B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher
Hoppin' Frog Brewery

janubio from Spain

3.75/5  rDev -11.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Bottle bought at Las Buenas Pulgas, served at home in a snifter glass.
Black colour, small brown head with no retention nor lacing.
Aroma of coffee, chocolate, varnished and dried fruits.
Medium body, viscous texture, no carbonation.Sweet finish.
Taste of chocolate, coffee, dried and red fruits, .
Pretty good, more in the nose than in the tongue.

Wednesday at 05:07 PM

jlindros from Massachusetts

4.34/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Somehow no review for this, must have been eaten by server crash

Pours a rich thick frothy 1/2 finger chocolate colored head with good retention, nice soapy lacing, good legs as well, pitch black thick beer

Nose has a nice RIS aroma, loads of chocolate and some fudge, cocoa, some roast but not a lot, little coffee and biscuity cookie wafer, a bit of creamy oatmeal like, light fruity note in the background, little toffee, caramel, and baking spices, plenty of cookie biscuits as it warms

Taste brings brings loads of dark malts and smooth rich beer, plenty of creamy oats, a little biscuity cookie dough as well, light caramel and toffee notes, fair lush creamy chocolate, like Lindor rich chocolate, velvety as well, fudge and cocoa, little baking spice and hint of alcohol, a bit of roast and coffee but light, a touch of vanilla in there as well, fair sweetness in general with a touch of bitterness up front, then finish dries a bit and borders to med bitterness but still on the lighter side for the style, lots of lingering creamy lush cocoa and spice

Mouth is fuller bod, rich creamy thick velvety, med-light foamy carb, very light warming alcohol (a touch more carb brings this to 4.75)

Overall solid RIS with oatmeal, lots of great malt characters, cocoa, chocolate, light roast, cookie wafer, lots of creamy oats brings more biscuity notes and super velvety, alcohol hidden fairly well, nice spices and light fruity notes, enjoyable

May 16, 2020

osheamatth from New York

4.08/5  rDev -4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap near the brewery in Ohio. This Imperial Stout is pretty damn good but more in the looks and the nose than the taste. I don't mean to imply that it's not a good tasting brew, it is but it's a gorgeous looking and smelling quaff. Dark dark black but not syrupy in any way. Oh that smell! Double espresso, burnt maple syrup, cacao and overripe cherry. The taste follows the nose with some added burned sugar and vanilla. With all that sweetness it's not cloying but I wouldn't call it a dry finish either. Really good stout.

Sep 14, 2019

dbl_delta from Pennsylvania

4.19/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Bottle into pint glass. Pours a viscous inky black with a brief dark tan head. Initial impression is roasted malts and dark chocolate. Mouthfeel is smoother than I expected at 9.4%. Carbonation is quite light. Finish has more dark chocolate and malts, but aalso adds notes of caramel and molassses. All of the above improve as it warms. This is not overwhelmingly sweet, but it's sweet enough to offset the dark chocolate bitterness. It's not incredibly thick, but it certainly qualifies as a hefty RIS. This beer shows Hoppin Frog's restraint and respect for the style. Kudos.

Jul 04, 2019

Bruno74200 from France

4.49/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Intense in body, colour, aroma and flavour, this imperial stout delivers the right stuff.
Powerful roastiness and smooth creamy mouthfeel. A bit of astringence. A bold one

Apr 25, 2019

Nass from Florida

4.61/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

No date on the bottle. The beer is quite aromatic but even after a hard pour in the snifter the head is quite flat for an oatmeal stout. I dig the label artwork. Although there was no head the taste of this beer is quite bold, the taste lives up to the aroma. The 9.4% abv is well hidden. I'm getting big dark chocolate, alongside some dark fruit, slight molasses, slight nuttiness, slight spiciness & there is some coffee, & tobacco earthiness on this finish. Cheers, World Class! A

Feb 17, 2019

jkblr from Indiana

4.26/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

12oz undated bottle poured into a Spiegelau stout glass at fridge temp 9.4% ABV. The beer pours dense black with no light penetration and a small bright copper colored head. The head recedes to a thin film and leaves a few tiny spots of lacing. The aroma is strong with very dark chocolate and coffee. The taste is semisweet caramel for a split second before the dark chocolate and ashy, roasty notes take over. The finish is mostly dry with a firm roast driven bitterness. The mouthfeel is full bodied and adequately carbonated. There is a hint of the ABV in the taste, but it's allowable for the style. Overall, very good. Well made, enjoyable and super luscious in feel, this is a great, although pricey, RIS.

