Stone Imperial Russian Stout

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Escondido, California USA

Pours oil black and thick, beatufully colored and thick head. Mouthfeel is amazing, wonderfully smooth. Tastes of wood and chocolate. Avoids much of the burnt flavors i get from alot of stouts. Definetly the best I have had in the catagory

Bottles 04 05 06 07 08. Shared with a couple friends. Both 05 and 06 were the highlights for me. 04 really fell off. 07 and 08 were kind of on the hot side. Sitll very smooth. Poured oily black with a creamy brown head. Perfect. Aroma of coffee with some chocolate. A smooth coffee flavor with some bitter mellow chocolate. Flavors became more dominant as it warmed. One the best stouts. Love its availability.

This beer kicks you in the balls and then comes back screaming for more. It really does pour the color of motor oil too, which is just lovely. Heavy alcohol flavor here as well as a big coffee taste. So good it’ll make you slap yo mama!

Aroma: wow. where to start. Coffee grinds, slight caramel, alcohol heat, roasted, almost burnt malt smell, chocolate. Appearance: opaque, dark brown, basically black (as expected!). Small beige head. Flavor: wow. oats. almost sweet, gentle. caramel. chocolate. coffee. wow. Palate: lighter on the palate than I would have thought. For a Russian stout, i’d say it’s a 3/5 on weight and viscosity. Tiny bubbles! Carbonation present from start to finish giving a bubble, crisper finish to what could have been a heavy syrupy beast based on the aroma. Nice surprise. Refreshing. Overall: Wow. Just a fantastic Imperial Russian Stout.

22oz bottle. Spring 2009 release. This was my first taste of Stone Imperial Stout and it definitely lives up to the hype.This is among the best of anything I have tasted yet. My first thought is that I need to get back to the store and stock up. Deep dark pour, velvety feel, complex coffee and chocolate flavors everything is just right with this one.

Pours jet black. Intense flavors. Just the right amount of alcohol. Good burn. Very good beer.

10.5% in the ’09 vintage in bottle. Aroma: Light coffee and malt Appearance: Black and thick with a dark creamy head that froths up quick but disappears just as quickly. Flavor: It has the taste of coffee and chocolate. It is very woody with some hops adding bitterness at the end. Palate: As thick as a beer can get without being stuffed full of nitrogen. Overall: I liked this beer immensely. I don’t know if it is the best stout I’ve had in my life, but it is probably in the top 10. I am going to have to come back to this one for sure. Maybe later tonight.

Aroma: Chocolate frosted cake all day with hints of vanilla and coffee. Later, slight vegetal notes briefly appear before being drowned out by persistent chocolate aromas. Flavor: Smooth 60% bitter chocolate and milder cocoa,followed by more roasted chocolate and coffee. Then, add more chocolate. Finish has mildly bitter chocolate and coffee flavors. Comment: 2005 bottle aged 3 years and tasted Sept., 2008. Very smooth, lovely full-bodied mouth feel with integrated flavors, mellow chocolate and coffee. I was afraid that this might have been past it’s prime, but in fact it may be at it’s best at 3 years of age. Based on a friend’s remark that he had tried vanilla ice cream with stout on it at Pike Place Brewing in Seattle, we put a small dollop into our glasses later on. The result: A tasty chocolate and vanilla float with enhanced bitter chocolate and coffee finish. Though this seems like an intensely shameful thing to do a a beer, I might try it again, maybe even in public.