Russian Imperial Stout
Berkshire Brewing Company

Poured from a bomber into a snifter
Appearance – Ahhh.. I miss the bomber pour. Its nice to se that Berkshire still produces some of there stuff in the bomber format. Just something about it. Anyway, I digress. The beer pours a deep brown almost black color with a small fizzy head of brown foam. The head fades rather quickly leaving a touch of streaky and foamy brown lace on the sides of the snifter and some big foam bubbles on the surface of the beer.
Smell – The aroma is big of a dark roasted malt smell mixed with a strong showing of coffee and a bit of molasses and brown sugar. Along with these smells comes notes of char and a rather sizable aroma of black licorice. There are other notes of a light cocoa and earthy smell as well, rounding it all out to produce a rather nice roasty and toasty smell.
Taste – The taste starts with a heavy roasted and toasted malt flavor paired with a bit of the char and the cocoa that were in the nose. Initially the taste is not very sweet, with just hints of molasses and cola, while it does contain a rather decent showing of bitter from a coffee and light nut flavor. As the taste moves forward it picks up a bit more sweetness with more molasses being joined by some brown sugar and caramel. At the same time a light vanilla and some crème join in, balancing things out rather well and leaving one with a roasty and toasty, but very approachable imperial stout (more old school Russian Imperial style) taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body is heavy and thick with a chewy nature, while the carbonation is fine and light, both fitting for the style.
Overall – A good example of an imperial stout. Not over the top in sweetness or booziness, and well balanced in roast/sweet/bitter for my taste. In a world where stouts now always seem to have to be extreme, this is a refreshing alternative and much more true to the style.

 

Russian Imperial Stouts are usually full bodied, rich & complex. This brew is none of that. Numerous reviewers have used the term “thin” & I agree. It’s drinkable but I would take an Old Rasputin or Brooklyn Black Chocolate any day. Overrated.

 

 

 

Almost ink black with a finger of short-lived head that receded to a very thin ring. Decent legs. Nice malts & chocolate on the nose. Nice roasted malts on the tongue. Smooth with no alcohol burn. Feel is on the thin side. Solid beer.

Steel Rail (2021) from Berkshire. Received from @Roy_Hobbs in BIF #14. 12 oz can. Stored at home at 38 degrees. Reviewed12/12/21. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Can stamped on bottom “VINTAGE 20??”. Served at 52.8 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 59.3 degrees.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Deep Amber (SRM 15), clear.
Body – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), opaque. When rear-lite, slightly translucent with reddish overtones.
Head – Large (Maximum six cm, aggressive center pour), wheat with top rocks, rapidly diminishing to a five to twelve mm jagged lacy crown and a complete cap with rocks. Second pour produces a 0.7 cm head.
Lacing – Fair. Single narrow ring of extremely tiny bubbles with stalactites.
Aroma – 4 – Initially milk chocolate and some burnt malt, no hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 4.25 – Taste follows the nose, no hops, no yeast. Some raisins show up as it warms further. No advertised licorice or coffee. No ethanol (8.7 % ABV, according to website, NOT marked on container) taste or aroma. Marked gastric warming. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Some slightly bitter maltiness builds on the aftertaste.
Palate – 4 – Medium, velvety, soft but lively carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4 Seems a bit thin for a RIS but otherwise quite good. I was unable to convince myself or either the advertised coffee or licorice in the flavors, but the chocolate, burnt malt, and dark fruit (raisins, anyway) were distinctly present. Overall, a decent RIS.

 

 

From the older bottle, it pours a very dark, clear, reddish brown color with a nice light brown head that lasts a while. In the nose, it is roasty malty with black malt and burnt notes. In the mouth, it is smooth, creamy and the taste follows the nose. Nice!

Courtesy of IMN0P.

 

 

Dark brown, not black. Typical brown head.

Definitely some interesting smell -

Nice taste. Medium mouthfeel. Not heavy, like you would expect from a RIS, but good tasting. Full flavor, but not especially interesting.

Easy to drink, smooth. Not particularly strong for the style, but alcohol still well hidden.

Very good beer. I expected more, but still worth drinking.

Pours a warm opaque black with little head.

Smells of malt and fruits like raisins and figs. Tastes of malt, molasses, coffee and raisins. No bitterness.

Lighter in body and ABV in comparison to other russian imperial stouts I have had. Smooth lush mouthfeel. Low carbonation.

Very enjoyable. Recommended!

I found a 4pack in cans and gave this a shot. Smell was superb. Taste really struck me as very complex with some nice vanilla notes. A nice sweet malty flavor very drinkable... Overall a wonderful Russian Imperial well worth searching for.

 

Bottle aged for 6 months. Little of that characteristic Russian stout feel. Would have thought this to be the American stout variety.