Cossock Imperial Black IPA
Fat Unicorn Brewery

An excellent beer. Stout and Porter qualities all over this one! It full bodied with a bright carbonation that does not overstep. Great job on this superb brew.

341ml bottle, part of the new-ish Fat Unicorn mixed pack. I always thought it was 'Cossack', but what do I know, I'm not of Russian descent.

This beer pours a solid, light-destroying black hole, with the barest of basal red cola edges, and a veritable teeming tower of puffy, supremely rocky, and chunky brown head, which leaves some splendidly random webbed lace around the glass as it slowly seeps away.

It smells of bready and slightly roasted caramel malt, bittersweet chocolate, some mild earthy yeastiness, muddled citrus and dark orchard fruity notes, and some plain leafy, weedy, and piney green hop bitters. The taste is semi-sweet, grainy and doughy caramel malt, bitter dark cocoa powder (like the stuff I weirdly had to almost force-feed my toddler tonight - that's the power of Star Wars video distraction, it is), black licorice, still mixed and matched citrus and black stone fruit, and some tame earthy, herbal, and grassy verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is adequate in its swirling and enveloping frothiness, the body a decent medium weight, and sort of smooth, as the green hoppy esters take a minor tithe, yet don't seem to be able to deter the burgeoning airy creaminess. It finishes well off-dry, the caramel, cocoa, fruit, and testy hops more or less holding on to a weak detente.

Overall, this is definitely one of the better versions of the style (though I've yet to hear it referred to as 'Imperial', but that could just be the Russki talking here). In the end, this is by far the best brew that this farmer turned brewer has yet made, and it really feels like he's gearing up for an RIS, or the like.