Stone Brewing Totalitarian Imperial Russian Stout - Espresso

Totalitarian Imperial Russian Stout - Espresso

 

Stone Brewing in Escondido, California, United States 🇺🇸

  Stout - Pastry / Flavoured - Imperial Rotating Out of Production
Score
7.58
ABV: 10.6% IBU: 65 Ticks: 47
With a beer as bold and robust as Stone Totalitarian Imperial Russian Stout, it’s not easy to build another level of flavor. That’s why we use hundreds of pounds of espresso beans to give Stone Espresso Totalitarian Imperial Russian Stout an added layer of rich complexity. The coffee flavors meld beautifully with the roasty bitterness of the dark malts for an intense complement of flavors, while staying true to the essence of this classic, historical style.
 

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7.2/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
650ml bottle from Legacy at Brian's. Appearance: very dark brown with dark beige head. Aroma: fruity, roasted malt, coffee. Taste: similar, moderately sweet, quite bitter at the same time. Overall: ok.
Tried from Bottle on 06 Jun 2019 at 06:35

8.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 9 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
12 ounce can into signature tulip glass, canned on 2/20/2019. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1-2 finger dense and rocky tan head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of vanilla, licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, peppercorn, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/black/roast/bready malts, coffee, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with big strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of vanilla, licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, peppercorn, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate pine, herbal, grassy, peppery hops; and roast, charred, coffee bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, dark bread/crust, vanilla, licorice, dark fruit, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, peppercorn, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts, coffee, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a great hop/char bitter/sweet balance; and no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness. Medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety/bready, and fairly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Light lingering resins through the glass. Mildly increasing warmth of 10.6% after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic Russian imperial stout. All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts, coffee, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink for the ABV, with the modestly bitter/charred/drying finish. Nicely soft, and not overly bitter/charred. Fantastic balance of rich malts, fruity/nutty coffee complexity, earthy hops, and restrained fruity yeast. Light residual sweetness with lingering dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and spot on style example as expected.
Tried from Can on 31 May 2019 at 21:02

7.8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 9 Texture 6 Overall 8
From a 355ml can on 24/5/2019. Pours near black with a medium to big tan head. Has a heavy chocolate/espresso nose, with some roasted malt. The flavour follows suit - intense chocolate and coffee, and some caramel and brown sugar, with a pretty big roasty, slightly burnt bitterness finishing off proceedings. The palate is thick and a touch creamy with softish carbonation. A very good, nicely balanced RIS.
Tried from Can on 24 May 2019 at 12:25

7.2/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 6 Texture 8 Overall 8
12 ounce can, canned February 23rd.

Pours a pitch black with a finger of tan foam.

Big coffee and roasted malt nose, bitter from the coffee, dark chocolate bitterness, some booze.

Coffee and roasted malt up front..with a burnt malt character. Dark chocolate is quite bitter, very mild hints of sweet chocolate but the bitter rules. Alcohol is not hidden well.

Mouthfeel is good. Carbonation is on the light side.

Enjoyable.
Tried from Can on 19 May 2019 at 22:58

7.9/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
12 oz. can, pours black with a small beige head. Aroma is loaded with espresso upfront, with a bit of medium roast. Flavour is likewise dominated by lightly bitter espresso -- it's like drinking a potent beer-converted espresso shot. Potent and rich. Excellent.
Tried from Can on 17 May 2019 at 06:02

7.1/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 6.5
Dark brown. Thin head. Big coffee aroma, with a lot of chocolate. Dry, fairly bitter. Lots of burnt espresso character. Good body. Again, quite assertive and coffeeish.
Tried on 17 May 2019 at 05:58

7.6/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
650 ml bottle. Pours black with short tan head. Aromas of chocolate, oily black coffee, soy sauce, and sweet roasted malts. Rich dusty flavors of roasted malts and espresso. Pretty simple, but clean and tasty. A little hot but compliments. Good
Tried from Bottle on 16 May 2019 at 23:39

8/10
Dark black bod med foam tan head. Roast choc coffee arma. Roast choc coffee ash flav. Med full bod mod carb. 8/5/8/4/15 4.0
Tried from Draft on 11 May 2019 at 21:07

8.2/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 9
12 ounce can, 5/5/19. Black, large creamy brown head, good retention. Aroma of roast, coffee, anise, tobacco. Taste is roast, molasses, coffee, spice, espresso. Full bodied, booze well hidden.
Tried from Can on 08 May 2019 at 06:01

7.8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 8
Can. Very black with a tan head that settles to a cm then lasts OK and laces well. Aroma of heavy roast, coffee, strawberry jam, beans (!), light nut meal - grunty, but the elements still have room to move. Canned 23 Feb but already you wouldn't swear there's actual coffee in it (not a complaint). Just shy of full bodied with a fine balance between sweet, bitter and roast-astringent. Been a while since I had the normal Espresso RIS but I think this just shades it.
Tried from Can on 03 May 2019 at 12:36