Imperial Stout
Dick's Brewing Company

Imperial StoutImperial Stout
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From:
Dick's Brewing Company
 
Washington, United States
Style:
Russian Imperial Stout
ABV:
7.5%
Score:
84
Avg:
3.72 | pDev: 14.25%
Reviews:
56
Ratings:
63
Status:
Active
Rated:
Dec 30, 2017
Added:
Aug 27, 2002
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  1
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by vurt:
Photo of vurt
Reviewed by vurt from Oregon

3.68/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
12 oz. bottle purchased at Bottleworks in Seattle. Served in a nonic imperial pint glass.

Appearance:
Black and mostly opaque, though I can see burnt orange highlights around the bottom of the glass. Forms a tall head of tan foam very easily. The head quickly settles into a creamy layer of densely packed bubbles. A very good looking glass of stout.

Smell:
Dark chocolate and roasted grains, with a plummy fruitiness and a bit of alcohol at the finish. There's also a slight suggestion of oxidation.

Taste:
A little tart at first. Then it turns bittersweet with flavors of burnt grain and toffee and semi-sweet chocolate. Goes quite dry in the lingering finish.

Mouthfeel:
Lighter bodied than I'm used to in an imperial stout, but the silky texture is very nice. Good level of carbonation.

Drinkability:
Satisfying and easy to drink. Full-flavored, though not as complex as some of the bigger imperial stouts out there. A decent example of the style, and worth seeking out.
Aug 25, 2007
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4 by 1971bernat from Virginia

Dec 30, 2017
 
Rated: 3.69 by DucksFan16 from Tennessee

Sep 11, 2015
Photo of GregJ
Reviewed by GregJ from Louisiana

3.33/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
Pours dark brown black with almost no head. Smells of dark malts, a little chocolate. Overpowering taste of burnt malts, slight chocolate, licorice and an astringent flavor. Medium/light body with a burnt malts and some piney resin aftertaste.
Dec 20, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by DaveRinn from Washington

Jan 09, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by muchloveforhops3 from Montana

Apr 12, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by imperialking from Illinois

Nov 13, 2012
Photo of pschul4
Reviewed by pschul4 from Illinois

3.8/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Beer set out at 10:07 CST review to come when tempered
Poured at 10:18

Big thanks to Libbey for this extra!

A- I like my RIS's pitch black and this is only black. Haha I know its a minute point but I have to set the gold standard somewhere. Some ruby hue around the edges and not much head/lacing to speak of.

Smell/taste at 10:25
S- Lots of roasty notes with a little bit of coffee and chocolate. Roastyness takes over completely though

T- As the nose indicated roasted malts is the main thing you get out of the taste. Chocolate and coffee in the background but mostly the roasted jimmies ;)

M- Little too thin for my RIS's but nothing too terrible.

O- I think I might have a yeti tonight now that this has got me in the mood for RISs haha thanks Libbey!
Aug 18, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by shelby415 from Oregon

Feb 25, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by beefandbean22 from Oregon

Nov 23, 2011
Photo of Cyberkedi
Reviewed by Cyberkedi from Georgia

4.45/5  rDev +19.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Strong, smoky aroma has tones of chocolate and molasses with coffee, nutty and licorice hints. It pours a dark chocolate brown with a fairly thick and fine-bubbled light tan head. Semi-sweet chocolate dominates the smoky flavor, which includes molasses, caramel and nutty hints. Texture is quite smooth and pleasing, not very fizzy but still good. Look for this one!
Jul 19, 2011
Photo of bbeane
Reviewed by bbeane from Pennsylvania

3.95/5  rDev +6.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
A- Poured into my DFH laser etched chalice... starts with a finger thick light brown colored head that mostly disappears leaving behind spotted lacing. Beer is black in color, with just enough light showing through to give it a ruby hue when held up to the ceiling

S- First wiff is chocolatey... get more sweet malts and dark fruit aroma after some swirls of the glass

T- Coffee, chocolate, toasted malt. Not really very sweet despite the hints in the nose. Has a very nice flavor, which is nice coming from a lower abv RIS

M- Full bodied with light/medium carbonation

O- I received this in a trade as an extra, and all in all it was a really nice extra. Had really great flavor with a lower abv making it a 'closer to sessionable' RIS

CHEERS!!
May 16, 2011
Photo of chumba526
Reviewed by chumba526 from Oregon

1.72/5  rDev -53.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1.5
It appears black with a small light brown head.

It smells very sweet. I get a big toffee and caramel smell. There is a faint roasted smell. I also get a faint sweet chocolate smell. This almost smells like a "roasty" barley wine.

It tastes of very sweet malt. I get a strong toffee flavor. There is a bit of a mild (non bitter) roasted malt flavor. There is not really any hoppy taste to the beer. I guess there is a hardly noticeable bitterness in the end but it is paired with an overbearing sweet flavor. It lacks balance. I think it is a bit too sweet for the imperial stout style.

There is a moderate high carbonation with a somewhat thick mouthfeel.

Overall this is pretty one dimensional. It is far too sweet in my opinion. Maybe they should have called this a black barleywine. I am not impressed. the warmer the beer gets the nastier it is. I gagged when drinking this.
Mar 21, 2011
Photo of flagmantho
Reviewed by flagmantho from Washington

3.75/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Poured from 12oz bottle into a tulip.

