Kratos Imperial Stout with Vanilla
Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery

22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled in 9/2018. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 2-3 finger dense and creamy khaki head with insane retention, that reduces to a large cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Insane appearance. Aromas of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, toffee, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, licorice, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, dark bread/crust, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Minimal booze in the aromas as it warms. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/black/roasted malts, vanilla, fruity yeast, and earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of huge dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, toffee, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, licorice, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, dark bread/crust, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate pine, herbal, floral, grassy, peppery hops; and roast/char bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, toffee, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, licorice, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, dark bread/crust, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, pine, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roasted malts, vanilla, fruity yeast, and earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/hop/char bitter/sweet balance; and no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness. Medium carbonation and full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/velvety/bready, and fairly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Mild increasing warmth of 11.5% after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic flavored Russian imperial stout. All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roasted malts, vanilla, fruity yeast, and earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV, with the modestly bitter/charred/drying finish. Amazing balance of super rich malts, vanilla, fruity yeast, and earthy hops. Light residual sweetness with lingering hop/char bitter dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and amazingly spot on style example.