Russian Imperial Stout
(has 4 batches)

< 20th May 2011. 1959 Vintage. As Barclays Courage. Opened with a small ffffft, which was a surprise! Opaque black beer, tidy bubbly tan head. Nose of wet wood and something like brett. Light palate, no carbonation. Slightly salty wood. Mild dark malt with a touch of chocolate and a whisper of coffee. Touch of rum and brandy in the dry finish. Light bitterness in the aftertaste which also has a little salt. Pretty remarkable beer - still a reasonable drink after 52 years! 13th May 2011 1972 Vintage. Opaque black brown beer. Sourish marmite nose. Smooth and semi dry palate. Easy going dark malts. Some marmite - which dissipates with airing. Light chocolate. Finishes dry. A very long time past it’s best but it’s drinkable and always a kick to drink something this old!

22nd June 2023
6th floor bottleshare with the usual suspects. Thanks to Dan for this one. Opaque dark brown beer with a small bubbly tan head. Light palate, semi dry, a tiny bit of carbonation. Savoury and thin dark malts, woody dark chocolate. Some skewed whiskey like ripe fruits. Fairly dry and bitter finish. Quite a harsh vintage this one, or maybe it spent some time on grannies fireplace! Interesting nontheless. 3.3
26th November 2015 1977 Vintage. Thanks to Dan. Almost opaque dark brown beer, small dark tan head. Nose of aged dark malts, a little wood and a touch of brandy. Palate is soft and slightly viscous. Woody dark chocolate and mild dark fruits. A rich dark chocolate finish. The best of the vintages I’ve tried. Very tasty. 10th July 2017 Bodney Towers Bottleshare. Thanks to Dan for another bite of this 1977 Impy. Hazy dark brown with a very thin pale tan head. Palate is airy and semi dry and has good fine carbonation. Good fine carbonation!!! Bitterish bretty oxidised caramel. Dark chocolate and dark fruits. Woody bitterness and a little dark chocolate powder. For a 40 year old beer this pretty bloody good! 22nd February 2008 1983 Vintage. Bottle at the Kulminator - Some carbonation. Rich strong chocolate and marmite. Dry malt finish.

1983 vintage at Kulminator in Antwerp. Very dark fluid, good looking small brown foam. A lot of coffee, licorice, and dark berries. Not so much chocolate. Aftertaste was not too long, a certain sourness was there too. Rather thin mouth feel. A nice stout aged with dignity

Sampled a 1985 bottle at the DC Local Gathering. Flat, oily black with zero head. Zero carbonation. Aroma is super boozy, sweet, toasted grains, molasses and burnt sugar. Flavor is burnt toast, dark chocolate, soy. Finishes with a weird sour coffee flavor. Definite alcohol burn on the end.

bottle 1977 & 1993 courtesy of gunhaver. Sample at O-town throwdown ’09 Pours pitch black, no head with oily golden lacing. Aroma was malty and definitely could tell this one had some age on it, thick chocolate nose with soy. Taste, malty, chocolate, thick palate, almost no carbonation and felt very boozy, got some kind of oxidized cork, leaving a faint salty mouthfeel. Not bad at all for its longevity.

1983 bottle. A deep black stout with a thin moka head. A nice chocolate aroma with light soy sauce. In mouth, a nice bitter chocolate, soy sauce, curious Brett, and lactic acid. A good interesting stout, which has resisted more than 20 years! Bottle at Kulminator, Nov. 2006.

Bottle courtesy of Greg Koch at our stop at the Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens on 08/03/2008 on day three of RBSG. Vintage 1993. Clear caramel color with nearly no head. Big malty aroma with caramel and honey. Caramel and molassas flavor with a smooth finish. Medium full body with no carbonation.

33 cL bottle, 1983 vintage, thanks to faeroeviking for bringing this - nice surprise! Pours dark brown to black with a fully diminished. Dense roasted malty and dark fruity. Very dense. Flavour and mouthfeel is oily. Dark hardroasted malty with a mild chalky note. Smooth and slight tarish. Dark roasted and tarish finish with a smooth alcohol presence.

1993 bottle traded from Goldtwins a few years back. Absolutely flat, black syrupy pour. Complex aroma alcohol, soy sauce, and chocolate. Lots of soy, too much for me. Sour finish.