Russian Imperial Stout vs. American Double

It was Russian because it was sent there (from London), not brewed there. But strong stout has been brewed there to emulate the choice import. In Tartu (if that counts as Russian), for one thing, now decamped to Harvey's in Sussex. And some modern Russian brewers make a strongish stout which is broadly in the Impy tradition.

http://www.carlsberggroup.com/brands/Pages/Baltikano6.aspx

 

Just one small observation - Russian Imperial Stouts are noted for having a huge variety of malts to create a depth of flavor (say 10-13ish are numbers I've seen written about). You could make an American Imperial Stout that's just huge, bold and stout-y with 2-4 malts and it wouldn't be quite the same depth etc.

 

Herky, that isn't true, not historically anyway (which is all that counts). Impy stout had a similar mash bill to any porter, 3 or 4 at most. Its gravity was simply much higher than standard or double porter as well as its hop rate.

 

I understand your point, but I don't look at the specific style until after I review it - most didn't show whether it was a RIS or an American Double on the label either. They each had a fair chance.

And for the record, I generally prefer American styles of brewing rather than European. So no, I didn't rate the RIS higher because they're 'cool'.

 

I know the history. Imo there are 2 types of Imperial Stout plain and flavored.

 

I can get behind that!

 

What do you think of, if you've had it, Evolver IPA from The Wild Beer Co? It has Brettanomyces. First bottle threw me for a loop but my second bottle...oh my!

 

Thank you for that explanation, it makes sense now.

Dope

 

No problem- glad to be of service.

 

19th-century IPA containe Brettanomyces.

 

To be honest I know nothing of the brewing process (I just drink beer, I don't brew it) and I've always just referred to non-standard additions as adjuncts. I must have picked it up somewhere and just assumed that to be the correct term. Thanks.

Dope

 

Interesting. I can't find my Brewing Classic Styles book which is where I thought I read that. The Oxford Companion to beer doesn't say either way, but does suggest that RIS and IS are the same thing, at least on page 229-230 under the entry for Catherine the great.

I may have been thinking of the BJCP: "Ingredients: Well-modified pale malt, with generous quantities of roasted malts and/or grain. May have a complex grain bill using virtually any variety of malt. Any type of hops may be used. Alkaline water balances the abundance of acidic roasted grain in the grist. American or English ale yeast." But I know I read somewhere about the larger number of malts used to make it complex. I had done a lot of research on the style and adapted a Russian Imperial Brown Ale on the same concepts. I definitely could've read some misinformation, as there's a shit ton of that out there.

The BJCP does not appear to be historically accurate, at least not the part about "generour quantities of roasted malts," which is simply not the way they used to be made, as one of the first ones was known as "Barclay Russian Imperial Brown Stout." And with many imperial stouts today (i.e. BCBS) the brewer adds debittered black malt to make it black without adding that character. Not that there aren't also roastier examples.

 

Honestly? When all said and done, I can't distinguish between the two.

 

Always thought it had something to do with the amount of vodka added.

 

Fun topic. And so many great stouts. Maybe someone from @BeerAdvocate can chime in on why they have the categories. I do think that given RIS is a specific sub-category of stout based on BJCP guidelines it makes since to use it.

To throw yet another view into the discussion there are also the GABF guidelines which closely follow BJCP but also add specific categories for barrel aged beers so they do not have to judged against the Stouts/Imperial Stouts category. GABF has the same sub categories as BJCP in addition to having both British and American sub-categories for Imperial Stouts. (RIS would fall under Export Stout or British Imperial based on the ABV & other qualities, etc and for GABF where the brewery thinks it will show best)

Stouts BJCP guidelines
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style13.php#top

GABF 2014 guidelines (PDF and weblink)
web: http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/the-competition/beer-styles/
PDF: http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/GABF14Styles.pdf

 

I'm really not trying to single you out... I was just using your comment as a springboard. Continuing with that, if a brewer isn't labeling a beer as "Russian" then a user of BeerAdvocate decided which box to put the beer in. The collected beer knowledge of the users here is tremendous, but in this case, I wouldn't put much stock in this process.

 

How about just "Imperial Stout"? Just drop Russian, American and Double.