Earlier this year, I picked up an interesting enough looking bottle at Total Wine. The label said this was an Imperial Stout by style, Old World Russian Imperial Stout to be precise. Aside from that, though, there wasn’t much more information available. The ornate label looking, festooned as it was with an exotic owl, a tiny matryoshka doll, and Russian cathedrals capped with onion-shaped domes, promised a beer of 8.2% alcohol by volume. The beer was brewed in Fraserburgh, Scotland, was from batch 406, and was recommended to be consumed by September 21, 2012.

Further, it said the following:

“Gently crafted by hand in Scotland. This Old World Stout perfectly recreates the imperial beers of years gone by; brewed to the traditional percentage of alc. 8.2% by vol. to avoid freezing during its journey across the baltic sea to snowy Moscow.

All full-bodied taste, this opulent whirl of hops and malt even rivals the most colorful of imperial Fabergé eggs.

Originally created to celebrate the Russian royal family. This beer is a fitting tribute with which to toast your own empire.”

It wasn’t until later that a little research through the miracle of Bing revealed this beer was produced by Scotland’s legendary Brewdog concern. Truth be told, I’ve never seen a Brewdog beer in my travels, but this one is specially brewed for Total Wine by Brewdog. They do an IPA for them as well it seems.

Old World Russian Imperial Stout pours to an inky black color with a thick and foamy tan head formation and an enticing nose of allsorts candy. Taking a sip, I get a rich and luxurious thick mouthfeel up front that is absolutely packed with licorice. This is good; I love licorice. Some chocolate and dark roasty malt notes poke through as well, and in the finish, powdered cocoa and dark fruits. Then a roasty bitter and grassy hop bitterness emerge to round this one off perfectly.

Perfect is a good word for this beer, because it is exactly that. Just amazing and a bargain at $5.99 a bottle. Not as big as some in alcohol content to be sure, but every bit as big in flavor. I loved it and will be back for more.

One of the best imperial stouts I have had in a long, long time!



Home