Stouts Honor
Powderhaus Brewing Company

Review: 2288
Name: Stout's Honor
Brewery: Powderhaus Brewing Company
Location: Boise, ID
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 10%
Canned: Unknown
Date: Dec 20 2024
I know this beer is at least three years old, I did pick this up when I was working in Boise. I am using a tulip glass and serving the beer at 48 degrees. The pour created a half-fingered, creamy, light tan head, with poor retention. The quick dissipation left no lacing on the glass. The beer's color is inky black with a reddish hues, opaque, and charting at SRM 36. The appearance is slightly below average for this style.
Nosing the glass, I dark roasted malts, char, anise, molasses, treacle, floral esters, dark chocolate, espresso, light smoke, figs, raisins, and tobacco. Smelling the beer again, I notice caramel, toffee, earthy dirt, malty sweetness, bready, lightly toasted grains.
The beer starts with roasted malts, molasses, treacle, floral esters, dark chocolate, espresso, light smoke, soy sauce, figs, raisins, tobacco, caramel, toffee, and tobacco. Sipping the beer again, I detect anise, dark toasted bread crust, earthy dirt, floral, herbal, pine resin, and malty sweetness.
The mouthfeel is tannic and chewy, finishing dry. The body is medium-plus and has medium carbonation.
This is not a good version of a RIS. The harmony and balance in the beer is not aligning on the palate. The dark roasted malt are heavy handed and maybe steep to long, giving lots Maillard and char with bitterness.

Bomber from Winco. Near black pour with small beige head. Aroma is normal roast grains with faint elements of chocolate. Taste also features the roast grains, admit should, pretty sharp bitterness. On target for the style.

22oz bottle split into pint glasses.

A: Dark brown pour, not opaque but translucent red on the edges of the glass, with a soapy khaki head.

S & T: Roast, dark malt, smokiness, cocoa, coffee, with a present bitterness.

MF: Feels light for a 10% brew; medium-bodied, fairly easy drinking.

O: Middle-of-the-road 10% stout, doesn't do anything out-of-the-ordinary but it isn't bad and I enjoyed it.

a bruiser of an imperial stout here, but incredibly well made. sometimes less can be more with this style, like no barrel or cocoa nibs or anything is kind of nice, everyone seems to be overdoing it, rather than just making a good base stout, this sort of thing has become a dying breed, so i was over the moon when i got this and it tastes this good, my favorite beer from our recent visit here. this is matte black and viscous in the glass, but holds over an inch of tan head, really creamy looking and lively, impressive visually. the aroma is simple, dark roasted barley, a little earthy soil thing to it, and a light bready or doughy yeast thing, a little european in that way, but its a smooth round dark roast with a coffee hint to it, wintery and cozy, without any real alcohol impression. the flavor is great too, some dry cocoa and espresso character to the roast, straightforward but great, and somewhat drier than a lot of its peers, its oddly almost crisp, rare for a big stout. the linger isnt long, and the alcohol only comes out a little bit, even when this warms up, and overall its a wholly satisfying brew, a fantastic example of a strong stout with no frills, expertly made. from a quality standpoint, this is one of their best beers to date. loved it, way too easy to drink a glass...

Pours standard black with a decent dark tan head and cap.. no real lacing.. Nose is burnt with some light fruity esters.. something that I associate with anise?? A bit ashy for my liking... not enough malty complexity to really make this a big winner... perhaps a little sweetness would add to the complexity and tie things together. Okay... Pretty thin on the palate.

3.5/3/3/3/3