Kushetka Russian Imperial Stout
Counterbalance Brewing Company

Bottle from HomeBrewStuff. Ebony pour, small, silky beige head. Aroma is predominantly roast grains, minor coffee and chocolate. Taste also is roast grain bitterness, then lacto sweetness, then alcohol heat. Middle of the pack, but not a bad place to be.

draught
Dense, medium bodied, light brown head, that deposits much lacing on the glass, as it recedes. Opaque, black look, with a medium heavy looking viscosity, during the poor. Strait up, dark roasted grain aroma, with a touch of a woody note. Good amount of heavily roasted grains, and little else, in a pretty smooth and robust manner, with a moderate body, for an imperial stout. Long finish of the deep roasted grain flavor, without a edge, just a robust flavor presence. This is a good sipper, if it's not too cold.

 

 

 

 

12oz can purchased at Huckleberry's in Spokane. I forget the price. Freshness date on bottom is printed super small and is smudged, so it's age is anyone's guess.

Poured into an Iron Goat snifter, this is such a dark brown as to appear jet black, even when held up to light. Big, creamy, tan head, almost like a root beer float. Lots of lace.

Initially the aroma was uninspiring, closely resembling soy sauce. As it warmed, things improved. Some brown sugary, molasses-like scents, and a little bit of raisiny dark fruit aromas came out to play.

The taste was of the above but seemed to meld better on the tongue than in the olfactory. The sweetness was a little more pronounced, in a slightly chocolatey way, but was offset by a bitter bite that kept it from being too sweet for the style. Finished on a dry note.

Full bodied, yet still a little thin for the style.

Not one I'd put on my Mt. Rushmore of the style, but nearly there. My first Counterbalance beer is a pretty good one. I'll have to try some of their other beers available locally.

 

A gift from Sharon in the form of a 22oz bomber.
It pours a very dark brown with a khaki head that fades away but leaves some nice lacing and a small ring.
Aroma: Vanilla and burnt coffee
Taste: See above and add bitter chocolate and some heavily roasted malts.
Feel: Smooth and creamy texture.
Overall: I will probably never see one again unless I get to Seattle. Reminds me of two of my favorite Russians, Old Rasputin and Ivan the Terrible. It's a very good beer!

 

 

Nice full bodied aroma like a classic imperial stout. Smells like a roasted bourbon barrel. Hearty taste with lingering burnt notes but doesn't taste particularly creamy. Strong stuff. Silky mouthfeel.

 

 

 

 

Nice, dark brown/black color. Tan head with very fine lace.

Mild smell, mocha, malt; maybe there'd be more, this one was just out of the frig.

Taste is interesting - definitely a good amount of malty bitterness, as a stout should have, but more treble and midrange, than bass.

Mouthfeel is quite rich. Nice. Just right. Carbonation is spot-on.

Some distinct hoppy bitterness on the finish, as if this had some IPA influence in it somewhere. Not bad, per se, but seems a bit at odds with the rest of the beer.

 

 

From a bottle, into a tulip: nearly black color, no light getting through. Toast, vanilla on the nose. Wonderful complex flavor: toast, vanilla, cocoa, tobacco. I really loved the silky mouth feel of this beer- perfect and a lot of imperial stouts get this part wrong in my opinion. I'm thinking this is better than the old rasputin! 8.99 for the bomber makes this a really good value too.