July 09, 2009
Old Rasputin
The enabler glasses that I announced at the beer tasting have finally arrived! Steve, Petey you will get yours the next time I see you! Tonight I’m taking Bruce of Back to the Batcave one step closer to his 12th beer reviewed. Tonight we are reviewing Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout by the North Coast Brewing Company in Fort Bragg California
The Glass!
It comes in a 12 fl. Oz. brown bottle with a black and gold label. In the center of the label there is what looks to be a hand drawn picture of Rasputin. It looks like he’s either blessing or cursing you for drinking his beer. The picture is inside a gold circle with the name of the beer at the top, and something in Russian along the bottom. The logo of the brewery is at the bottom center of the label.
This beer is black in color, and appears to be very dense. Light doesn’t pass through at all. An inch thick head formed when poured into the glass. The headed faded into a film at the top of the beer, and left some nice lacing on the side of the glass as it was drank.
The smell is of roasted malts and bitter black coffee. There are some flowery hops that combine with the malts to give it a mild soapy scent. The taste starts with a strong citrus hop flavor uncharacteristic of most stouts. There are bitter chocolate and coffee roasted malts undertones. The bitterness bites on the sides of the tongue, but as the beer warms to room temperature it becomes less noticeable. The after taste coats the mouth with a hoppy flavor.
This is a full bodied beer that has some creaminess to it. Carbonation is pleasant.
This is not what I was expecting in a stout. I never thought it would be this hoppy, this is kind of like a stout for someone that likes IPAs. It has the bitterness of the IPA and the thickness of a stout. This is not my style of beer. I really don’t see myself going for another one of these. It’s not a bad beer, just not to my tastes. I give it 4 out of 10.
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