Night King
Fortside Brewing

Review: 2440
Name: Night King
Brewery: Fortside Brewing
Location: Vancouver, WA
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 11.2%
Canned: 02 December 2024
Date: 30 June 2025
Russian Imperial Stouts are my favorite style of beer; I have never had anything from Fortside, so I'm hoping for a tasty brew. I am using a stemless tulip glass and serving the beer at a temperature of 46 degrees. The pour created a frothy, creamy three-fingered head with average retention. The quick dissipation of the head left bits of lacing on the glass. The inky black beer, with dark mahogany reddish-brown hues, has an SRM of 34 and is opaque.
Nosing the glass, I detect dark-roasted malts, anise, molasses, caramel, raisins, figs, bready notes, biscuit, char, soy sauce, dark chocolate, leather, tobacco, earthy notes, medium-roasted coffee, and a light floral note.
Sipping the glass, the dark roasted malts, char, molasses, dark chocolate, Maillard, raisins, and dark chocolate smack my palate. Sipping the beer again, I detect notes of leather, earthiness, medium-roasted coffee, light floral notes, dates, breadiness, and anise, with a hint of caramel.
The mouthfeel is thick and chewy, finishing with a heavy texture and a light warming sensation. The body is heavy and has low carbonation.
Final Thought: The Night King is a good representation of the Russian Imperial Stout style; however, the beer could have better harmony and balance. The dark-roasted malts and char have a slight bitterness to them that is a bit off-putting. I had an easier time sorting out the flavors than with a similar beer that had better build quality. Now, that said, this is not a terrible beer; with some finesse, this would be stellar.

Tasted my son's order at Mahoney's Public House. Aroma is sweet and alcohol strong. Taste is alcohol and sweetness with malt and chocolate. The pour is very dark brown with almost no head. 60 IBUs Rated 9-12-2022

draught
Good amount of light brown head. Quite dark and no see through, brown look. Subtle, off-dry, dark roasted grain smell, with a slight floral perfume. Slight sweetness, ample body, added to the sharp flavor that predominates, which is a slightly woody, dark roasted grain.

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a thin dark khaki head that dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, milk and dark chocolate, coffee and light vanilla. Flavor is dark toasted malt with moderate char, dark chocolate, espresso coffee, mild dark dried fruit, lingering charry and coffee finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. A solid Russian imperial stout that is decidedly on the toasty/charry side of the spectrum. The distinct char tastes fine due to the depth of the malt body, which is important for this style. This can did not produce much of a head, but the carbonation is fine and balanced. I like the combination of deeply toasted malt and coffee playing off the chocolate and milder dark dried fruit flavors. ABV well covered. I'm now really looking forward to comparing this to the barreled version that's waiting for me for tomorrow. Nicely done.

 

Poured from 16oz tall can into a tulip. Canned 2/9/20.

Appearance: impenetrably black hue with a thick finger of frothy brown foam atop; this is a darn good-looking beer.

Smell: sweet malt, chocolate notes, and alcohol. There's also something here that reads to my nose as acetone -- not wholly welcome in an imperial stout. Overall, though, it's not too bad.

Taste: a rich, complex dark flavor including dark fruits: plum, fig, a little cherry, a little unburnt tobacco. This beer has a definite Baltic porter quality to it -- lots of interesting fermentation flavors. I really like it.

Mouthfeel: medium-rich body with a good carbonation and a smooooooth creaminess.

Overall: this is a darn good Russian imperial stout; it takes all the right cues from the exemplars of the style. There's a little messiness here, as in the aroma, but overall I like it a lot.

A pint can picked up at Special Brews in Lynnwood, Washington.
Lot number 58/21/19/1. Poured in to a nonic pint glass.

Look- Dark opaque coffee/almost black color, solid khaki head that quickly recedes to a thin cap, light spotty lacing. Light carbonation streaming as it sits.

Smell- Chocolate cake, burnt sugar/caramel, coffee, dark fruits (raisins and figs), some cherry and plum, a little vanilla and slight booze and licorice/

Taste- Emulates the smell with some roasted earthy nuts in the mix and Worcestershire sauce.

Feel- Not as thick as I imagined, medium bodied with average/light carbonation. Smooth as silk , the alcohol is well hidden and it doesn't interfere.

O- A solid RIS, not as complex as some others but tasty.