Imperial Stout Appreciation Thread (2023)

Finally saw the Stone IRS re-issue at a store last week in Delaware (not sure if I missed it when it first hit the shelves, or no local places got it), so picked up a six pack. Definitely enjoyable, but can't say my memory is good enough to compare to the last time I had this beer fresh many years ago. But I still have a 2014 bomber in the cellar that I'll have to drink side by side with one of these fresh cans.

 

Cinna Gram on French toast. Imperial stout with maple, vanilla, and cinnamon from Pigeon Hill in Muskegon MI. Excellent way to spend the morning after 6 inches of snow last night. That’s 9” total in the past week.

 

…not to me she didn’t…

 

Finback - Coconut Drip

pretty interesting flavor combo here… oddly enough coconut is the last thing i get. still, pretty solid and a nice breakfast stout on a cold (19°) sunday morning.

cheers!!

 

43% tip is very nice of you.

Enjoy

 

Apologies. Had to wait until today to make my post about yesterday's beers.






This 1993 bottle of Courage Imperial Russian Stout is the final descendent of Barclay Perkins Russian Stout or Imperial Brown Stout - the English beer that A. Le Coq likely exported to Russia… and the beer that inspired American craft brewers to make Russian stout. This is as close to the source as one can get without extraordinary circumstances/effort.

Barclay Perkins merged with Courage in 1955. 1993 was the last year of production for the Courage branded beer. At that point, it was brewed at the John Smith’s brewery in Tadcaster.

Is the 1993 version of the beer the exact same beer that was exported to Russia a century or so earlier? Certainly not… but this is how commercial brewing works.

Harvey’s in Lewes produces an imperial stout that's based on the Barclay Perkins stout and brewed with the cooperation of A. Le Coq. To me, this beer feels like the true contemporary son of Courage Imperial Russian Stout rather than a simple use of the name. This was the day that I’d pair them up.

This tasting included a 30 year old bottle of 1993 Courage Imperial Russian Stout, a 20 year old corked bottle of 2003 Harvey’s Imperial Stout, a 10 year old bottle of 2013 Harvey’s Imperial Stout, and a 2 year old bottle of 2021 Harvey’s Imperial Stout. (Not actually knowing the day of the year of bottlings, these ages are approximate.) With essentially a 10 year gap between the beers, this seemed like a very nice grouping. In this tasting I drank these beers side by side without knowing which was which. I wouldn't want to do this any other way.

First off, let me say that these beers are generally wonderful and don’t fit very well within a modern craft drinker’s notion of imperial stout. They feature intense and disparate flavors that miraculously work together. All of these beers feature flavors of cherry, char, earth and dark chocolate… and some sourness. The Harvey’s beer owes its sourness to Debaromyces hanseni. The ratios of these flavors varied from beer to beer.

I’ll describe the differences that I got from youngest beer to oldest:

The 2021 Harvey’s was pretty easy to identify since it was the only beer in the group with any carbonation in suspension. It had the usual tartness, bitterness and char… but it was less fruity than the other beers.

I was also able to identify the 2013 Harvey’s, but this was the only vintage in the group that I’ve had before. This beer resembled the Harvey’s stout that I have greatly admired in the past. It had the thickest body of the group. It was the richest.

I misidentified the 2003 Harvey’s. Since it was the biggest outlier in the group, I incorrectly assumed it was the Courage beer. The smell of the beer was incredibly strong - indicating lots of age. Surprisingly, the flavor did not match the intensity of the aroma. This beer was only slightly tart. The body was thin. There was a little soy sauce character and the beer was a little unpleasant.

The 1993 Courage was the sourest of the group. Beyond that, it fit in quite well with the 2013 Harvey’s… albeit thinner, less luxurious and less bitter.

This tasting felt like an example of a specific beer's ability to age without it becoming too damaged. Kudos to Courage for producing such a beer, and kudos to Harvey's for stepping into the ring and producing a unique wonder. I am generally not a fan of deliberately aging beers after release, but for my tastes, the Harvey's 2013 edition is currently sublime.

@patto1ro @Rug

 

Agreed.

 

Absolutely incredible!

 

that’s a sick glass

 

@RaulMondesi has convinced me to send him a variety of Central Waters Brewing BA stouts. If he plays his cards right, I will include this beer. Maybe he will share some with you. Or if by some miracle I attend Wrestlemania, I will bring a bottle to share with you.