Russian Roulette
Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery

Poured from a crowler into a snifter. Thick and creamy deep tan head. Black in color. Decent thickness. Very smooth, creamy with tons of chocolate. Excellent.

Served on tap at Town Hall in a tulip glass. Dark black pour with a creamy, lingering lace on the glass.
Delicious aroma of semisweet chocolate. Taste follows the nose. Lingering dark chocolate flavors and toasty malts. The flavors found in Tennessee Dessert really shine through.
Mouthfeel is thick and creamy.
The Belgian chocolate is the star of the show. A great Russian imperial.

At the brewery in a tulip. Color of dark sky with no stars. Let’s were a little disappointing. More white than I expected. Nose is also a little dull. Can smell some rich malts but underwhelming. Makes up for it in he taste with heavy malt base and loads of chocolate. This particular vintage had been cask aged in Belgian chocolate. Great beer for the end of the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This beer was served on tap at Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Arriving in a house tulip, it glared a jet black coloring, with mesmerizing blueish undertones. A one and a half finger tall head of espresso bubbles retained decently, leaving finite specks of lacing around our glass. No haze or sediment was noted, and carbonation appeared to be light. The aroma was dark and dense, featuring chocolate and black roasted malt, raw barley, sweet and tannic toffee sugars, soy sauce, tobacco leafiness, dark chocolate flakes, chocolate syrup, further bittered cacao nibs, dried nori, candy corn, chalk, hints of phenolic clove and medicinals, hot booze, biscuity sweetness, maraschino cherry, milky lactics, honey, and Tootsie Roll candies. The flavoring gave notes of rich roasty chocolate and coffee malts, soy sauce saltiness, floury biscuits, toffees, plum and black cherry fruity sweetness, rose petal florals, raw Nestle Quick powders, cardboard, bittered dark chocolate, milked espresso, liquid caramel and raw honey, booze, and white vinegar sourness. The body was full and chewy, and the carbonation was medium. Slurp and smack were excellently thick and present, with milder cream and froth on the swirl around the mouth. Finishing pop was crisp and pleasant. The mouth was otherwise met with chalky and boozy dryness. The abv was appropriate, and the beer sipped away with ease.

Overall, while this is no shot of whisky out of a cow femur (which we enjoyed at another local establishment last night), this was arguably one of the better stouty beers from our three to four visits to Town Hall Brewery over the course of our stay in the Twin Cities. This beer takes the Russian imperial to a different level with gregarious addition of sweeter chocolates and lighter chocolate maltiness, to make it more akin to its milk/sweet stout brethren. Nothing was lost in fullness through the feel, but the extra sugars and chocolate helped a bit to mask big Russian booziness and dank soy sauce oiliness. The former made the most lasting impression on these two drinkers. You can almost get this gritty powdered chocolate vibe to it as you drink it. All that said, Russian Roulette will absolutely keep you as warm as you desire on a frigid Minnesotan evening.

 

 

 

Big chocolate flavors, smokey, black licorice notes.

 

 

 

(Re-review 1/22/19, original score 4.45)

Look: opaque black, dark tan head, dense with sticky lacing. Aroma: milk and dark chocolate, roasted malt, graham crackers...all quite burly and traditional. Taste: tons of roasted malt with graham crackers and cocoa powder. There is some milk chocolate in the background...again burly. Finish: long with some bitterness that isn't there in the taste. Mouthfeel: full bodied, chewy texture, a bit too sticky for my liking. Overall, I like that the Belgian chocolate in it is use to accent a well designed, traditional Imperial stout. I would equate it to a Bell's Expedition Stout with a small amount of chocolate added.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On tap at the brewpub. Served in a Town Hall Chalice glass.

Appearance: Color is a near pitch black. Moderate amount of bubbles and about two fingers of tan head that slowly recede into a thinner creamy layer. Leaves a lot of creamy lacing.

Smell: A very roasty and sweet dark malt forward aroma with big hints of chocolate, coffee, and vanilla. Dark roasted barley malt with a huge scent of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee beans, vanilla, and cream along with some hints of burnt toast, biscuit, caramel, and yeast. Subtle hints of dark fruit with some cherry, raisin, and plum. Sweet scent of molasses. Also some slight hints of oak. Hops are pretty faint. A very good smell.

Taste: Like it smells, a nicely rich and roasty dark malt driven taste with a big presence of chocolate, coffee, and vanilla. Upfront dark roasted barley malt with a big taste of chocolate that literally tastes like a liquid dark chocolate bar. Also some good notes of coffee beans, vanilla, cream, toast, caramel, oak, and yeast. Sweet taste of burnt molasses. Undertones of dark fruit with notes of raisin, cherry, and plum. Hops are pretty light. A really good robust taste.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with a moderate amount of carbonation. Rich, creamy, and fairly syrupy. Sweet but not quite cloying. Alcohol is masked pretty well.

Overall: A really great take on a Russian Imperial Stout. Great taste of chocolate and other roasty notes. Big and sweet but still smooth enough to get down.