Background: Another big beer, this one hailing from Pennsylvania and clocking in at 9.1% ABV.

Nose: Very repressed at first, just a bit of alcohol and leafy hops. Opens up to reveal some dark fruit and cocoa.

Taste: Aggressive bitterness throughout. Solid malt backbone, but other than muddled dark fruit and grassy hops there’s not a lot of flavours coming through.

Overall: Very disappointing. Thoroughly mediocre, with few redeeming qualities.

Background: This hefty beer comes to us from North Coast Brewing in Fort Bragg, California and weighs in at 9% ABV. Rasputin is a historical Russian figure who today is remembered mainly for the legend surrounding his death: that he was poisoned, shot, beaten, and then thrown into an ice-covered river where he finally died.

Nose: Chocolate, and lots of it. Other than that, there’s coffee, molasses, figs, some mild leafy hop aroma and a bit of solventy alcohol.

Taste: Bitter roastiness and chocolatey sweetness, with medium hop bitterness, some earthy hop flavour, and a light fruity edge. Finish is long and not the most pleasant, with an acrid bitterness that I attribute to a heavy hand with the black patent malt.

Overall: This is a style of beer you normally want to savour, but this one doesn’t easily lend itself to that. However, if you drink more quickly and don’t let the finish shove itself forward this is a very nice beer.

What do you do when you have four bottles of the same beer, each brewed by a different person?

FIGHT!

Four bottles of the HomeBrewTalk 08/08/08 RIS in a head-to-head, no-holds-barred competition.

1 vs. 2

Appearance (1): Pours with no head. Black body shading to a reddish brown.
Appearance (2): Medium brown head, same dense black body.

Advantage: 2.

Nose (1): Rich molasses accompanied by coppery high notes and some herbaceous accents.
Nose (2): A mix of molasses and nuts.

Advantage: 1.

Taste (1): Hop bitterness is on the high end of medium. A mix of dried raisins and dates on a background of brown sugar and dark chocolate. Hop character is very present, mainly a slightly grassy vegetal note.
Taste (2): Bittersweet chocolate presents first, accompanied by a light to medium hop bitterness. Some coffee notes in the middle, followed by dark dried fruit. Light, woody hop flavour.

Advantage: 2

Mouthfeel (1): Thick and oily, very low carbonation makes it a bit sticky and tongue-coating.
Mouthfeel (2): Also thick and oily, but a little lighter and a better level of carbonation.

Advantage: 2

Overall: Both are enjoyable, but 2 definitely has the edge in drinkability due to a slightly superior taste profile and a proper carbonation level.

Winner: 2

3 vs. 4

Appearance (3): Dense black body, tight brown head.
Appearance (4): Dense black body, tight dark brown head. Slightly better retention.

Advantage: 4

Nose (3): Coffee and cocoa (and plastic?)
Nose (4): Brown sugar, dark fruit, and dark chocolate.

Advantage: 4

Taste (3): Roasty coffee with caramel mixed in, light hop bitterness, herbaceous hop flavour.
Taste (4): First one to have a noticeable alcohol presence. Hot alcohol, light hop bitterness. Caramel and brown sugar on a chocolate background, with raisiny notes coming through near the end.

Advantage: 3

Mouthfeel (3): Smooth and velvety.
Mouthfeel (4): Full-bodied, carbonation is maybe a bit high, and alcohol is present here as well.

Advantage: 3

Overall: Again, both are good. 4 was strong out of the gate, but 3 was ready and willing to answer and turned in a very impressive showing in the all-important “Taste” category.

Winner: 3

2 vs. 3 (championship round)

(Appearance is a draw)

Nose (2): Caramel and treacle as well.
Nose (3): Not plastic, but rather a mildly unpleasant vegetal presence.

Advantage: 2

Taste (2): Beautifully layered. Heavy mixed syrups and sugars on the front and a drying hoppiness in the finish.
Taste (3): Cleaner malt presence with clear roastiness. Finish muddies up a bit due to the caramel overstaying its welcome.

Advantage: 2

(Mouthfeel is a draw)

Overall: Definitely a close race, but 2 edges ahead due to some minor missteps by 3.

Winner: 2

And your contestants were…
1: flowerysong
2: Evets
3: ScubaSteve
4: brewt00l

Background: Brewed by HomeBrewTalk member brewt00l. Received as part of the 08/08/08 RIS swap. Sampled early due to brewer's concern over possible hot-side aeration during sparging.

Appearance: Opaque black with brown highlights. Minimal brown head displaying no retention.

Nose: Rich, roasted malt.

Taste: Chocolatey, with a medium bitterness. High notes are alcohol, low notes are malt. Some generic hoppiness. Dry finish with hints of coffee and tar.

Mouthfeel: Moderate carbonation, smoothly warming alcohol. Medium body.

Overall: Good, but still young. No overt signs of premature oxidation.

Background: Seasonal release from Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois. Aged in ex-bourbon barrels.

Appearance: Pours with a slight viscosity and minimal head. Dense black with orange highlights.

Nose: Molasses and bourbon, with a slight chocolate influence.

Taste: Sweet treacle, toffee, bitter cocoa, hints of coffee. Bourbon influence shows up as slightly vegetal, mild vanilla notes from the oak, and also some nuttiness in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Heavy and tongue-coating, carbonation on the light side of medium.

Overall: Decent strong stout, but lacks a certain depth of flavour and relies overly much on being big without the concomitant commitment to balance that's required. On the sweet side, and at 13% ABV this is definitely one to sip.

Les Huits
13-F Russian Imperial Stout

Recipe and Session Notes

Appearance: Looks like thick coffee. Minimal head quickly dissipates.

Smell: Fruity and roasty, with vanilla and floral hops.

Taste: Rich coffee character from the roasted malt, medium malt sweetness, mild hop bitterness. Mild fruity esters. Finish is a coffee-like bitterness that coats the roof of your mouth.

Mouthfeel: Rich and creamy, medium-low carbonation. Slight alcohol warming on the finish.

Drinkability: I wouldn't turn it down, but I wouldn't seek it out. One-dimensional and lacking in balance.

Appearance: Opaque black. Not much head.

Smell: Smells like day-old coffee, with a bit of dusty cocoa thrown in.

Taste: Huge coffee flavour, some acrid bitterness and (finally, some indication that it's beer!) a nice roasted malt backbone.

Mouthfeel: Medium body, high carbonation.

Drinkability: Fairly good integration of flavours, but the coffee comes off as a bit stale. It's okay, but not spectacular.

Background: I wish Dogfish Head would embrace labeling and actually indicate on the bottle what the ABV of the beer inside is. 18% ABV is slightly higher than I was expecting. Bottled in 2005.

Appearance: Soda pop. Very thin, highly bubbly head falls away quickly. Pitch black and opaque.

Smell: Chocolate and caramel with some woody vanilla overtones. Alcohol is present on the nose, but subdued.

Taste: Huge roasted malt flavour, presenting mainly as bitter chocolate and charred coffee; some dried fruit and bourbon character. Sweet and bitter in perfect proportions. Sweetness falls away in the finish leaving vanilla, some piney hops, and maybe a bit of oak(?). Alcohol is noticeable, but not intrusive.

Mouthfeel: Thick and creamy, medium carbonation. Finish is slightly oily from the alcohol.

Drinkability: Huge beer, nicely done. Rich and complex, this is best sipped slowly; remember, there's a lot of alcohol in there. Pairing suggestion: treat it like a port.