Jan 21, 2019

Bum4ever from California

4.25/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Pours black with a small amount of dark tan head that dissipates quickly.
Smell is huge roast and dark chocolate first, followed by some dark fruit and hops.
Taste is roast, bitter coffee and dark chocolate. Finish has a char taste to it.
Feel is very smooth and good body for an oatmeal stout. Creamy.
Overall I am definitely enjoying this one. Very well done oatmeal stout.

Nov 25, 2018

HopsAreDaMan from Missouri

4.25/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

22oz bomber, bottled: 2015

Amazing beer. Reminds me of Great Divide's Oatmeal Yeti. Much of what a previous reviewer wrote seems to hit the mark for me (but I will still put it in my own words):

1) Beautiful pour.
2) incredible aroma indicative of any quality RIS: Dark, roasted grains, with no small aroma of alcohol.
3) Coffee and dark chocolate blend beautifully mingling bitter with sweet; a hint of dark fruit in the finish, with a bit of char as well that seems to be common in many aged RIS.
4) Very creamy mouthfeel, and medium to heavy.
5) Amazing beer, and one of the better of it's kind.

Nov 22, 2018

EMV from Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a bomber into a Dogfish Head tulip

L: Inky black pour with thin brown head. Nice ring of lacing.

S: Roast... sweet burned sugars, espresso, and cocoa.

T/F: Bittersweet... strong roasted grains/sugars... coffee and dark chocolate keep up the bitter/sweet theme. Faint dark fruit, but mostly cocoa and espresso. A little harsh but it gets better/more complex as it warms. The ABV is hidden... creamy and medium bodied. Complex and tasty.

O: A rock solid Russian Imperial Stout. Big flavor and a great cold weather beer.

Nov 05, 2018

TheDoctor from Canada

4.37/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Serving: Bottle
No date
Thanks, ozzylizard!

A:
Pours looking like crude oil with a couple fingers of espresso crema head that pretty much evaporates. Little retention; confetti lacing. (3.75)

S:
Roasty malts of the "softer" variety, dark chocolate, tobacco and some sticky oatmeal sweetness. (4.25)

T:
Wow what a flavor! Rich and thick with maple-like sweetness, with milk chocolate, caramel, and espresso. (4.5)

M:
Soft, almost-viscous, rich, faint carbonation, coating sweetness. (4.25)

O:
This is good god damned beer if there ever was.
It pours thick and lackadaisical with a head that calls to mind espresso. The aroma is very solidly dark chocolate, as is the flavor. Intense roastiness all around with absolutely nothing I'd consider harsh. It reminds me of Mexican chocolate melted in a shot of espresso (not the beer-nerd/foody pseudo spicy version, I mean real Mexican chocolate like Abuelita). Really a dark chocolate bomb that mashes to be really drinkable, just like other great stouts, both despite and because of how beefy it is. Absolutely excellent. (4.5)

Oct 02, 2018

VABA from Virginia

4.25/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A-Pours a very dark opaque color with a nice tan head and lacing
A-Aroma has mocah hints
T-The taste follows the nose with nice mocha flavors
M-A medium bodied well carbonated beer
O-A nice complex stout

Aug 22, 2018

AyatollahGold from Indiana

3.88/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Pouring from a 22 oz. bottle into a tulip glass. This will be my first offering from Hoppin Frog. Pours out pitch black and looking thick like motor oil. A thin caramel/mocha colored crown forms and holds retention for a few minutes until it's only a ring around the glass. The smell is filled with dark fruit like raisins and plums. Some tobacco notes even make its way in there along with oats and some roastiness. Bread and dark cracker like notes as well. The taste brings in those same dark fruit notes strong and they stay all the way through remaining to the back end. Everything else from the nose is more muted in the taste. Something about those fruit notes really take over. Even raspberries are coming to taste. Roast is still there. And it seems it's fighting over whether to be dry from the bread notes or wet and juicy from the fruit notes. Thinner body than expected for an imperial oatmeal and for seeing how thick it looked upon the pour. But overall this beer works and the dark fruit notes are powerful. Wish there was a little more bread or oat life to it but it's still good.

