Russian Imperial Stouts Tasting

Left to right: Ten Fidy 2010, Founders Imperial Stout 2009, Yeti, Stone Imperial Russian Stout Spring 2010, Darkness 2010, Darkness 2009, Dark Lord 2010, Grand Teton Black Cauldron, Old Rasputin, Ten Fidy 2009. Not included in the picture: AleSmith Speedway Stout. Also not pictured and not included in the original plans: Bell's Expedition Stout 2009, Tyranena Doubly Down 'N Even Dirtier, etc. ... yeah, it got crazier as the time passed and we got drunk!

    A very generous trader hooked me up with Dark Lord 2010 and I knew it was time for a big tasting of stouts. I decided to restrict it to Russian Imperial Stouts as classified on Beeradvocate, which might seem arbitrary but was the best option. I understand that it could be hard to tell the difference between Russian Imperial Stout and other Imperial Stouts but what stands out to me, personally, is a more pronounced roast character that borders on charred and minimal use of adjuncts like coffee and chocolate, and no barrel aging. Using massive amount of adjuncts/barrels adds a lot to the base beer, and smooths out the roast giving the end product a clear advantage over the base. I also believe that this should be kept in mind while rating the beers, although it gets tough to practice.

    My contribution to the line up was Darkness 09 & 10, Dark Lord 10, Stone IRS 10, and Ten Fidy 09 & 10, and snifters :) My friends got the rest, and another Beeradvocate¹ got the Speedway Stout, and an Exponential Hoppiness, to break the monotony. I thought that it was a good idea to include Old Rasputin as the base case, to compare other stouts against and frankly, it seemed that the only quality Old Rasputin really has is its accessibility: both in terms of availability and the challenge it poses to the palate.

    We started with Darkness 09 & 10 and I can safely say that aged Darkness is a far superior beer. I was able to buy only two bottles of 09 because I was late and sadly I don't have any left. Darkness stands out from almost every other RIS because of its smoothness and excellent notes of raisins. Dried, dark fruit is an often thrown around adjective in the reviews of stouts but there's no other beer that literally tastes like rich raisins. And it's SMOOTH: I am sure there is roasted barley in Darkness but the beer is so smooth that the roast feels like oak in the finish. To top it off, it's amazingly clean for such a sweet beer. Collect all the praises that I have sung of Darkness, multiply them by two, make the beer creamier, subtract some bitterness and you will get an idea of what age will do to this one. I don't have much experience cellaring beers but Darkness 09 and Bell's Batch 9000 have been pleasant surprises with some age on them. And sorry if it offends anyone but it makes Old Rasputin taste like gutter water. I saw Darkness in an entirely different light this time that makes me ashamed of my earlier review. Especially considering that I have rated it close to Old Rasputin. In Old Rasputin's defense, I have no experience with a few years on it so I might be ashamed later for taking a crap on it here!

    Coming back to Darkness, I got a chance to try 08 & 10 side by side a few days later too, and I had no choice but to bump my scores for Aroma and Taste, both, to 4.5/5. A near perfect beer that could be made better only by adding more stuff in it ;-) -bal Darkness with coffee beans & cocoa nibs added, anyone? The next one in the lineup was Dark Lord:

2010 vintage into a snifter. Thanks lurchingbeast for hooking me up with this one.

    Dark Lord poured like silk in a thick, very dark brown stream, and looked opaque in the snifter. The head was very dark too, but it quickly gave away to a tiny collar. Legs were seen upon swirling the glass. The usual suspects were present in the aroma: chocolate-cream, vanilla, and sweet malts.

    Felt thinner than I expected, perhaps because we were tasting at room temperature, but tasted very good and complex nonetheless; simply put, quite yummy! Sweet and rich in a milky way as opposed to Darkness that I find "raisin" sweet, but equally delicious. Finished clean in spite of the sweetness, and warmed me up as it went down. The alcohol is present and it is felt, no doubt, but the beer is not the sweet-boozy mess some describe it to be. In fact I found it quite a treat, and I *think* it could have been bigger on body for better.

    Overall an excellent beer but nothing to die for, or travel for that matter, unless the event itself is what you're looking forward to. However, it is certain that Darkness and Dark Lord belong to an entirely different category within RIS's, if you want to call them RIS's, and are therefore worth seeking out.

Scores: Appearance 4/5; Aroma 3.5/5; Taste 4/5; Mouthfeel 4.5/5; Drinkability 4.5/5

    After Darkness & Dark Lord, other stuff on the tasting seemed merely well done but run of the mill. Expedition and Founders Imperial were richer than anything else, and dominated the other stouts. The age on Ten Fidy wasn't noticeable and I don't think I will be able to detect an year in a blind tasting.

    AleSmith Speedway (not a part of the original plan) stuck out in its excellent coffee character and I am certainly going to seek it out already did! Review here. I have done a far detailed review of Great Divide Yeti and some of its variations so that's another post.

    Finally, I did not get the praise that's showered upon Stone RIS: It's a very solid beer, no doubt, and I have known it from experience at multiple occasions. Example. However, I just can't appreciate the greatness that experienced palates seem to find in it, yet ;) Good news is that this a beer that is said to improve vastly with age, and I have a bottle stashed away just for that.

The problem with Imperial Stouts
I rate beers on BeerAdvocate, that makes it very easy to view my ratings by the style. The more I rate, the more I discover the inconsistencies, change of palate, random variations etc. across all styles. However, Imperial Stouts take the cake when it comes to inconsistencies & randomness, and that's probably because they all taste the SAME! Okay, not the same but very very similar, and it is tough to keep track of "what I subjectively felt". So, do not put too much stock in what I had to say because I don't either. Well, except that Darkness is for real and Dark Lord is NOT a sweet boozy mess.

notes

¹ Joe hosted an end-of-semester tasting that was much bigger than this one and is the mother of all tastings I have been in!