Draft - Raisin, dark fruit and cocoa. Deep brown with a decent white head. Lots of raisin, dark sugars and Roasty malts. Lots of raisin.

Nice deep dark brownish coloured body with a large, fast-dying light brown coloured head with larger bubbles and a glow of cola colours when held up to a light. Aroma of alcohol, raisins, pit fruits, chocolate, yeast and a bit of prunes - strong, but more of a porter or sweet stout than of an imperial stout. Medium-bodied; Strong alcohol and vanilla flavours with hints of oak and coffee, but a lot of earthy and mushroomy flavours with touches of chocolate and prunes. Aftertaste is fairly one dimensional and not too pungent - malty and chocolate flavours come out the strongest with a touch of alcohol on the finish. Overall, a decent baltic porter or stout, but not cutting it for the style. That said, it’s still a drinkable beer - just don’t expect it to be quite the imperial stout that you imagine, especially at 7,5% abv. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Belmont Station in Portland, Oregon on 12-April-2013 for US$2,59 sampled at home in Washington on 01-November-2014, about a year and half after purchasing it, which perhaps mellowed it out a bit, but this one wasn’t strong anyways.

A deep dark imperial stout with a thin brown head. In aroma, nice sweet chocolate with resinous hops, licorice, molasses, a bit of funk, very nice and complex. In mouth, very sweet chocolate with vinous notes, ashes, floral hops, treacle, veering into old ale territory.

Bottle at the Pre-Christmas CBC - Clerkenwell Tasting, London. Thanks to Colin for this beer. Pours rich brown with a fine beige cream head. Sugary dark malt nose, some alcohol, burnt toast and dark cocoa. Medium sweet flavor with light roast, dusty cocoa, smooth dark malts. Medium bodied with fine, creamy carbonation. Light dry finish with mellow roasted malts, light earthy bitterness, some marshmallow, burnt wood, baking cocoa. Very smooth and pleasant impy stout, though not particularly complex.

Bottle at pre Xmas tasting (Belmont Station, Portland OR) - 21/12/12. Murky light black with a thin tan head that immediately dissipates to the edge. Nose is dark malts, molasses, touch of smoked gammon, light chocolate. Taste follows, touch of wood, leather, liqourice, chocolate. Medium bodied, soft carbonation, dry in the finish. Ok - lower end of the Imperial Stout market!

35,5 cl bottle vintage 2008 (7,5%) at Bailey’s Taproom
Aroma is malty with raisins and cocoa. Flavour has some roasted malt, cocoa and some raisins. A bit watery for this style. Your typical russian imperial stout.

Bottle. Nose of chocolate, fruit, Belgian yeast character, a touch of oxidation. Very sweet and fruity, berries, chocolate, wood in the finish. Nice but a bit too sweet. I would have guessed it was a Belgian Dubbel if it was blind.

Bottle @ bros house. Brown/black appearance with a tan head. Roasty, anise, dark chocolate malty nose. Quite strong, roasty, charred, black licorice, chocolate malty flavor. Too much char and licorice for me.