There are tales of Peter the Great, the Russian Tsar who traveled to England in 1689 and was said to have fallen in love with a strong British porter, which is weird since the style didn’t truly exist for another 30-plus years. Whatever. Peter the Great likely influenced the origination of Russian imperial stouts, as his modernization of the Russian economy allowed for the importation of British goods, including beer. In 1729, Ralph Thrale purchased Anchor Brewery of Southwark, London, brewed the first Russian imperial stout, exporting the beer to Russia. However, the stout became significantly more famous after Barclay Perkins & Co. purchased the Anchor Brewery from Thrale’s widow in 1781. The taste of the Russian court and ruler Catherine the Great for the stout was a thing. Barclay Perkins Co. continued manufacturing the beer until 1955 when they merged with the nearby Courage Brewery. After that, the “original” stout production continued as the classic Courage Imperial Russian Stout until 1993, when it was retired. Today, the Russian imperial stout is known for its rich maltiness and strength. In fact, these stouts can be pretty intense, with varying amounts of roast and a range of sweet to bitter flavors. They’re most often characterized by a lingering malty finish that is warm, with port-like qualities. As part of Peaks & Pints February Stout Month, we present an in-house flight of Russian imperial stouts called Peaks and Pints February Stout Flight: Russian Imperial.
Peaks and Pints February Stout Flight: Russian Imperial
Black Raven Grandfather Raven
9.5% ABV
In the creator role and the Raven’s role as the totem and ancestor, the Raven is often addressed as Grandfather Raven. With this stately sense of pomp and tradition, we bring you our imperial stout. Black Raven Brewing’s Russian imperial stout contains rich dark caramel notes, unsweetened chocolate, and hints of coffee aromas and flavors. Stately indeed, but at 9.5% ABV, perhaps it is a vain attempt to encourage the trickster spirit to act respectably. NOTE: This differs from the bourbon barrel-aged version, Great Grandfather Raven.
Browar Fortuna Komes Russian Imperial Stout
12% ABV
Poland is currently the third biggest beer producer after Germany and the UK, with the third biggest beer consumers after Germany and the Czech Republic. Yet, their beer scene is relatively small. Unlike countries such as Germany or England, where you can find breweries in pretty much every town and city, Polish beer tends to come from just a tiny group of breweries, including Browar Fortuna, which was built in 1889 at the behest of the town leadership of Miloslaw. The steam-powered brewery was technologically advanced, as any brewery worldwide was then. During World War II, the Nazis seized the brewery until the Soviets drove them out 6 years later. The brewery would fall further into decline when it was nationalized by the communists in 1950. In 1995, Browar Fortuna was returned to the family it had been seized from in 1939. Within two years, it began producing beer again. In 2011, a group of investors bought the brewery, transformed it into a modern brewery, and began brewing traditional Polish beers and other beer specialties. Browar Fortuna’s Komes Russian Imperial Stout is a strong and intensive ale brewed with Ukrainian hop varieties Klon and Slovianka. It hits the nose with roasted malt and some tannins. Like most Russian imperial stouts, you’ll detect notes reminiscent of coffee and dark chocolate, this one with sugar added.
Oskar Blues Barrel Aged Ten Fidy
12.9% ABV
Oskar Blues Brewery Ten Fidy Russian imperial stout is made with enormous amounts of 2-row malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, flaked oats, and hops, with the malt blanket hiding the high bitterness but not flavors of chocolate-covered caramel and coffee. When the brewers age it in bourbon barrels for a year, the nose on Ten Fidy now touches on oak and spirits with an underlying richness. The sip is clean and crisp, with a rich, slightly sweet mid-palate braced by a cleansing tannin. It’s rich and sweet, but not too rich and sweet.
Fieldwork Death Will Tremble
14% ABV
Death would tremble when presented with this massive wave of night-night juice. Brewed exclusively with British malts, Scottish yeast, and a pinch of carefully selected Oregon hops, Fieldwork Brewing‘s dry, boozy Russian imperial stout offers dark toasted malt, chocolate, coffee, raisins, and booze on the nose. The dark toasted malt, raisin, and chocolate notes transfer to the flavor with added light char and a slight hop bitterness.
Oakshire Hellshire XIV
14.5% ABV
Enveloped in shadows, Oakshire Brewing‘s Hellshire XIV is a Russian imperial stout brewed with Chocolate Rye, Crisp Black malts, and Crisp Roasted Barley, then aged in freshly emptied 6-year-old Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels for a year. Expect layers of roasted coffee, dark chocolate, and hints of caramelized sugar on the nose. The taste is a complex blend of rich malt sweetness, dark fruits, and deep, roasted notes of espresso and dark cocoa. The full-bodied mouthfeel is velvety, with slight bitterness from the roasted malts that balance the stout’s caramel undertones.
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