Laika Russian Imperial Stout
Straight To Ale

 

May 14th, 2016 - The rich smell of brownies bounds out of the glass like an excited dog, followed by soy sauce and teriyaki. The flavor isn't quite as sweet, though offers a hint of dry chocolate. The malt profile os quite dry too, tasting overall like a very fancy, very bitter and dry chocolate bar - the top shelf stuff at the grocery store, with the arcane typeface.

You know what you're getting here - a heavy, dark Russian imperial stout. That works for me. They've done a few other iterations of this one, but this is the original base beer, and it has some flavors that don't come out in the other versions. It's clearly best to do a side-by-side with those other ones and see which is your favorite. I think this one is right in the middle of their dog pack.

 

 

 

I tried this beer at the brewery. This beer pored an opaque dark with tan head that is not leaving much lace. The scent had hints of bittersweet chocolate, caramel, molasses and vanilla. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with bittersweet chocolate, caramel, molasses and vanilla. The mouthfeel was lighter in body with smooth carbonation. Overall it is a good beer.

 

 

 

Look - a deep oily dark brown with a small mocha head with little retention.
Smell - huge roasted malts, bittersweet chocolate, caramel, molasses, vanilla, and a strong foundation of booze rounding it all out.
Taste - basically follows the nose but isn’t as rich and robust, and the roasted malts, coffee, molasses, and vanilla are the strongest notes.
Feel - medium carbonation and kinda thin body for the style.

 

12 oz can poured into pint glass.
A: pours a coffee black with hints of coca cola brown, off white one finger foam head that slowly fades
S: roasted malt, dark chocolate, coffee
M: creamy rich heavy body
T: sweet chocolate malt, roasted malt, nice sryupy feel
O: good brew, the alcohol is well hidden;

 

A: Pours an opaque yet still clear thick viscous jet black in color with moderate amounts of fine active visible carbonation along the edges of the glass and faint dark cola brown highlights. The beer has a three finger dense foamy dark mocha colored head that slowly reduces to a large patch of thick film covering the entire surface of the beer with a thick ring at the edges of the glass. Significant amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate to strong aromas of roasted malts, moderate aromas of bittersweet chocolate, and moderate aromas of caramel sweetness. Light to moderate aromas of earthy hops.

T: Upfront there are moderate to strong flavors of roasted malts with moderate flavors of dark bittersweet + milk chocolate and caramel sweetness. That is followed by light flavors of charred malts and a moderate amount of earthy hops. There is a moderate amount of roasty bitterness in the finish which lingers for quite a while. Hints of booziness in the finish.

M: Medium to full bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation.

O: This is a big, rich imperial stout which is very enjoyable but definitely a slow sipper. A bit boozy but not overwhelmingly so. I could definitely see myself enjoying this one again.

 

Pours dark black with very small mocha head.
The aroma is rich dark malty sweetness, dark fruit, char, chocolate, and a little tobacco.
Flavor is dark rich malts, espresso, with a dark dry chocolatey finish.
The mouthfeel is a little thin for the style, but overall is great.
This is an awesome beer, I have no idea how it's even possible it has an 89 on here.

Got this in a 12oz can from a buddy, pours a dark black tar color with a nice dark tan head. Aroma is a bit weak with nothing much than faint roasted malts. The beer tastes outstanding though, nice bourbon characteristics with some good amount of alcohol heat, vanilla and charred notes. Mouthfeel is thicker than most stouts but not as viscous as I like my heavy stouts to be. All in all this is a very good dark and dialed up stout that's sure to make stout fanboys happy.

 

 

 

 

 

Appearance – The beer was dark with mocha bubbles crowning the glass.

Smell – The nose was dark and malty with hints of chocolate.

Taste – My initial impression is dark and bubbly chocolate. The malts were rich. There was a noted metallic taste which was a bit of a draw back. The stout faded into a dry rich chocolate.

Mouthfeel – The feel did not allow the rich chocolate to linger. Instead metal seemed to cling to my teeth.

Overall – Of the Laikas, this is my least favorite.

