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Imperial Stout
Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster)
- From:
- Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster)
- England, United Kingdom
- Style:
- Russian Imperial Stout
Ranked #224 - ABV:
- 7%
- Score:
- 93
Ranked #3,946 - Avg:
- 4.16 | pDev: 11.3%
- Reviews:
- 1,870
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Feb 17, 2024
- Added:
- Feb 27, 2001
- Wants:
- 256
- Gots:
- 596
Brewed at Samuel Smith's small, traditional British brewery with well water, best barley malt, roasted barley, yeast and hops to create a rich flavorful ale; deep chocolate on color with a roasted barley nose and flavor that is a complexity of malt, hops, and yeast. Fermented in 'stone Yorkshire squares'. This distinctive type of ale was originally shipped to Imperial Russia; it was a favourite of Russian nobility.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by brentk56:
Reviewed by brentk56 from North Carolina
4.23/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.23/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance: Pours an obsidian black with a nice mocha head; nice retention and lacing
Smell: Roasted malt, dark fruit (figs and prunes), some bittersweet chocolate and a nice whiff of rum
Taste: Starts out with a combination of roasty malt and dark fruit (raisin, date and prune), with the hops adding a bitter element by mid-palate; after the swallow, the roasty, fruity and chocolate flavors predominate into a complex finish that provides point and counter-point
Mouthfeel: Medium-full bodied with moderate carbonation and a hint of warmth in the gullet
Drinkability: I've come around to this one over time and have re-reviewed this while maintaining the original review date; I now appreciate the complexity and restraint in this version compared to the production of some of the American craft brewers
Jan 30, 2005Smell: Roasted malt, dark fruit (figs and prunes), some bittersweet chocolate and a nice whiff of rum
Taste: Starts out with a combination of roasty malt and dark fruit (raisin, date and prune), with the hops adding a bitter element by mid-palate; after the swallow, the roasty, fruity and chocolate flavors predominate into a complex finish that provides point and counter-point
Mouthfeel: Medium-full bodied with moderate carbonation and a hint of warmth in the gullet
Drinkability: I've come around to this one over time and have re-reviewed this while maintaining the original review date; I now appreciate the complexity and restraint in this version compared to the production of some of the American craft brewers
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by twage04 from North Carolina
4.53/5 rDev +8.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
4.53/5 rDev +8.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Pours a dark black with normal carbonation. Chocolate, molasses, bourbon on the nose. Taste is the same with some caramel, fig. Very rich and flavorful for the ABV.
Jan 29, 2024Reviewed by DoctorRobert1969 from California
4.25/5 rDev +2.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.25/5 rDev +2.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
This was surprisingly smooth for an imperial beer, although I haven’t had many. The taste is something like a quad. Samuel Smith can do no wrong. Perfect for a cold night.
Jan 22, 2024Reviewed by MNJR from Illinois
5/5 rDev +20.2%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
5/5 rDev +20.2%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Rich and satisfying with the unmistakable Tadcaster magic that cannot be duplicated, ever. In the history of beer, with the physical, spiritual, and human limitations of the art form of making beer, nothing can ever be better than this, So... this is it, The Best. Try to outdo it, try and fail, maybe someday a stout beer can be better, maybe, but maybe not. Delicious flavors of earth, raisin, cocoa, fruit, vanilla, brown sugar, forest, mountains, and sea. Best stuff, best you can get. Lovely and remarkable in every way a beer can possibly be. 100%. Something has to be, and this is it.
Jan 15, 2024Reviewed by Tom-o-Bedlam from Texas
4.42/5 rDev +6.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
4.42/5 rDev +6.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Burnt coffee, bitter dark chocolate, toasted bready malt, and hops on the back end.
Has the same undefinable funkiness that all Samuel Smith beers have (I’m drinking this one after having their Oatmeal Stout, Tadcaster, and Organic Chocolate Stout earlier this week). I guess it’s the well water.
There’s something hard and mineral-y that undergirds the flavor and the feel.
Good stuff.
Dec 21, 2023Has the same undefinable funkiness that all Samuel Smith beers have (I’m drinking this one after having their Oatmeal Stout, Tadcaster, and Organic Chocolate Stout earlier this week). I guess it’s the well water.
There’s something hard and mineral-y that undergirds the flavor and the feel.
Good stuff.
Imperial Stout from Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster)
Beer rating:
93 out of
100 with
4048 ratings
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