Magnus 15
Brauhaus Riegele

BOTTLE: Purchased at Getranke Oase in Munich. Quite fancy looking. Black glass. 33cl format. Comes with a neck hangtag with information on the beer; this is bottle #922 out of 1001 bottles apparently. A paper ribbon runs over the unbranded black pry-off crown cap. Best before: 12/2019. (Note: removal of the cap reveals it has a plastic seal on its bottom not unlike Schneider Weisse's Tap X caps, and further it has an internally housed cork. You'll need a churchkey to open this).

13.0% ABV. Stored in 50 litre bourbon barrels. Best served at 18 degrees C. Brewed with Irish ale yeast (interestingly). The hangtag recommends pairing with a mild cigar.

Served chilled into a tulip and allowed to come to the recommended temperature over the course of consumption. Expectations are high given Riegele's reputation. Reviewed live.

HEAD: Has a nice shining complexion with a dark tan colour. Gold highlights about its edges. Creamy and soft-looking, with a great overall consistency. Even and supple. Retention is nice for the high ABV - ~3 minutes. Leaves no lacing as it recedes.

BODY: Predictably, it's an opaque dark black. No yeast/lees are visible within.

It's a nice looking imperial stout, and the head is quite attractive. Looks like a dessert stout.

AROMA: Extravagant. Chocolate, leather, tobacco, genuine vanilla bean (probably a vanilla tone from the bourbon), red grapes, port/Madeira, rich rum character...this liqueur like aroma is fantastic. Grape dominates; don't ask me how. And the bourbon character has a lovely vanilla-forward character, though there are no hints of oak or toastiness. Coconut shavings, perhaps. Marshmallow.

Aromatic intensity is actually somewhat subdued for an imperial stout, tending more towards a quiet subtlety than the loud bold flavours of many American expressions of the style. Suggests a special beer with ample complexity.

No yeast character is detectable. I find no off-notes or booze. I don't find the espresso mentioned in the hangtag.

TASTE & TEXTURE: A soft and subtle beer, Magnus 15's intricacy is immediately evident. Marshmallow, vanilla (bourbon-derived, but nevertheless as genuine as an actual Madagascar vanilla bean), milk chocolate, hints of rum replete with mild coconut (though maybe the coconut is from the bourbon cask), dark malt sweetness, a hint of leather, buried hints of roasted barley...there's a lot going on here, and it's all kept in beautiful balance. A hint of Madeira port wine enters in on the finish; if you told me this spent a few months in port barrels I'd believe you.

Where it really is lacking, though, is in its depth of flavour; this is a shallow, reticent brew, and it seems the bourbon character is a bit simplistic even as it complements the nuances of the base.

In any case, it's a dessert stout without coming off too sweet, and there's plenty here to interest the discerning drinker. Sure, there are more complex imperial stouts, but few are as approachable and cohesive as this one.

I'm not finding any actual wood character (e.g. oak), which is a missed opportunity to lend this already pleasant build still more unity of flavour.

A slightly gooey mouthfeel plays into the port wine vibe neatly, with plenty of chewy thickness here to support its flavours (robust though they may not necessarily be). Some tobacco would be lovely to go along with the faint leathery feel this has; indeed, more of that leathery texture might amplify the bourbon. Smooth, subtly dry, unrefreshing, slightly syrupy, and a bit sticky. Carbonation is perfect. It's a robust mouthfeel in a beer without a robust taste, and I find myself wishing there was more depth of flavour just so this mouthfeel could accent it. The dryness does fatigue the drinker past about the 10cl mark; this would be better smoother.

There's a nice interplay between texture and taste, but it's not a perfect harmony. There's so much potential here.

OVERALL: The elaborate marketing and high pricetag had me on guard; I feared this would be an expensive brew cashing in on the international imperial stout craze. I found myself pleasantly surprised; there's a lot of great flavour in this beer, and with some tweaking I could see this rising into the world class arena. Fans of loud imperial stouts with no semblance of balance or subtlety would do well to look elsewhere, but those who can appreciate those characteristics may find this a rare treat. That pesky dryness really has to go, and I'd like to see more commitment to its flavours, but this is a must-try when in Germany and is easily the best imperial stout I've had from the country in the past year. I'm glad I chanced it on an atraditional style while in Munich, and would happily recommend others do the same.

High B- (3.50) / WORTHY