Luscious
The Alchemist

LusciousLuscious
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From:
The Alchemist
 
Vermont, United States
Style:
Russian Imperial Stout
Ranked #28
ABV:
9.2%
Score:
98
Ranked #374
Avg:
4.43 | pDev: 7%
Reviews:
223
Ratings:
933
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 10, 2024
Added:
Oct 09, 2011
Wants:
  594
Gots:
  148
British style imperial stout.

Beautiful dark British malted barley on display, presenting roasty aromas of chocolate and dried fruit. Full bodied and extremely drinkable.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by chiefz1:
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Rated by chiefz1 from New York

5/5  rDev +12.9%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Sep 04, 2021
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.25 by mattycasey from Massachusetts

Mar 10, 2024
Photo of BubbleBobble
Reviewed by BubbleBobble from New York

4.28/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Pours near black with a fizzy ruddy 1" head, moderate retention and streaky lacing. Nose is milk and dark chocolate, port wine, sweet roasted malt, leather, dark soy sauce, and some grassy hop. Taste is like very similar to a chocolate egg cream, with some additional cocoa up front, actual sweet cream midpalate, and a pleasingly bitter and tannic finish. With fresher cans, I've found the hop and bitter element to be more pronounced, but either way it works. Feel is a little on the thick side with brief and biting carbonation without being heavy, akin to something like Old Rasputin. Overall, I do think it's best when fresh, but a solid beer whenever you crack it.
Feb 23, 2024
 
Rated: 4.49 by TheRealBen from Massachusetts

Dec 20, 2023
 
Rated: 4.3 by HarlotBronte from District of Columbia

Dec 09, 2023
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Reviewed by mvanaskie13 from Pennsylvania

4.46/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Poured into a goblet: color is black, solid, head is tan and presents one finger thick, head then dissipates to thin top with thicker ring along glass side.

Smell is roast, chocolate, cocoa, light espresso, light toffee, bitter earthy note, subtle sweeter malt.

Taste is roast, chocolate, cocoa, light dark fruit, some toffee and light caramel, earthy bitter malts, more sweet than boozy in finish.

Mouthfeel is low/moderate carbonation, moderate/stronger sweetness, moderate bitterness, some drying.

Overall a very good, big RIS with a sweeter flavor and feel for the strength which eases the drinkability.
Nov 27, 2023
Photo of 2beerdogs
Reviewed by 2beerdogs from California

4.31/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Thanks to CarolinaCardinals for hitting me with this in the debut edition of Barleywine/Stout BIF #1.
Pours a glossy near-ebony hue. Elegant. Slight cocoa colored head tapers off pretty quickly, but may be due to the can having a slight leak.
The nose is declaring, "I am a classic." Roasted malts, coffee, subdued chocolate, undertones of dark fruit black licorice and peat.
The flavor follows the nose faithfully, the roast is still present, but more nuanced than the nose predicted. It really presents a classic waltz of strong roast, mild sweet, traces of dark fruit, and that earthiness.
Mouthfeel is full, almost creamy. No heat.
Overall, yep, she's a classic, straight forward Imperial Stout.
Nov 09, 2023
Photo of TooManyGlasses
Reviewed by TooManyGlasses from Canada (AB)

4.53/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Pours a rich black colour with two fingers of creamy very slightly reddish brown head.
Aroma is malty with notes of chocolate, graham cracker, vanilla and some fainter dark fruity esters. There are subtle hints of licorice and coffee.
Sweet maltiness on the palate with chocolate, dark fruit, licorice; again I get graham cracker notes, and a cafe au lait character with some soft roasty bitterness.
Creamy and remarkably smooth full mouthfeel with appropriately low medium carbonation - exceptionally silky. An amazingly good imperial stout.
Nov 04, 2023
 
Rated: 4.4 by craigbelly from Iowa

Oct 29, 2023
Photo of Hobbs87
Reviewed by Hobbs87 from New York

4.24/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
I’m not a fan of stout beers but figured to try since from same brew makers of Heady Topper. Very dark in appearance but without a heavy taste. Pretty flavorful and smooth but not overwhelming by any means. Hard to evaluate against other stouts having not had many stouts but a good beer is a good beer. High alcohol content so be cognizant of it creeping up on you.
Oct 27, 2023
Photo of Annpowder
Rated by Annpowder

4.87/5  rDev +9.9%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
wish the company would ship this product.
Oct 24, 2023
 
