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

At Party Town bar

 

Copenhagen 29/4 2020. 35,5 cl bottle from Beers of Beers web-shop. Happy, hopping' frog sporting a pitcher of beer and a double gold medal from the Great American Beer Festival on the label.

Pours opaque deep, dark brown with a small beige head. Settles as tiny patches of foam floating aimlessly around. No lacing.

Aroma is intense with an overwhelming combination of chocolate sweetness and an earthy, bitter odor. Brown sugar, toffee, light roast. Leather, wet soil, muskiness. Prominent presence of alcohol.

Light carbonation. Thick, viscous, fat, smooth, creamy texture.

Flavor is intense with a strong sweetness followed by a medium bitterness. Aftertaste is sweet with a strong bitter undercurrent. Lingering. Finish has a distinct boozy burn.

Powerful Imperial Stout. This Frog kicks ass.

 

 

Poured into a mug from a 12-oz can well within its date range.

Look: Black, with a 1/2” brown head that dissipated within a couple minutes to a brown foam cap with bodacious lacing.

Nose: Cooked brown sugar, dark malt, a touch of floral, and alcohol, all nicely balanced.

Attack: Dark roasted malt, coffee, alcohol, oatmeal.

Finish: Bitterness from the dark roast, alcohol warms going down.

Mouthfeel: Thick and creamy, smooth from the oatmeal, adequate carbonation.

Overall: This is a solid oatmeal RIS. If the taste was as full and well balanced as the look, nose, and mouthfeel, this could be a world class brew. While there are other RIS’s I will be more likely to purchase — there are so many truly astounding ones — I’d happily order and drink this again.

 

2/7/25 - (Can - Home) (Chicago, IL) Can Notes: Obtained via in person trade with Dave @blogjackets on BA on July 19, 2024 in Sheboygan. 12 oz, best by 6/5/2027, so assuming canned 6/5/24. Refrigerated upon returning home until pulling this evening. Oatmeal Imperial Stout 9.4% ABV, Beware: This Bodacious Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout will crush you like no other! This is the grand-daddy of all stout styles, with an intensely deep roasted and full bodied flavor. A robust hop character adds a refreshing balance. Brewed By: Hoppin' Frog Brewing Company, Akron, Ohio. Store in a Cool Place.

Appearance: Poured about 9 ounces followed later by top off pour into a 12 oz hand held snifter. Pitch black base, dark tan creamy head leaves racer thin cover over the base, creamier along the rim and no lacing. 4.25

Aroma: Let this sit for about 20 minutes before diving in. Getting a nice roast dark and bakers chocolate, raisins and plums. Mild in strength, higher in enjoyment. 4.0

Taste: Fuller flavor strength, wider taste range vs. the aroma. A nice malt base, caramel and toffee. Dark and bakers chocolate, light raisins. Digging this one. 4.25

Mouthfeel: Creamy and sticky full body, carbonation very faint and gentle. Drinks lighter than the ABV at first, but gains perceived strength at the halfway pole. Sweet overall, but roast malt provides a half hearted fight. Sticky chocolate toffee finish. 4.5

Overall: This is a solid Imperial Stout, no barrel required. Full flavor, traditional stout flavors, and a rich full body makes this a winner in my book. Wish we had access to these here for another non barrel aged option with some kick and rich flavors. Thank you Dave for this excellent selection. 4.25

 

 

 

12oz can with best by Oct 2026 date. Stored at 54 degrees in a wine cooler
Poured thick and black with a nice brown head with good retention and lacing. Smells like burnt chocolate and coffee with licorice. Taste is more of the same but with a crisp mouthfeel
Had a can of this in the spring but it was too cold and didn’t have the full richness and flavor that comes out at warmer temps. Started putting stouts and similar big dark beers in the wine cooler. Liking the results. Oh and this beer is terrific

 

 

Undated bottle, so not sure how valid this review is.
Poured stout black with a barely there brown head that dissipated pretty quickly.
The taste is way too soft for a “proper” RIS, but oatmeal in the mix does tend to soften things out. Or maybe it’s an old bottle that mellowed. Either way, it’s a lot of smooth malty goodness that I could drink by the pint (and this was a 12 oz bottle)
The feel is appropriately viscous for the style, I definitely enjoyed quaffing it.
OA, I will try a fresh one and amend this as necessary.

Had B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher poured from 12-oz. can, aggressively but with notice ("traded") heisted from buddy's beer fridge, bottom stamped "BEST BY MAR 24 2024," into snifter.

Pours absolutely black with 1/2-finger of dark tan head, which soon dissipates nearly completely away, only a narrow ring surviving, to leave a little splotchy lace down the glass. Aromas of mild, dark malt and dark fruits off pour, then some biting citrus aroma, and caramel as warms. On tasting, begins with mild dark roast malts, and mild chocolate, then big, bitter roast coffee, which carries into some citrus bite, and over a bit of smoothing caramel, and perhaps oats, into a drying, hugely bitter, but somewhat fruity, roasted coffee finish.

A huge, bitter, old-fashioned, straightforward RIS, except balanced by (presumably a lot of) modern fruity hops, and by oatmeal, which is not overtly noticeable but does make the roasted Russian (winter) experience survivable.

 

 

Beautiful deep rich almost black pour. Good clingy head, did not disappear.

Not much noticeable on the nose.

Delicious. Smooth, silky.

For the "simplest" of the R.I.S. styles from this brewery, it is great.