The Duck-Rabbit Rabid Duck Russian Imperial Stout

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

5/19/07. First beer, second round, in a 5 round, top-rated imperial stout blind tasting to be held over the next year. Four beers with similar characteristics will be sampled in each round. Beers in this round were cellared for about a year and a half. Round 2 - Medium Body. 12 oz bottle. Dark woody brown. Minimal, dark tan head. Thinnest looking of the four. Nose is black coffee, molasses and some dusty brown sugar. Medium body with a sweet, grapey tang. Bittersweet chocolate and coffee foremost. Muted hops add some bitterness.

Hard not to get swept up in the hype associated with this brewery, but I’d have to completely agree with the average scores on this one. Decent looking head, but lacing is a bit weak. Hmm, the viscosity is not where I thought it’d be. A tad on the thin side. The typical roasted malts that impart a modest amount of chocolate, coffee and plummy character. Tad on the sweet side and more than I would’ve liked. Overall, decent, but quite average and expecting more from a brewery that initially came onto the scene so strong.

12-oz. Thanks, GoldTwins! Pours a deep, genuine opaque black with a thick, moussy, rocky dark tan/orangey head. Huge chocolate and roast on the nose. Medium body, light carb, but huge flavors--bold attack. Thick swirls of chocolate and roast and dark fruit into a lingering, lightly bitter finish. I can’t say there’s any one thing about this that stands out but it’s delicious, hides the booze well, and is well made in every way. Great stuff.

Trade from Ross, thanks man! Pours a black color with big brownish head that fades quickly. Aroma is intense sweet and roasted malts with some notes of dark fruit and a bit of alcohol. Taste is of roasted malt, subtle dark fruits, light chocolate and some coffee flavors mix into the fray in the finish. The mouthfeel is actually a bit watery upon my first taste but in the swallow it becomes apparent that I was definitely wrong. The alcohol is very well concealed. As one other rate put it, this a simple imperial stout. They don’t try any fancy schmancy stuff, they brewed a simple yet fantastic impy stout.

Black body with a small tan head with low retention. Roasted malts and more roasted malts. Very little in terms of chocolate, coffee beans or fruit flavours. Finish leaves an after-taste of roasted wood. Alcohol very well concealed. Simple and effective. Not very original but who cares… originality is not always a good thing, sometimes original just means weird. I’m original.

12oz Bottle pours out JET black topped with a nice brown head. GREAT ROAST and smoke on this one. Another great one from Duck-Rabbit. Thanks Jake65

Pour is black but not quite oily. The head is a whisper thin layer of tiny dark tan bubbles and a ring of cream. Aroma is some bitter chocolate, but also alcoholic even cold and more so as it warms. Flavor is bitter and very roasty. The alcohol is present in the flavor as well. I’m not as impressed as I was with the milk stout and the Baltic porter. It’s good but not great, and not worth hunting down.

Bottle: Dark brown with ruby edges and a large tan head. Nose is rich of roasted malt, coffee, and dark fruit. Tasted full of heavy roasted malt, bittersweet cocoa, coffee, and sweet/citrus fruits. Nice, thick body. Thank you JCB for sending this.