Jun 17, 2018

HoppingMadMonk from New Jersey

4.06/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Solid black color, above average bidy. Seems to have a decent creamy thick feel. Aroma is alcohol, malt, coffee,chocolate, and a little dark fruit. Taste is very identical, the alcohol comes off strong and dominates. Overall it's very good but the alcohol is well hidden and masks some of the other flavors

Mar 27, 2018

Roguer from Georgia

4.41/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Fantastic head production and retention; dark brown head atop a dark black body.

Dark fruit, red grapes, chocolate, molasses, and coffee on the nose. Fairly straightforward for a RIS, but very inviting.

Lush, rich chocolate and coffee tones on the palate. A bit of dark fruit, a bit of char, and a reasonable amount of heat - not overpowering, but not exactly hiding the ABV, either. Waves of roasted barley.

A little sweeter and richer than the average RIS - possibly more in line with an American imperial stout, although it's not up to dessert stout levels of sweetness.

Creamy and smooth on the palate. Thick but not chewy; bitter but balanced. Up there with the better double stouts you can get.

Jan 01, 2018

Lone_Freighter from Vermont

4.51/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

This was poured into a snifter.
The appearance was a pure dark black color with a super nice looking dark eggshell white to almost tan foamy head that slid off at an adequate pace. Just a clipping of a concave lace.
The aroma seemed to blend finely between the roast and the sweet - taking some dark fruits to meld with a little bit of cocoa powder to milk chocolate and an ever so slight sort of dark chocolate nib sweetness.
The flavor was an exceptionally fine blend of sweet to roast between coffee and dark chocolate notes riding along some milk chocolate sweet notes. Delicate bitter coffee tones with the dark fruits coming in a little bit further underneath. Aftertaste is slightly dark fruity sweet with a slight roasty pulled dark to milk chocolate sweetness ever so slightly coming in underneath.
The mouthfeel was almost medium bodied, yes, I have to admit, this one seemed to have an ever so slight sessionable quality about it. I didn't mind that for me, but I can see a fair amount of people calling it "watery" and well, yes, we could say that with this beer. Me, I'd have to question that: is it entirely "watery?" Honestly, I'm only going to say: it's smoother and the oats are causing this to be this way. The finish is a bit sticky with some of those oats playing with the dark chocolate and milk chocolate sticky sweet pulling quality about it. Carbonation seemed barely there with this one. ABV did feel on par.
Overall, this is an exceptionally smooth oatmeal imperial stout well worth my time. I'd love to have this again.

Nov 26, 2017

Tony210 from New Jersey

4.15/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours very very dark with a modest tan head. Lots of roasted malt on the nose, some cola and anise too. Slightly yeasty. A little boozy on the finish. Big roasted malt flavor, bittersweet chocolate, licorice, Pepsi, star anise. Thick and syrupy, viscous. Overall a nice take on the style, probably one of the first (GABF Gold winner in 2008 & 2011, before the craft beer explosion). Not my favorite. Unfortunately no bottle date.

11/22/17
Bomber
4.25 rating

Nov 22, 2017

rodbeermunch from Nevada

3.63/5  rDev -14.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Had this a few times, review consists of culmination of all those times, although this one is pretty consistent, so I'll say I haven't seen much, if any variation between bottles.

Pours a black ale, mostly black, slight brown, not the darkest but plenty thick and dark, with 1/2" brown head on top. Looks pretty. Aroma of roasted malt and maybe some Chinook hops.

Taste has a little less of the dark fruit bitterness than your average Russian Imperial Stout (RIS). I like that. It is more of a hybrid with an American stout, as this one goes hard with the malt and less with the bitterness. Its all for the better. Usual suspects, heavily roasted chocolate malt, C hop bitterness, slight raisin/prune backdrop, baker's licorice. Hides the alcohol nicely.

A better than average RIS at the end of the day. Bomber format though, would not purchase again, but people love sending these as extras.

