The Duck-Rabbit Rabid Duck Russian Imperial Stout

Brewed by The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Farmville, North Carolina USA

Draft at <a href="http://www.brickstorepub.com/"> Brick Store Pub in Decatur. Pours black and opaque with a thin tan head that leaves a good bit of stringy, creeping lace on the sides of the glass. The aroma is huge and complex: coffee, licorice, caramel, toffee, dark fruit, and alcohol. The flavor is very roasty and bitter with thick dark fruit (prunes), molasses, alcohol, and espresso flavors. At mid-palate the beer begins to dry, and there is a fruity and pungent quality to the hop flavor. The finish is dry and roasty with bitter and fruity flavors lingering. The beer is thick and creamy in body - totally decadent, but not cloying or syrupy. Overall - wow! a strong, complex, decadent, imperial stout. Not my favorite, but certainly memorable.

Oh my goodness this has aged well. 12oz purchased in early 2007, and it is simply slamming right now. The pour remains consistent, always a nice thick dark brew with an initial head of cappucino foam and some lively carbonation. But what a difference some age makes (I continue to think that DR’s big beers, while enjoyable upon release, are best with at least six months on ’em). The dark fruits that tend to dominate early on are still detectable (almost as if this were some weirdly lagered impy, shading into a Baltic porter) but are integrated superbly with the roasted malts, giving this one a really unique quality. Some zesty hops remain, making it something of an oddity - a refreshing imperial stout! Kudos, Mr. Philippon!

Bottle, thanks to pantanap for this tasty extra! An Imperial Stout can’t look much better than this in my book. Midnight black color that absorbs all light entering the glass. Massive and viscous red-brown head that cascades perfectly into huge lines of lace. Instant aroma of charred kilned malts and cocoa butter, mixed with cherry chocolate truffle. Flavor leans sweet with a roasted character that slaps you across the face. Nice chewy palate with a lasting note of nuts and smoky wood that entices cheek-biting. Medium carbonation and the alcohol is well noticeable. Sauceoneey!

The Rabid Duck sported a label with the Duck-Rabbit donning a Russian fur hat. The pour looked more dark brown than the inky blackness typical of other RIS beers. The brown head over the body was quite thin. The smell was a little too mild for what this was. I detected coffee, cocoa, and toffee in the nose. The taste was where this seasonal release started to come into its own. The level of roasty and hop bitterness detected in the first sip was completely unexpected based on the smell. This was followed by a lot of coffee and bitter chocolate. The finish was astringent and grainy. Quite dry for the style with not much in the way of fruit or residual sugars. The alcohol was apparent due to the warmth but not blatant. Quite a bit thicker feeling in the mouth than it looked. Quite American in character with a heavy West Coast style hop profile. This should be one of the prime candidates for aging, and I can’t wait a few years to get some verticals going.

Bottle poured beautifully opaque, deep brown with a pancake colored finger thick head. The nose was smooth and chocolate, but the flavor was a bit malt astringent and quite dry. Finish was hot, ans it stuck around a while.

Thanks for the bottle, barleypops. The body was black with an orangeish head. The aroma was fairly sweet with milk chocolate and pancakes. There was also some walnuts. The taste was pancakes and dark chocolate. There was also some depe dark fruit like prunes. While the alcohol was definitely there, it was not very hot. The finish was dry with some nice coffee. A well made and fairly balanced Impy.

black pour with a small dark brown head. burnt toast and coffee aroma with some noticeable hops. flavor is coffee, alcohol, and roasted malt with some underlying caramel sweetness. medium bodied. - re-rate- 9/18/09. about 1.5 years old. pours a black color with only a very small brown head. almost nothing. alcohol still very prevalent in aroma. the alcohol has mellow significantly in the flavor. a bit tart/sour. creamy texture. overall, i still feel this is a sub-par imperial stout. i have another bottle for next year. what’s with the sourness??

Rerate based upon 2008 bottle, generously sent by Emacgee unsolicited! Almost opaque black in color with a tan/light brown head. Aroma: sweet chocolate, molasses, light notes of dark fruit, roast, and light alcohol. Taste: alot of chocolate, moderate roast, and dark fruit- tastes like they put some Special B in here. This also seemed to be assertively hopped for the style- a moderate amount of floral hops in the taste. Clean profile. Finishes with lingering dry roast and a moderately strong hop bitterness. Medium to full bodied, medium for the style, pretty drinkable for a 10 % RIS. Overall a very nice beer.