Russian Winter
Itchen Valley Brewery Ltd

Cask. Almost black. Light tan head.
Rich aroma of chocolate and dark autumn fruits.
Somewhat let down by the flavour which is too biased toward the chocolate malt.
Rather thin for a stout.
I would re-classify this as a porter.

 

Tasted by a pint at the John Russell Fox, a local JDW pub in Andover, served by a non-sparkler pour in a straight imperial pint glass. NOTE: the pump clip says this is an Imperial Russian Stout, despite the unusual low gravity for this style. Let's see~~

A: pours a pitch black body topped with a fluffy foamy dark tan head with good retention, coming with low carbonation.
S: lightly aromatic - clean roasitness, black berry fruits, very mild vanilla, bitter chocolates & a touch of coffee-flavoured toffee.
T: biscuits & roastiness of cold coffee and charcoal upfront, followed by a clean sourness, rather mild sweetness of black malts & toasted walnuts laggind behind, then mildly dry & lingering in the aftertaste, reminiscent of hop influence, but only just. The lasting bitterness rings a bell of bitter herb syrup, quite aromatic & satisfying.
M&D: smooth, medium-plus bodied, thirst-quenching, a really good, well-balanced potent stout this is, but I can't smell/taste anything Imperial Russian about it really.