Appearance: solid black with three-plus fingers of creamy tan head. It looks nice, but it really appears rather overcarbonated for an imperial stout. Still, head retention seems decent and it delivers the black like a stout should.

Smell: woody, slightly fruity aroma with chocolate undertones. Not a lot of deep dark depth, but there is a nice complexity among its brighter aromas. I rather like it.

Taste: a bit bright for an imperial stout. Again, fruity, woody and with a roasted quality that is quite good but sadly isn't the star of the show. As a beer, I like it, but its imperial-stoutness is questionable.

Mouthfeel: highly carbonated, which is something I usually like but which is not really appropriate here. Viscosity is somewhat thin for the style; this beer falls more on the "fizzy" than the "creamy" side of the scale.

Drinkability: this beer has a nice zing to it, which I like, but it doesn't really tick all the imperial stout boxes. I also notice that it has some hallmarks of bottle infection -- overattenuation, overcarbonation and a tangy acidity -- but these might just as well be typical features of this beer. However, unintentional though they may be, they serve to make the beer quite quaffable in my book.
Mar 09, 2011
Photo of canucklehead
Reviewed by canucklehead from Canada (BC)

3.7/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
First off it was $2 a bottle and that puts this in perspective as to its value. It is a decent strong American stout that has decent complexity and mouthfeel. Not as good value as Brooklyn or North Coast but a solid effort from a brewery that I have had mixed results from in past. Worth the money and maybe a year in the cellar
Jan 27, 2011
Photo of corby112
Reviewed by corby112 from Pennsylvania

2.91/5  rDev -21.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
From notes:

Pours a very dark chestnut brown color that appears almost black in the glass with mahogany edges when held to a light source. Two finger frothy beige head with decent retention, fading into a lasting ring that leaves sporadic spots of lacing behind.

Roasted malt aroma with a surprising earthy hop presence. Hits of pine, roasted coffee, chocolate, burnt toast and oatmeal.

Surprisingly hop forward for the style. Too much so perhaps resulting in an overly bitter flavor that overpowers the roasted malt profile. Tight carbonation with slight oxidization up front with bitter, earthy pine flavor that dominates throughout into a bone dry finish. Underneath there are subtle hints of roasted coffee bean, chocolate, burnt toast and toffee.
Jan 27, 2011
Photo of Swimsum
Reviewed by Swimsum from Oregon

3.33/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Consumed on 10/6/09. Poured from bottle into pint

Pours out a nice black color that looks decently thick. Once liquid is settled into the glass, body is pitch black and no light is getting though this one. Dark mocha head that is about a finger and a half high sits atop the beer. Eventually settles to a thin layer which produces nice lacing all the way down the glass. Very nice looking RIS.

Dark chocolate, some coffee and lots of roasted malt great the nose. This is pretty sweet smelling with a good amount of the chocolate taking main stage for the smell.

Much like the smell, dark chocolate, coffee and roast. There is a slight bitterness in the finish that I believe could be the coffee but may be some of the hops coming through. At times I get a very distinct soy sauce taste, not sure it works in this. As this warmed up it started to go downhill for me. Most of the flavors fade and only bitterness is left. Maybe I took to long to finish this but by the end I was not liking it.

This was actually pretty thin RIS. While carbonation wasn't overly noticeable on the tongue, this still felt really thin while sitting in the mouth. Disappointing.

When this was slight chilled I was really enjoying this beer. As I let it sit and warm up it really became a struggle to finish. I might have to retry this one in the future but I really was letdown after the first 10 minutes of the beer.
Jan 04, 2011
Photo of twiggamortis420
Reviewed by twiggamortis420 from Texas

3.27/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
12 oz bottle pours a black color with some light highlighting and bubbly head of a beige hue. Touch of lacing, not much retention.

Nose is fruity with a hefty dose of chocolaty malt. Little bit of rum-like sugar and a light yeast touch.

Lighter, British style imperial stout with lots of blackberry fruitiness, doughy yeast and even a bit chalky. Reminds me a bit of Sam Smith's IS. A lighter body than one would expect from an imperial stout and less roast. Interesting beer, but I did not find it all that pleasurable to drink.
Nov 07, 2010
Photo of Briken
Reviewed by Briken from Washington

2.72/5  rDev -26.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2
Black with a thin unber head with virtually no retention or lacing. Light molasses and chocolate with a trace of floral character. Chocolate and aroasted malts with floral hop bittering and an alcohol finish. A slightly foamy but thin mouthfeel.

This had some potential it had a pretty good aroma and is about as black as possible. It has some good flavors, however, they seem slightly subdued and ultimately kind of run together and seem a bit muddled. Together with a slightly unpleasant bittering and an overwhelming alcohol flavor, it's just not a favorite of the imperial stouts.
Jul 10, 2010
Photo of barleywinefiend
Reviewed by barleywinefiend from Washington

4/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured a jet black color with good carbonation and a tannish head. Looked good from the start. Nose is smoke, roasted malt, dry, booze and chcolate. Taste is full of bitter chcolate and burnt malt with lots of coffee. Some mild dark fruit raise its head. Mouthfeel is nice, balanced, well crafted, tasty. Very drinkable and big surprise.
Apr 02, 2010
Imperial Stout from Dick's Brewing Company
Beer rating: 84 out of 100 with 63 ratings