Imperial Russian Stout - Chai-Spiced
Stone Brewing

 

 

Drinking this on tap in Tokyo in 2020. It has aged well. Lovely warm chai spice of cardamom and nutmeg. Awesome stout underneath with smooth alcohol presence. Love this!

 

A: Poured into a snifter to a black beer topped by a dense finger of light tan head which fades slowly to a collar around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing.
S: Smells of chai and not much else. Surprisingly overpowering the base beer on the nose. It's a little minty but that's probably the cardamom. There's also a bunch of other warming spice notes that are well blended together.
T: Taste is slightly roasty before all the chai notes come in. There's a little coffee and bitter dark chocolate along with some tea like notes along with a lot more chai spice. On the swallow there's cardamom(mintyness), more spices, some lingering espresso, dark chocolate, and slight dark roasted malts.
M: This beer is fairly full in body with a slightly silky mouthfeel. Carbonation is on the low end but is adequate for the style while the beer has a drying finish.
O: Overall this is an interesting one. It has some nice flavors that work surprisingly well with the base beer. I was certainly suspect of this one but the execution was well done. It may be a little too heavy on the adjunct but overall it's an interesting drink if you're open minded. This one is drinking really well too despite being about four years old.

Notes of ginger and spice that blends well with this RIS. Very interesting and well done blend.

 

 

 

 

22oz bottle poured into a snifter
2015 Release

A- pours deep black in color with a one-finger creamy khaki head that eventually reduces to a ring around the edge of the glass

S- plenty of spices on the nose, actually reminiscent of a pumpkin spiced stout; cinnamon & cardamon lead the way, followed by with clove and ginger noticeable as well. I'm actually surprised how strong the spicing aromas still are after 3 years. Beyond the spices, undertones of the base beer pop through, dark charred malt, dried figs & chocolate. Quite complex aroma

T- an onslaught of spicing follows the nose; heavy cinnamon & cardamon dominate up front, with clove & ginger both making an equal presence at the mid-palate. Beyond the spicing, notes of charred malt, dark chocolate, fig & raisin all show up. The finish gives more spice blend with a light notes of herbal black tea and a peppery linger

M- medium-thick body with moderate carbonation leads to a creamy mouthfeel that continues into a smooth and velvety finish

O- even after three years, this is still loaded with spices. Not for the faint of heart, but outstanding for the style

April 24th, 2015 - The Russian Imperial Stout is *very* amenable to spicy permutations, and that shows here in the delicious Chai Spiced version. The color and head are all the same as the undecorated version (though I could be led to believe that the head is just a little bit more dusky) but the nose has radically changed. Where once I smelled heavy chocolate malts, all I get is chai spices. It is as if I've dunked my head into a barrel of the stuff, snorting the heady mixture of sub-continental spice. If the nose bludgeons with spice, the flavor is more nuanced. The chai is clearly present but blends with the existing heavy malt bill creating something akin to a spiced chocolate - a mixture I find utterly delicious.

 

A 22 fl. oz. bomber, 2015 odd year release, bottled on 23rd March 2015. Poured into a snifter glass.

Appearance: Black in colour with a thin half finger brown head that dissipated quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some sparse lacing.

Aroma: Strong cinnamon and cardamom with roasted malts, cocoa and chocolate in the background. There were also hints of ginger and clove.

Taste: Follows the aroma quite closely with lots of spices, cinnamon and cardamom, spicy ginger and clove with hints of roastiness, cocoa and chocolate in the background.

Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with low carbonation.

Overall: Almost three years on, and the “Chai” is still dominating the aroma and taste. Personally I would say it was still a bit too dominating while the nice flavours of the base Imperial Russian Stout were overpowered.

 

 

 

Stone Archive Bottle Release, official re-release of 2 year vertical.

Rich dark black color with a 1/2 finger of almond head.

Aromas of licorice, molasses, and faint chai spice.

Flavors are of dark chocolate, and then rubber, old spices, molasses, rubber cement, ethanol, tobacco.

Feel is hot and boozy with a medium plus body.

Overall, to think that Stone re-released this and it tastes as horrible as it is, in the state that it's in, totally destroys any foresight they may have had for releasing this beer. It furthers my gross dislike of this brewery. This beer is a rubbery, ethanol-soaked mess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**
06/18/2015
Following up the regular imperial Russian stout with the Chai spiced version. Similar, but the extra spice takes away from the roasty stout flavors (IMHO). Still a really nice beer, just a tad below the regular offering.

**

 

Aged well...the Chai is really pronounced here, this is an amazing beverage, in fact, if this maybe should be called a "hard spiced chai-tea"!!! Good Googly Moogly this is amazing, desert in a bomber! Extremely well-done Stone!!!!! Please beew this again!

This was poured into a snifter. The appearance was a nice looking dark brown close to black color with a one finger creamy off white to tan foamy head that dissipated in a smooth slow manner. The smell started off with the chai spice leading into some slight cinnamon, coffee, light chocolate with a roasty sweet quality - invasive yet having a sticky fresh rich quick spices to blend into the aftertaste and ends up leaving a dry finish. On the palate, this one sat about a medium on the body with a decent sipping quality about it. Carbonation is low allowing the spice to take over and be the harshness. The black tea-like qualities really help to smooth things out. Overall, this was a very nicely done Russian imperial stout. Stone did everything right and added their twist with the Chai tea, I would love to have this again.

 

 

A - Dark body, light tan head, moderate lacing.

S - Strong hit of tea spices, cinnamon and cardamom.

T - Strong spicy flavor, malty core, a bit of chocolate. Mild bitterness in the close.

M - A bit sticky, with just enough dryness in the close to keep it from becoming heavy or cloying.

O - An interesting experiment, with decent balance and a nice spice profile. The stout aspect is dialed way back, and if there's a knock, it is that the spice eclipses the best IRS flavor notes.

 

 

Great look and a solid feel. However, it is very one dimensional. it is all chai on the mouth and nose. I gave it. 3.75 because it is a chai spiced imperial stout, but it would have been nice if it was milder to allow the res of the beer to show. This beer was brewed in 2015 (its now 2017).

 

Black in color an impenetrable to light. There's a fingernail of brown around the rim and the majority of the top. The chai tea leads the aroma, but I'm also getting some undercurrents of dark roasted barley. I'm tasting refreshing chai tea with dark roasted barley playing second fiddle. The mouth is very sticky, chewy, and thick.

Look: Black. So so black. Some carbonation and about a finger knuckle length of head that slowly dissipates. Looks like coffee out of a nespresso machine.

Smell: Where do I begin? Pumpkin, raisin and a bit of molasses. I would have been happy just smelling this all day. It's unbelievable.

Taste: Now the best part. Milky full. This is a think beer and sweet. Good for dessert. You can really taste the chai at the front and center. Back half has a hint of black pepper and very small butter coffee taste. Stone has hidden the high Abv well. I couldn't taste the booze at all. This is dangerous.

Feel: Thick and milky feeling. Exactly what you want from a Russian Imperial Stout.

Overall: Boom done! What a find. I had no idea the sheer magnitude of this beast. Amazing beer and will look for it now when it's out again. I drank a bottle with the stamp of 2/25/15 on it. Blew my taste balls off. This is what I'm looking for in a Russian Imperial Stout. Only $9 at some hole in the wall liquor store. They have no idea what they have on hand.