sauce" of some sort. I’m sure people will mock me, but I’m not sure how else to describe it. The taste is fantastic. Very rich and bittersweet chocolatey. A thick feel in the mouth and leaves a slight alcohol aftertaste. Fantastic stuff.

(This was a 2006 release that was not aged when I drank it.) Poured this into a tulip glass. It looked like I expected. Totally black, with no light shining through. About a half inch of toffee colored head, which dissipated fairly quickly, leaving a ring around the edges. The head renewed itself each time I swirled the glass. Even as I approached the bottom of the glass, I still could not see my fingers through the beer. So far so good. This beer didn’t have as much of an aroma as I was expecting. I could smell cocoa, coffee, some sweetness and some bitterness, but nothing overpowering. It did smell good, though. Now for the big moment, tasting this beast. Coffee, bittersweet cocoa, toffee. Not overly sweet or bitter, but you could taste both at once. Really good, but a bit on the rough side. Alcohol was fairly well hidden, but it was still apparent. Mouthfeel: Thick, chewy, warming. Similar in texture to a doppelbock. Not too much carbonation to cut through the thickness.Warmed the throat all the way down to the stomach. This came across as quite strong, and I don’t think I could drink a lot of it in a row. I split the bomber with some friends, and my third was enough for one sitting.

Pours black with large tan head. The nose is superb. Never like the overwhelming but simplistic Oak Aged Yet, this is a subtle beauty: coffee, raisins, and licorice dominate, but there’s a pleasant oat undercurrent. Flavor has bitter chocolate and a lingering fruit/malt component. Salty and sticky but surprisingly smooth (not overly thick). For such a beast, the avoidance of "in your face" is impressive.

1pt6oz Bottle. Let me start by saying that thus far I have hated, down right loathed stouts, but this beer is very good, delicious. I drank it until the last drop. All the flavors documented in the description are well accented. I am not a fan of thick beers, however with this beer I can see the appeal. I think that a piece of dessert bread goes very well with this beer, I had a piece of homemade banana nut bread with mine.

Wow. Just wow. Had my first IRS this week and I’m pretty sure I still don’t know enough about the body and flavor to write an adequate review. Pours very dark (think motor oil but less viscous) with a nice tan head. Initial aroma very apparent both with malt and hops. Flavor is dark - dark chocolate, dark fruit, just dark. You can certainly taste the initial alcohol but this mellows as the beer warms up. It also is less apparent once you’ve had a few sips but that’s probably due to the extremely high ABV setting in. This is definitely a beer I’m adding to my favorites list. I’m planning to buy a couple of cellar bottles too and see how they taste at Halloween.

I probably shouldn’t have had this in the middle of the summer in an un-airconditioned house. That being said, the aroma was complex and malty. The flavors were chocolate and mocha that left just a touch of bitterness behind. The mouthfeel was a bit astringent, which is really my one complaint about this beer, the alcohol was to present for my taste. But then again, I probably should have just aged it until there was snow on the ground.

Sampled with Jblauvs. Used motor oil pour with dark tan frothy head. Lacing is moderate to minimal, but still quite enticing. Pours thick like syrup- super viscous and impenetrable- this is certainly a heavy specimen. Aroma was evident even before pouring. Primarily heavily roasted malt with accents of coffee, dark dark chocolate, and vanilla. Dark fruit notes such as raisin and plum creep in there as well. Aroma is pronounced, robust and powerful while still maintaining a great degree of complexity. Time for the first sip: lets get one thing straight from the get go- alcohol is quite evident though not overpowering. Most evident in the aftertaste, but a slight initial burst is existant as well. Flavors are powerful- most apparent is powerful roasted, and almost burnt malt. Very roasty with chocolate and dark fruit noticeable. Roasty aspects are slightly overpowering, though to some extent residual sugars poke through to create a very moderate balance of sweetness and roasted malt. Hop character is nearly non-existent, not that it needs to be. Palate is wonderful. Feels thicker than it pours. Syrupy mouthfeel with caressing and smooth features malt with significant malt depth. Full bodied and perfect viscous nature creates quite the treat on the palate. Complexity is rivaled by few, and nearly every facet of this brew has been honed to perfection. Nearly every angle is covered, though it could use a bit of aging to smooth out that alcohol character. Malt character is extraordinary and flavors are bursting and incredible. Its hard to find a better brew than this. Nov 4th re-rate.

WOW! I will definetly getthis one again. Dark as night, thick. Tastes of coffee, anise. Serve it a bit warmer than the lighter beers, maybe 55 degrees or so. Anyway, take your time and enjoy this one. It was awesome.