2014 vintage
22oz bottle poured into a snifter

A- pour like motor oil, jet black with a one-finger thick and creamy dark tan head that retains long after the pour, leaving small patches of lace

S- roasted malt gives deep aromas of dark chocolate with a hint of espresso, followed by notes of dark cherry, sherry, sweet vanilla cream & earthy tobacco. Some alcohol heat hits the nostrils on the close

T- dark roasted malt gives flavors of rich dark chocolate, followed by notes of rum soaked dark fruits, mainly black cherry & fig. Earthy tobacco, licorice & molasses close it out, with a linger of cocoa and more dark fruit

M- medium body with low carbonation leads to a foamy mouthfeel that turns creamy into a slightly warming finish

O- a couple of years has brought out some great dark fruit notes and i quite complex for a straight up RIS, very good

 

 

 

Black pour

Metallic-y coffee up front on the nose, milk chocolate follows

Huge sweet body, followed by dark chocolate and coffee, lingering black malt bitterness on the finish.

Not a perfect RIS, but tasty for sure.

 

 

L- Jet black with a nice mocha head.
S- espresso coffee and dark chocolate.
T- sweet raisins and plums with dark chocolate and milk coffee. Quite delicious.
F- slightly lighter bodied than most other RISs I've had.
O- delicious beer, not the best RIS I've had but still a top notch brew. I'll definitely get this again.

 

 

Got this one from Halo4one a while back. Cheers!

From a bomber into a snifter

APPEARANCE: A thick black pour yields a big, 3+ finger, medium, creamy looking, dark tan head with excellent retention. Black body with no real carbonation evident. Head fades to a huge thick cap and leaves some good lacing on the glass as it recedes. A splotchy wisp remains until the end leaving lots of lacing down the glass. Huge head on this one, but pretty good looking overall.

SMELL: Lots of roasted barley, black malts, coffee, pure chocolate and tobacco initially. Burnt aromas and notes of sweet cream. This starts out alright, but as it comes closer to room temperature, some definite diacetyl comes through rather strongly and casts a shadow over the entire thing. The yeast were probably rather unhappy during this whole fermentation thing. Off-putting for sure.

TASTE: Starts out with roasted and burnt malts, tobacco and more burnt flavors at the swallow. A big finish of roasted and charred malts, bitter espresso, dark chocolate and tobacco. Like the nose, however, as this comes closer to room temperature, a sheet of diacetyl covers the entire experience. In the end, it’s a combination of roasted and bitter flavors clashing with a definitely off-putting bed of diacetyl. Guessing this beer/batch was well underpitched.

PALATE: Medium body and medium levels of carbonation. Creamy enough on the palate, goes down fine and finishes slightly mouth-coating. Some bitterness lingers. Quite a bit of bitterness, actually.

OVERALL: Not good, unfortunately. The base recipe is probably pretty solid, but the diacetyl character becomes rather overwhelming as it sits. Some other reviewers have described this as a metallic or band-aid character. Diacetyl is a classic sign of underpitching, so that would be my guess. In any case, the yeast was obviously not happy going to work here. Definitely rough going and drain saw the last part of the bottle. I hope the barreled versions came from different batches; otherwise, this might turn into a massive waste of time. Avoid. This batch at least.

This beer pours a jet black color with a gigantic, super fizzy, dark brown head. Retention is excellent and there is not lacing. Seems overcarbed. Smell is bitter and milk chocolate, roasted malt, and a hint of coffee. Taste is gross. There is an overpowering metallic taste that absolutely ruins this beer. You can get a hint of bitter chocolate and roasted malts, but the metal taste just dominates. Feel is medium and slick, but a little watery as well. Overall no, just no. I've never had a beer taste so bad before. I'm not sure where a metal taste could come from in a beer, but I would avoid this one like the plague.

Poured from a can dated Feb. 15, 2016.
Looks quite similar to Founders Imperial Stout. Motor oil with dark brown foam. The head is pretty fizzy-sounding, though, and it dissipates quickly. Retention and lacing are minimal.
Smell is also excellent for a pure stout. Loads of roasted malt, chocolate, some smokiness, hints of oak and coffee.
Flavor is roasted malt and roasted nuts, almost like peanuts were in there. There is a hint of bitterness mid-palate. At first, there was a slightly metallic aftertaste, but that faded almost immediately.
It has a good viscosity. The carbonation leaves a little bit of tingly fizziness at the end.
This is definitely one of the better pure stouts I've had -- I mean, a plain RIS without adjuncts or barrel aging. Also, I thought I was going to have to buy Laika in bomber format, so I appreciate that Straight to Ale put it in cans. I'm much happier spending $11 on 48oz of beer in four cans that I can spread out over time, rather than spending a similar amount of money on 22oz of beer in a bomber that I have to drink all at once.

This beer is awesome. It's brewed in my home state and if you don't laika it, you can go straight to ale!