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A Russian Imperial
Stout is one of the most beautiful and complex beers out there. It has incredible roasty
malt profile, some strong bitterness. It's going to be a high alcohol beer so it's going
to have some vinous kind of taste to it. So, for the aroma on this, it's going to be very
complex. It's going to have a lot of roasted aroma. It's going to have some fruity esters,
there's going to be a lot of hops that come off on top of this. It can be kind of coffee-like,
slightly burnt at times. The fruity esters are going to be like dark fruits. We were
talking about the plums and prunes and raisins. The hop aroma can usually end up being something
very noble but very strong as well. You can also get some nice port-like qualities off
of it due to the alcohol. For the appearance, it's going to be very, very dark reddish brown
to almost straight jet black. It's going to be very, very hard to see through. It's going
to be a deep tan to a dark brown head, which may fade quickly due to the high alcohol content.
There may be legs on this beer, as well, if you swirl it in the glass. The flavor is going
to be very rich and complex. It's going to have a lot of roasted notes to it. Some great
fruity esters. A very, very firm bitterness. And the alcohol is going to compliment all
of that. The bitterness is almost going to be aggressive at times. It's going to bounce
off against some nice cocoa, some chocolate and coffee-ish notes. There's going to be
even just that slight burnt hint, as well. We see the dark fruits again coming through
in the fruit ester profiles. The alcohol is going to be warming in the mouth. It can range
from dry to sweet. And after you're done drinking it, you're going to have a lingering roastiness.
You're going to feel the bitterness. You're also just going to feel the alcohol warming.
When you feel this beer in your mouth, it's going to almost be chewy. It's very, very
full-bodied. It's kind of silky on your palette. It's going to have a moderately low carbonation
and you're going to, once again, feel that alcoholic warming. Overall, this beer is a
treat to drink and it's something that you should just savor and enjoy with friends.