Rated: 4.84 by jiggidy from Michigan

Oct 16, 2023
Photo of JohnniEMc
Reviewed by JohnniEMc from Pennsylvania

5/5  rDev +12.9%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
It has an almost black coffee brown color and the modest head is dark tan. The pour to empty the contents of a pint can went very smoothly. The aroma is rich with the aroma of roasted barley malt, bringing some of the nuances the good ones do, like rich dark chocolate. Once in the mouth, that trait gives way to something more like a great expresso. Again, those are just reminiscent notes. This is full on a roasted malt taste. Although malt generally runs sweetly, the combination of the ABV and thorough roasting provides a great bittering counterbalance. To say that it's rich and smooth would be a terrible understatement. Like most things from this brewery, this is world-class. The drinker gets blasted by the roasted barley malt while the liquid just slides over and down. It's so rich, it's practically a meal by itself. A strong black licorice taste reference eventually takes over. There's even some sufficient stratified glass lacing to stare at whilst marveling at another great concoction from The Alchemist. Of course, you'd have to like this style to appreciate it, because this amps up almost everything Imperial Stout lovers want. This is a long way from a Guinness Stout, so be forewarned.
Oct 15, 2023
 
Rated: 4.66 by johnlatona from New Jersey

Sep 17, 2023
Photo of SSS
Reviewed by SSS from Canada (QC)

5/5  rDev +12.9%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
A-Jet black with a Nola brown thick head
S-Notes of chocolate and coffee on the nose with an element of toasted bread and roasted molasses
M-Full body, low end carbonation with a velvety mouthfeel
T-Sweet upfront with a fruit combination of dried prune and candied apricot
O-Outstanding. Hits on the 9.2
Sep 13, 2023
Photo of ovaltine
Reviewed by ovaltine from Indiana

4.6/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Pours onyx black with no - as in zero - leakage anywhere and sports a sudsy dark tan head. Absolutely gorgeous imperial stout. The nose features some toffee, lots of roasty char, dark chocolate, and just a bit of dark cherries.

The dark cherries are more prominent on the taste, and sit at the front of the palate, flowing perfectly into the roasty char, toffee, and the dark chocolate that is the residual flavor at the very back of the palate. This is extraordinary.

The mouthfeel is thick, creamy, and (yes) luxurious. What an appropriately named beer. You know you’re enjoying a fantastic beer when you can’t settle on what part of the beer is your favorite. This is world class stuff, IMHO.
Aug 15, 2023
Photo of CarolinaCardinals
Reviewed by CarolinaCardinals from North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Picked up a four-pack at the Stowe brewery 7-29-23 for $13.00. Best by 11-2024 so guessing this was brewed in November 2022.

Beer poured, at roughly 60 degrees, black with a gorgeous tan head that has some great hang time.

Nose has notes of roasted malts and British hops.

Taste is spot on for the style, big heavy roasted malt base that hits to the core of this style. Heavy hopping cleans up any residual sweetness.

Mouthfeel is medium to large bodied and very smooth.

Overall very glad i gave this one a try. For $13 bucks a four-pack one cannot go wrong giving this a try!
Aug 08, 2023
 
Rated: 4.31 by mig100 from Texas

Jul 31, 2023
Photo of Smakawhat
Reviewed by Smakawhat from Maryland

4.64/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5
Poured from the can into a Spiegelau IPA style branded Alchemist glass.

I am at a loss for words on appearance. Practically the perfect looking imperial, maybe accentuate by the not stout glass and ribbing, but just a beaming super dark mocha brown, the perfect color, with fine bubbles and a three finger retention that wont quite. Looks like whipped mocha and icing on top. The body is almost blacker than black, how is that even possible, it's like gazing into the abyss or a black hole, as the glass around it nearly dissapears, leaving the beer to be suspended in mid air. Truly a nature to behold here and a feast for the eyes.

That aroma doesn't fail either. Thick reaching malts, with classic fruit light esters and a touch of black licorice candy and chewy hinting molases all rolled into one. Manages to stay away from sweet chocolate notes, but does have a faint light touch of dark chocolate bitterness. Just nearly perfection.

Palate does a lot. However, the mouthfeel is perfect. Creamy, velvety, lush, and all coating the drinker's insides, without feeling cloying, boozy, syrupy, or overly oily either. The flavors are gangbusters, but tend to shy away from the classics of the style. Still the drinker is left with a great mid palate experience of light molasses, flirting peanut butter, a rich tangy dark berry hinting fruit quality with mixes of cocoa and soft even buttery flavored dark chocolate. The finish has a nice more so licorice bitterness, matching even a hop pine note.

Might be the best straight up Russian Imperial I have ever had.
Jul 28, 2023
Photo of NiceTaps
Reviewed by NiceTaps from New Jersey

4.59/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Pint size can in a stemmed stout beer glass.

Closed eyes opaque black look. Huge dark mocha mousse cap. Sticky drippy lacing.

Great aroma. Roasted malt, dark chocolate, dark strong black coffee, smooth vanilla, subtle hints of mint and sugar.

Blended chocolate cake mix and fresh dough loaded with coffee, dark chocolate, a touch of vanilla, and dusted with cocoa powder.

Full smooth body. No booze burn. The cocoa powder makes it semi-sweet and dry.

Extremely drinkable and smoothly disguising its 9.2% abv. Excellent.
Jul 28, 2023
Luscious from The Alchemist
Beer rating: 98 out of 100 with 933 ratings