The Duck-Rabbit Rabid Duck Russian Imperial Stout

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

poured into snifter. pours black, blacker than what I thought it would, with a dark caramel sticky head. sweet malty/smoky aroma, very thick mouthfeel and creamy, smoky finish that sticks in the aftertaste. the front is sweet and sour, very smoky throught to finish, definitly coats and sticks to your mouth, very good impy, not the best.. as it warms the sweet and sour front becomes more prevalent, and it is very thick in the glass with it a second behind on the swirl.

pours thick black with a caramel head. sweet caramel and smoky aroma. very strong smoky flavor. very creamy and thick. a good imperial stout but definitely not my favorite.

Yet another excellent beer from the people at Duck-Rabbit. A roasty aroma, with a strong coffee profile, light smoke, subtle fruits and chocolate. Appearance was just black, smallish dark tan head. Mouthfeel was a bit of a let down. It just didn’t have that chewyness that I enjoy. Flavor was a chocolate-coffee combo with a light touch of smoke and some hops. Good stuff.

Pours a dark brown with a small light brown head. Smells of roasty chocolate, big on the chocolate especially. Dark malts, a little vanilla as well. The taste was of big roast as well, a little bit sweet, bitter chocolate and malts. Very oily on the palate but a very full flavor. A little bit of licorice comes out towards the finish of this beer and lingers in the aftertaste. Decent imperial stout. maybe a little too bitter for me to think its great.

Bottle: Pours jet black with a very deep brown head. The aroma is enormous, evident as soon as you open the bottle. Has some raisins, molasses, black licorice, sassafras, BBQ sauce, dark chocolate, vinegar, wood. Lots of crap going on. The flavor is strange. Very sharp bitterness jumps at you initially, full of dark resins. Then some boozy, rich licorice notes come out, as well as wood, vinegar, peat and more. The later flavors become more Stout like with evident dark chocolate, mocha, espresso and a deeply roasted almost burnt/smoky finish. This beer has a lot going on which clashes. Maybe it’s potential complexity will smooth out with time. Still, under all the abrasiveness, it’s enjoyable. Seems similar to Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter.

Best By Date January 2008, Sampled July 2007
Another very well carbonated beer from Duck-Rabbit; this time I was ready for it, but I still ended up with a fat, three-finger thick, creamed-chocolate brown colored head. The beer is a deeply blackened, brownish tinged color. The aroma is actually vinous in some ways; notes of prunes, wood smoke, light notes of espresso, raisins, cherry cough-syrup and once you really dig for it something like a piquant, aged slightly too long, cheddar cheese.

Thickish, though still somewhat light for an Imperial Stout. The first sip brings a finish with a pronounced, sharply herbaceous, phenolic driven, green, yet slightly rancid vegetal character that is somewhat reminiscent of broccoli. This note really seems to linger on in the finish & even mixes in a harsh way with the alcohol; burnt broccoli indeed! Up front the beer has rich flavors of salty malt, layered with chocolate, blackened-lightly acidic coffee, browned-toasted grain. If you never let the beer leave you mouth the harsh finish will not plague the flavor, unfortunately you must eventually swallow or spit the beer out and when you do the broccoli will get you every time.

As the beer warms up, the vegetal character in the finish lets up just a touch, not enough to not be noticeable though. Regardless the beer is still too acridly roasted, with notes of burnt grain-husk bitterness, and a burn malt driven acidity, both of which also come to a head in the finish.

Bottle. Looks just plain amazing - the deepest black with a dark brown head. Aroma is pleasant - Sweet blueberries mix with malty chocolate with hints of roasted peanuts. Flavor makes a statement right away. I was on the verge of giving this one of my highest ratings because of the amazing complexity on the first swallow but the almost insane power of the flavor makes it hard to completely finish this beer. Its just a flavor overload of berries, bittersweet chocolate malt and alcohol and that was probably the brewers intention. Whew

Black colour, bigger tan head. Chocolate malt, some roast, a bit of sweet in the aroma. Chocolatey with some coffee notes and a bittering feeling that doesn’t overpower but lets you know its there.