North Coast Old Rasputin

 North Coast Brewing Co.   Fort Bragg, CA

Notes:

Imperial Russian Stout

12oz Bottle

9.0% ABV

Brewed year round

From the bottle:

Brewed in the tradition of the 18^th century English brewers who supplied the Russian court of Catherine the Great.

Appearance:  Pours the darkest possible brown, though it looks black…mocha colored head about a finger width formed and hung around…it’s thick and full of tiny bubbles…really nice lacing…a good looking brew! (4.5/5)

Smell:  Full of roasted malts accompanied by coffee, cocoa, toffee, dark fruit and a touch of alcohol heat, which becomes more apparent as the beer warms…(4/5)

Taste:  Much like the nose…starts with heavy roasted malts and fades into roasted espresso bitterness…mild dark fruit (plum, fig) sweetness, toffee, cocoa, alcohol heat all come through at some point adding nicely to the overall flavor…certainly warming my belly as I drink more...not overly hoppy…(4.25/5)

Mouthfeel:  Medium body with medium to lots of carbonation…wet and mildly chewy…some alcohol heat on the palate…finishes with a dry bitterness…(4.25/5)

Overall:  This is a good brew...it’s hard for me to say it’s the best imperial stout I’ve ever had, kinda feels like a run-of-the-mill upper level stout in smell, flavor and mouthfeel quite comparable to say Left Hand’s Fade to Black (which I love)…with that said, it definitely is an upper eschelon brew that deserves all the kudos it receives from beer aficionados…a very drinkable brew that I would consider sessionable, 1, 2 or even 3 would be a very happy night and one that would warm the belly as an indoor fire would warm the face…highly recommended, I’m excited to see how this beer after a year or more in my cellar will evolve…(4.25/5)

Score:

(4.22/5)