Imperial Stout
Rogue Ales

Imperial StoutImperial Stout
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From:
Rogue Ales
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
Russian Imperial Stout
ABV:
11%
Score:
90
Avg:
4.03 | pDev: 12.41%
Reviews:
821
Ratings:
1,288
Status:
Active
Rated:
Nov 26, 2021
Added:
Sep 21, 2001
Wants:
  110
Gots:
  94
Also known as XS Imperial Stout

12 Ingredients:
Malts: Great Western, Harrington & Klages, Hugh Baird XLT-80, Black, Munich, Chocolate and rolled oats.
Hops: Willamette, Cascade and Chinook. Specialty: Two Secret ingredients.
Yeast & Water: Rogue's Pacman Yeast & Free Range Coastal Water.

26º PLATO
88 IBU
73 AA
256º Lovibond
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by StoutHunter:
Photo of StoutHunter
Reviewed by StoutHunter from Michigan

3.62/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.25
I picked up a bottle of Rogue's XS Imperial Stout a few weeks ago for $3.99 at The Beer Depot. I was looking for a couple beers that I couldn't get locally and I thought I would give this one a shot. so lets see how it goes. 2010 Vintage. Poured from a brown 7oz mini bottle into a snifter.

A- The label looks ok, it's pretty standard for Rogue and it's not that eye catching, but they get some bonus point for having good information on the bottle and the smaller bottles do make them stick on the shelf and they remind me of some mini corona bottles. It poured a dark pitch black color that didn't let any light come through at all and it had a thin ring that was a darker tan color that quickly faded to nothing and somehow it left a little bit of spotty lacing behind. This is a nice looking beer considering the style and how old it is, it doesn't look that bad.

S- The aroma starts off with a lower amount of high sweetness followed by the roasted malts being the first to show up and they impart some nice roasted, slightly charred, chocolate/cocoa, and some sweet malt aromas with little bit of caramel and a slight bit of toffee showing up in the background. Up next comes a noticeable smokey aroma that leads into some nice dark fruit aromas. Towards the end there's a light soy sauce aroma with a pretty light alcohol aroma. This beer had a very good aroma, I thought it was pretty complex and seemed to have more than a few different layers to it.

T- The taste seems to be fairly similar to the aroma and it starts off with a medium amount of sweetness followed by the malts being the first to show up and they impart some roasted malt, slightly charred, slightly grainy, and chocolate like aromas with the chocolate and roasted malts seeming to stick out the most. Up next comes a noticeable earthy flavor with a somewhat lighter amount of smoke coming through and there's a noticeable cardboard oxidation flavor, but it isn't as bad as some other aged beers I've had. On the finish there's hardly any alcohol flavors with a very slight soy sauce flavor and fairly higher amount of medium bitterness with a kind of watery roasted malt aftertaste that fades pretty quickly. This was a decent tasting beer, but I wish it was much more like the aroma, I think that it aged a little to long and it's past it's peak.

M- Fairly smooth, fairly rich, a little sticky, a little creamy, the lighter side of being thick bodied with a lower amount of carbonation. The mouthfeel was pretty nice and it worked well with this beer.

Overall I thought this was a decent beer and a pretty decent example of a Imperial Stout and I think it passed it's peak, I have never had this beer fresh, so I have no clue what it was like then, but the bottle suggests this is best after being aged a year, so it's meant to be aged, but as far as I can see four years is just too much for this one and I bet it was pretty good a year or two ago. This beer had nice drinkability, it was fairly smooth, fairly rich, a little creamy, a little sticky, not too filling, and the taste did an ok job at holding my attention, this 7oz bottle is the perfect amount for me and it makes for a nice cold weather sipper. What I like the most about this beer was the aroma, it was really good and really complex. What I liked the least about this beer was the flavor, it wasn't nearly as complex as the aroma and i wish the taste didn't fade so fast. I would buy this beer again if i saw a fresher one, it's a little pricey, but I'm interested to see what it's meant to be like. I would recommend this to people who like the style, just don't let it age too long. All in all I think this one was just ok, but I think that mainly had to do with the age. Solid work guys, I'll have to try a fresher one to get a better idea of what this beer is all about.

Edit 2015. Had the chance to try it fairly fresh on tap and I thought it was pretty close to being average all the way around, not impressed with this one.
Feb 21, 2014
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Imperial Stout from Rogue Ales
Beer rating: 90 out of 100 with 1288 ratings