Sep 19, 2017

Eddieeight from Ohio

4.75/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

Looks pitch black like the night Im drinking it
Smells like dark fruits, cherry, dates, stuff like that and alcohol
Tastes like semisweet chocolate, burned oats, and bitter coffee.
Chewy and thick mouthfeel
Overall I understand why this beer is so highly rated by so many people. It's truly a delicious and heavy stout perfect for a cold winter night

Sep 19, 2017

AmeriCanadian from Tennessee

3.52/5  rDev -17.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Guess I'm just not getting it. Pretty pedestrian and un-noteworthy Russian Imperial for my tastes. Little dark fruit and an awful lot of dark wood in the mix, but otherwise dominated by licorice, which for me is a good complimentary flavor but not one I want to dominate. And unfortunately the look and feel were thin and average. So many better beers out there.

Aug 13, 2017

EmeraldMist from Maryland

4.3/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Look - Pours an inky black color with two fingers of dense mocha colored head, excellent retention and sheets of lacing.
Aroma - Charcoal, coffee grounds, minerals, hint of alcohol, charred grain.
Taste - Not as sweet as most Russian imperials I've had. A little coarse up front with ass loads of roasted malt, a little bakers chocolate towards the middle before a fresh and strong coffee flavor takes over. Hops are on the mild side which I approve of. A clean and sweet alcohol comes through towards the finish and the aftertaste is long and ash like.
Feel - Full bodied, chewy, ample carbonation. Very smooth with a gentle warming alcohol.

Overall - Well made and tastes pretty fuckin good. Nothing crazy in terms of complexity but it delivers everything I want in a stout.

Jul 17, 2017

mkh012 from Colorado

3.88/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

22 oz. bomber poured at 52° into a snifter.

Black with a very short-lived brown head despite a vigorous pour.

Nose is pretty typical of an RIS. Raisins, wood, dark chocolate syrup, and a savory, almost meaty note. Hints of caramel, ethanol, and coffee.

The taste largely follows. Figs, chocolate covered raisins, earth, a bit more savoriness. Pretty drinkable and smooth. Alcohol is well-concealed.

Mouthfeel is medium.

Overall, an above average RIS but not one I'd rush back to.

Apr 28, 2017

pezhead_79 from Indiana

3.98/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

I actually like this more than DORIS. It's an easier drinking Stout and the flavor profile comes through more in the lover ABV version. Overall, they are both solid brews.

Mar 25, 2017

Dragginballs76 from South Carolina

4.51/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Appearance - Pours jet black with nice thick mocha colored head that sticks around for several minutes before settling to a thin cap.

Aroma - Wow this thing smells amazing, dark chocolate, vanilla, roasted malts, hints of coffee and molasses as well. I also swear I smell some banana.

Taste - The flavors are very balanced. roasted malts, dark bitter chocolate, vanilla and coffee. There is only a slight hint of the alcohol.

Feel - Full bodied, very creamy and smooth. There is a warming feel from the alcohol. I would say an almost perfect feel

Overall - This is just an amazing beer, wonderful nose and flavors and so smooth. There is no sign of the 9.4% ABV other than a little warmth.

Mar 19, 2017

cbutova from Massachusetts

4.69/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Have had this brew many times over the years but pushed off taking notes as I would certainly have it again, and again. Now is finally the time.

A- Pitch black, thick and oily pour from the bomber into a narrow stange. A light tan head forms with a thick and frothy texture to about a finger high. Good head retention and a wide ring drops webs of lace at each sip.

S- Like a very rich and intense brownie. The grains bring both deep darkened tones and nutty hints. Honestly like a brownie with pecans. Cocoa, deep roast coffee, burnt barley, dark yet sweet chocolates, vanilla sweets and general chocolate chip cookie.Just a hint of hops. Oh the oats come out with warmth big time.

T- Much like the aroma the overall flavor profile is akin to a rich and nutty dark chocolate cookie or brownie. General balance between the rich malty flavors of charred barley, burnt grain, toasted oats, caramel malts, medium sweetness and toast. Rich chocolate and coffee come into play and balance well with a vanilla bean sweetness. An oat based brownie with heavy chocolate and general charred flavors.

MF- Really thick and perhaps the best part about this beer beyond the very excellent flavor. Just chewy, silky and all things smooth. The carbonation is fairly high but so smoothed out. Ends with a very subtle hop bitterness as well as some burnt bitters lingering.

No idea how I never got around to making this official. BORIS is a true classic and one of the best plain, no frills RIS on the market. Just a decadent, perfect mouthfeel with the flavor profile resembling a brownie filled with toasted nuts.

Feb 21, 2017