Catherine The Great
Brouwerij Smisje

Drinking out of a small goblet.
Pours a clear light mahogany with a minimal head.
Smells is sweet caramel.
Fair mouth feel.
Somewhat boozy taste. Sweet caramel.
Doesn’t really taste like a stout, let alone an Imperial Stout.
Otherwise a reasonable beer.

An 11.2 fluid ounce brown bottle was opened and poured into a clear pint glass. It's quite carbonated, especially for this style. The foam receded quickly, with almost no glass lacing. Its aroma is malty and much more yeasty than the typical stout. Behind the malt is a bit of the esters common to Belgian brews. The eventual head is light tan and the color of the liquid is sort of like milk chocolate, maybe a shade darker. Its taste is sweet at the onset and the little amount of hops doesn't mitigate that much. There is a modest transition from sweet to dry at the finish, but there's no depth to any of the other flavors. Even the mouthfeel is light, almost thin, although it does a good job at hiding the high ABV. Overall, it's a pleasantly sweet way to imbibe a 10% ABV brew, without dealing with too much taste, nor body.

Not a Russian Imperial Stout. Not by look, smell, taste or feel. A pleasant tasting beer with a Belgian yeast taste. More dark Belgian saison or light tasting dubbel.

 

 

 

330 ml bottle served in a Belgian snifter. $5.50 at Total Wine.
Bottle released considerable pressure when the cap was unsealed, suggesting it might gush, but it was well behaved. It did raise a very tall head in the pour. This reduced to a complete top coat fairly quickly.
A cross between a Belgian strong, a Belgian stout and a RIS, the Belgian character is particularly evident in the aroma. No points deducted for style: this is delicious and, besides, the "Imperial Stout" on the English label may be due to the US distributor. Very good balance and complexity.

Overall: recommended.

From an 11.2oz bottle, undated - actually, there's an 11:15 code stamped on the cap which might be the date, the time of day, or something else altogether, so let's just ignore that. Served in a tulip.

Pours a... what the hell? Is this a stout? It looks like a brown ale or black IPA or something. A really pretty brownish-red colour which, while it looks very nice, looks not at all like a stout, let alone an impy stout. Big, beautiful off-white soft creamy head with excellent retention and gobs of lacing. I have no clue how to rate the appearance.

Smells of sweet caramel malt and milk chocolate.

Tastes like a Three Musketeers bar and... that's pretty much it, right there: tastes like a Three Musketeers.

Feel is creamy, light-to-medium-bodied and well carbonated.

What the hell did I just drink?!?! Looks like a black IPA, tastes like a candy bar.

 

Pours a huge fizzy bubbly 3 finger head that fades at a med pace, light spotty lacing, dark murky mahogany maroon brown color.

Nose fluffy dark malts, nougaty like, some caramel brown sugar molasses notes, hint of toasty cocoa, but lots of fruity esters, big Belgian yeast characters, some apple and pear, caramel apples.

Taste brings more malts, dark malts, lots of nougaty caramel with caramel fudgey notes, brown sugar, candi sugar, a big ester profile again, Belgian yeast really goes to town, more apple pear esters, caramel candy apples, mild phenols and a hint of booze. Then oxidation, a little wet paper, into biscuity coca notes too. Finish is sticky, no real booze, candy caramel chewy nougat thing, with more candy apples and oxidation lingering.

Mouth is med to fuller bod, sticky candy feel, decent carb.

Overall not bad, it had promise, a little too much yeast ester profile, not much for dark malts, but still pretty good, aside from the oxidation.

 

 

 

 

 

Roasty, toasted malts, vanilla, smokey.

Nose coffee, light roast. Pours dark brown with a slight haze under a 3” foam cap that slowly dissipates while producing good lace. The palate has chocolate with some light coffee notes with some caramel and a little sherry. The beer is highly carbonated with a medium body. The carbonation is a little harsh and the beer is a little solventy and the alcohol is a little hot.

 

I popped the cap and there's a slow oozing of the beer.

For an imperial Stout, it has more of a colour of a barley wine. A murky rust. The foam does a good job of shrinking from the initial pour leaving lots of lacing in its wake.

It smells like an aged barley wine. Caramel malt with a very noticeable Port like aroma. Marvelous.

The taste holds no surprises. Rich malty goodness with the Port flavourful I mentioned in the smell. I notice some oxidation which probably explains the Port.

Very nice and smooth mouth feel.

I guess I am digging this more than most, judging from the reviews. Oh well.