The Fourth Beer of Christmas 2019 - Russian Imperial Stout

From Russia with love, Baltika Breweries' Russian Imperial Stout sets a high bar for other Russian imperial stouts to follow. This is simply amazing.

Summary

• Appearance: Opaque black/brown with a nice head of tan bubbles that leave a lot of lacing
• Aroma: Unsweetened chocolate, dark fruit, charred coffee
• Taste: Dark roasted toffee, bittersweet chocolate, dark coffee, star anise, dates, cabernet sauvignon
• Feel: A touch short of really heavy, nice carbonation, dry finish, robust & complex

Stats

• Brewer: Baltika Breweries
• Location: St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
• Website: https://corporate.baltika.ru/
• Style: Russian Imperial Stout
• Alcohol Content: 10.0%

Great Divide Brewing - Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

For the Eleventh Beer of Christmas, a mountain legend came to life.

Great Divide Brewing
Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

From deep in the Rocky Mountains, the mysterious Yeti has crept down from the heights and can now be found in fine package liquor stores, probably in a town near you. Great Divide has a number of fantastic beers, including last year's Hibernation Ale.

The beer pours up a beautiful dark chocolate brown with a thick head of milk chocolate brown foam. Thick lacing clung to the side of the glass throughout the drink and left a scattered web all the way to the bottom of the glass.

The aroma reminds me a bit of when I was in college an we'd make Irish coffee by pouring any available whiskey (not just Irish whiskey) into coffee. There are also chocolate and vanilla coming to the scent surface every now and then. And, as my wife mentioned, there's an understated flower garden aroma of hops. However, I think she thought it was overstated.

The 70 IBUs (International Bittering Units) of hops come through fairly strongly in the taste. This is as high as an IPA (India Pale Ale) style would have, but the strong malt character makes the hops more subtle in taste than they would be in an IPA. Flavors of coffee, bitter chocolate, and an alcohol warming are also there. It has a smooth, creamy feel even with a light bite of the hops and highly roasted malt.

While the IBUs are a bit higher than I normally look for in an imperial stout, this is still a fantastic beer. Thick and rich, a single 22 oz bottle could easily last you through most of an evening of sitting and visiting with friends and family.

Stats
Brewer: Great Divide Brewing Company
Location: Denver, CO
Website: http://www.GreatDivide.com
Style: Imperial Stout
Alcohol Content: 9.5% ABV
Interesting Note: As many brewers do these days, Great Divide follows their own set of green practices. While there are a number of usual ones in the list (sending spent grain to local farmers for feed, shopping locally, reusing heated water for other purposes, etc), one that stood out in my mind was that all proceeds from their beer sample sales are donated to local non-profits. It comes to about $75,000 per year. That's pretty cool. You can read more about all of their practices at their website (link above).

North Coast Brewing - Old Rasputin XV Anniversary Barrel Aged Stout

For the Ninth Beer of Christmas, Russia sends its love ... by way of the northern coast of California.

North Coast Brewing
Old Rasputin XV Anniversary
Russian Imperial Stout

Brewed in the tradition of the English brewers that provided stouts for the court of Catherine the Great, North Coast Brewing's regular version of Old Rasputin is a classic in the Russian Imperial Stout style. This is the first time I've seen their anniversary version.

Darker than a glass of Coca-Cola, this version of North Coast's flagship Old Rasputin imbues the mysterious, glossy black body. The carbonation is low for most beers, but is normal for a imperial stout style. The light tan head foamed up at first but cleared away quickly to become minimal at best and no lacing remained on the glass.

The aroma is that of a strongly mixed Jack & Coke ... very sweet with high alcohol esters. There are also hints of vanilla, cloves, and cinnamon. Of course, I think Coke has vanilla and cloves in its aroma, too, so those seem to fall under the Coke umbrella.

The taste is full of whiskey and coke and coffee and chocolate. Dark, baking chocolate. The mouth-feel is full and rich. Almost like you could chew it. Even though there is no visible carbonation, there's a sharpness similar to a crisp, high carbonated drink such as champagne. The high alcohol comes through in the taste (as the whiskey) and in a warming sensation.

This was a fantastic bottle of beer. Rich and strong. It's a bit much (both in strength of flavor and cost) to be in my regular drink rotation, but it would be a great treat to share on a cold, winter evening.

Stats
Brewer: North Coast Brewing Co.
Location: Fort Bragg, California
Website: http://www.NorthCoastBrewing.com 
Style: Imperial Stout
Alcohol Content: 11.9% ABV
Interesting Note: The label around the neck of the anniversary bottle is adorned with the phrase "never say die," which refers to the many attempts on Rasputin's life. On the regular bottles, a phrase in Russian states "A sincere friend is not born instantly."