Widmer Brothers Reserve Raspberry Russian Imperial Stout

Brewed by Widmer Brothers Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in Snifter

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Draft at South Park Tavern. Definitely raspberry in the aroma but that fades slightly in the taste. Big, bold impy stout that borders on being a touch harsh. Fine.

(draft @ 101 Bottles - Kent, OH) Dark brown pour with a thick tan head. Mild aroma at the start. Lots of roasted notes and chocolate with a nice and thick raspberry jam note coming out more and more as it warmed up. The flavor behaved much the same way. Chocolate and heavily roasted malts sort of mute the raspberry, but that changes the more it warms up and the raspberry really moves forward and blends better with the roasted notes.

22. Pours jet black with a big thick creamy tan head. Lots of webby lace. Nice rich roasty nose, a little fruit showing but mostly coffee and baker’s chocolate. Chalky medium body. Undercarbed. Roast, coffee, and raspberry kind of duking it out alone in a room. Acetic finish.

Bottle and served in Stone IRS snifter: Pours nearly opaque with with a bit with frothy tan head and okay lace. The aroma has notes of char, caramel, chocolate, oak, and aromatic malts along with some very faint raspberry and raisin. Ashy, leathery, tobacco, and earthy with some minerally component. The taste is rather paint by numbers stout, roast, toast, chocolate, and some toffee and coffee. Is it bad? Heck no, it is very satisfactory. Is it some above and beyond, Heck no. What fruitiness I get here is plummy and not Raspberry (nor Blackberry, nor Blueberry, nor much of any berry I can think of). The mouth feel is oily, smooth and atypical "AB/In-Bev corp" thinned out. A good beer but not even close to meeting my already lowered expectations. Call the boys at Leines (Miller) and ask them how to do a big brewery made but really nice Imperial Stout.

22oz bottle, shared with my sister. Nice thin light brown head, some bubbles on the side of the glass. Blackc olor. Good lace. Smooth, soft carbonation. Dry finish. My sister said she couldn’t detect any raspberry flavor in this at all. I think I’m picking up on a subtle tart flavor in the aftertaste. There’s maybe a slight raspberry flavor, but yeah, it’s very subdued, less than I expected. Roasty malts, some light bitter cocoa. Along with the tart taste, there’s a good bitterness. It’s a nice taste. A good one to share. But not $13 good. Maybe $10 good.

Thanks to blutt59 for sharing this bottle. This is my 200th RIS rating. The beer pours a dark brownish-red color with a tan head. The aroma has a lot of roasted malt and chocolate notes, with not too much raspberry. The fruit notes come through more in the aroma. I get a raspberry and cream component to go along with the roasted malt and chocolate. The alcohol is well hidden. Medium carbonation and thick, chewy mouthfeel.

Bottle. Blackish beer with a nice tan head. Malt and light roast aroma with chooclate and light coffee. Raspberry and roast flavor with chooclate. Medium-plus bodied. Raspberry and chocolate linger with toffee.

12. Strong sweet smell of chocolate and raspberry. Collie is deep dark black. Aroma is cool. Flavor is got burnt today, very fluffy Mouthfeel. Dry, light, No raspberry.

Dark brown pour with a tan head. Bourbon aroma is overpowering with only a small raspberry character. Flavor has some raspberry and chocolate and booziness. It’s ok, but could be a little more balanced.

Bottle. Very dark brown, thick beige head, good retention, solid lacing. Aroma of bourbon hits you from across the room. After the initial impression it’s mostly the blueberries that are prominent. Taste is chocolate covered blueberries with an edge of warming whiskey that comes in late. Very nice.