Igor
Fullsteam Brewery

 

 

Taste: big boozy, bourbon, oak, malty, warm finish. Same with the nose. Black, opaque, with a big foam head and sticky lace on the glass. Full body. Smooth.

 

Opaque black beer with a dense tan head that lasts a while. Sweet with molasses and char in the nose. Also smells a little smoky and woody. The taste is sweet with dark chocolate, molasses oak and char. Medium mouthfeel.

 

 

 

 

 

Igor black as coal. Igor have one-half inch, creamy, chestnut head. Igor leave thick rings of lace. Igor cling to Offero glass.

Igor have breath of bourbon and oak. Vanilla puffs with warming.

Igor much sweeter than expected. Oak, vanilla, and bourbon are all present with some alcohol and far less roasted quality than was expected. The finish is mild and lingering, while warming brings out chocolate syrup.

A full-bodied, velvety texture belies an otherwise light feel. Alcohol is as one would anticipate. The carbonation is fine and cleansing.

Igor is clearly intended for sipping. I enjoyed it while reading and languishing in cabin fever. By the way, should it be pronounced E-gor or I-gor?

2013 release

 

 

 

 

A: The beer is jet black in color. It poured with a thin tan head that quickly died down, leaving wispy lacing on the surface and a collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Light to moderate aromas of bourbon are present in the nose along hints of dark fruits.
T: Much like the smell, the taste has lots of bourbon along with notes of dark fruits and vanilla along with hints of coffee.
M: It feels medium-bodied and a little smooth on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation. Hints of warming from the bourbon are noticeable towards the finish.
O: The beer is rather easy to drink for a bourbon barrel aged stout because you don't get any alcohol in the taste and it isn't as heavy compared to other beers in the style. There are interesting complexities in the flavors.

Note: 2013 Vintage

A: Pours an opaque but clear jet black in color with light amounts of gentle carbonation along the surface of the beer and cola brown highlights. The beer has a half finger tall sudsy foamy tan head that reduces quickly to a large patch of extremely thin film and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Very light amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate to strong aromas of roasted and toasted grains along with moderate amounts of dark fruit (cherry, fig, and plum) sweetness. Light to moderate aromas of vanilla, oak, and bourbon.

T: Upfront there is a moderate flavor of roasted malts and toasted grainy malts with a moderate to strong amount of dark fruit (cherry, fig, and plum) sweetness. Moderate flavors of bourbon with light to moderate flavors of oak and slightly stronger flavors of vanilla. Only a light amount of bitterness in the finish and it fades pretty quickly.

M: Medium to heavy bodied with light to moderate amounts of carbonation. Light to moderate amounts of alcohol warming in the finish.

O: Not as full bodied as some of the other examples of the RIS style but still enjoyable. A nice combination of dark fruits, bourbon, vanilla, and oak without being too heavy or too intense. A moderate ABV for the style makes this one a little easy to drink but still a sipping beer.

 

 

 

 

 

Straight pour from a 22oz pry-off bottle to a fat, stubby tulip glass; this is the 2013 batch, released in early November of last year, making this bottle, oh . . . a bit over two and a half months old. Almost 12 weeks to the day. It’s been stored relatively well, chilled over 24 hours, and allowed to warm up a bit prior to opening.

Appearance (4.25): A solid 2+ fingers of coffee ice cream-colored head comes off of the pour, capping a black body. The head dies down pretty slowly for the style, and it leaves some really neat lacing—a solid sheet above the surface, at first, but it turns into a thick collar above legs and streaks that stretch to the surface of the beer.

Smell (4.0): Dark chocolate ganache, rum cake, molasses, black cherry, and a little bit of roasted coffee aroma combine to make something that smells like those little liqueur-infused chocolate bon bons. Not quite that boozy, but just as almost astringently chocolately, but also syrupy at the same time. It’s actually kind of unexpected, but very pleasant.

Taste (3.5): More of the fruitiness hinted at in the nose is clear here—some black cherry, a bit of licorice, dark chocolate, and just a bit of coffee bitterness at first. As it warms, it gravitates toward the fudgy ganache also promised by the nose, but it doesn’t abandon that sort of cherry-licorice fruitiness (light on the licorice, which is good because I’m not a big fan of black licorice). As it approaches room temperature, it settles into that fudgy, dark, liqueur truffle kind of profile fully, with a moderate booziness.

Mouthfeel (3.5): The body feels surprisingly light, with a smooth, tingly carbonation that covers all surfaces. It feels oddly thin for the style, and while the carbonation and weight don’t quite fit the style they’re not unpleasant in the least. In fact, it’s moderately viscous, in spite of the relatively light weight.

Overall (3.75): This is a pretty tasty stout, to be sure, but in my mind it’s missing some of the key notes of the style. For my taste it’s fortunate that it’s not the typically oak-soaked, chocolate vanilla-liquor that you get with some of the overblown bourbon barrel-aged stouts, but it’s also not quite reaching into the mocha motor oil type of drink I seek in these big stouts. Even so, it’s tasty, unique, and seems to be a different sort of stout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2013 vintage. Poured from a bomber into a snifter, the beer is a very dense appearing pour, almost jet black, with a tall, frothy, creamy, light tan head. Aromas of dark cherry, fig, vanilla, booze, oak, subtle chocolate, roasted notes, and oats. Very layered and deep nose. Flavors of rich and roast blast forward, with a tangy and bitter chocolate and coffee blend, heavy dose of booze underlying, and then comes the fun part. Subtle notes of vanilla highlight the booze, and also ease in the dark, old world fruit characteristics. Heavy and smooth bodied, with a slightly tart, heavily roasted, slightly bitter aftertaste of cherry and chocolate. Very rich throughout. Smooth, slightly lingering finish that never truly leaves your tongue, but more so waits for another sip. Fantastically large and drinkable, this is a wintery treat. Can't wait to welcome this monster back into my beer fridge next year!