Category Archives: Stout – Russian Imperial

Three Floyds Dark Lord

Brewery: Three Floyds Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 15%
Style: Stout – Russian Imperial
Other Notes: Maroon wax

Brewer Description: (from Untappd) Dark Lord is a gargantuan Russian Style Imperial Stout, with a reverse cascading head that starts out billowing the color of burnt oil like the Dark Lord rising from the black primordial beginnings. Its resonant vinous aroma has been described as cherries, sweet malt, molasses, burnt currants, plums with a port wine alcohol undertow. Mochachino notes buried within. Motor oil consistency, hellishly smooth yet divinely burnt and vinous. The first sip coats your palate with a palatial charred fruit and chocolate blanket. Alcohol burn wiggles its way down your throat with a thick body.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.36
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. bomber, 2015 vintage, very nicely maroon waxed, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with only a thin brown head and sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Coffee, dark fruit, plum, prunes, fig, molasses, oak, chocolate, light roast.
Taste: Sweet, dark fruit, charred notes, plum, prunes, fig, cherries, brown sugar, molasses, chocolate, coffee, burnt sugar.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: A nice warming sipper. Maybe approaching too sweet, but the charred and burnt notes do sort of keep it in line.

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Hoppin’ Frog D.O.R.I.S. The Destroyer

Brewery: Hoppin’ Frog Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 10.5%
Style: Stout – Russian Imperial
Other Notes: 70 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This extreme Double Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout will overwhelm, satisfy, and destroy your taste buds like no other!! D.O.R.I.S. is even darker, hoppier, and stronger than our gold medal winning B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher Stout. Dry-hopped and first wort hopped with the finest American hops for a great Imperial Stout experience! Enjoy the darkness!!

My rating: 4-
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.95
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. bomber with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown to black in colour with pretty much no head and only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, chocolate, coffee, with some dark berries, and charred notes.
Taste: As you’d expect from the aroma, roasty, chocolate, coffee, molasses, charred oak, and light notes of dark fruit.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, full bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: A smooth sipper, but the charred notes were a little too distracting for me.

Stu Mostów WRCLW Imperial Stout Peanut Butter Bourbon BA Nitro

Brewery: Browar Stu Mostów
Country: Poland
ABV: 11.7%
Style: Stout – Russian Imperial
Other Notes: 60 IBUs, 6th Anniversary

Brewer Description: (from website) Imperial Stout B.A. is our birthday tradition – this year we used the addition of peanut butter and Four Roses Bourbon barrels, which gave the aromas of vanilla, coconut, spices and of course – American whiskey! Nitrogen saturation smoothed out its texture and perfectly blended with malty aromas, creating incredibly tasty, dessert effect!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.04
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 330ml gold waxed bottle, 6th Anniversary, 2020 vintage, with a best before date of 4th December 2023. Poured into what I guess is a water glass (being all that I could find at the hotel late at night).
Appearance: Black in colour with a very thin tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Peanut, peanut butter, chocolate, light roast, bourbon, brown sugar, vanilla.
Taste: Roasty, chocolate, moderate sweetness, caramel, dark fruit, prunes, plum, brown sugar, bourbon, peanut.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Definitely a sipper with interesting aroma and flavours. Peanut notes were quite pronounced, but I would have preferred if it was more peanut butter instead, as per the name.

Laugar Aurrera Stanitsa

Brewery: Laugar Brewery
Country: Spain
ABV: 11.2%
Style: Stout – Russian Imperial

Brewer Description: (from website) Framed within the Dark series, the result is a nearly inexpresable texture and density, where the heavy presence of Honduran coffee and raw muscovado sugar are the protagonists in both smell and taste.

My rating: 3+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.04
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of May 2023. Poured into what I guess is a water glass (being all that I could find at the hotel late at night).
Appearance: Black in colour with no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, coffee grounds, light nuttiness.
Taste: Roasty, coffee, light to moderate sweetness, chocolate, dark fruit, raisin, candied dates, brown sugar, molasses.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Good and interesting flavours, but perhaps on the verge of being too sweet for me.

De Struise Black Damnation XXVI – Froggie

Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Stout – Russian Imperial
Other Notes: 72 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A massive stout from Flanders matured in Bordeaux wine barrels. Margaux, Pauillac & St.-Estèphe.

My rating: 3+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.88
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottled on 25th July 2018, and a best before date of 24th July 2023. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a nice frothy one finger brown head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, light char, chocolate, cocoa, raisin, fig, dates, and a touch red wine vinous.
Taste: Roasted malts, bakers chocolate, espresso, light char, licorice, and red wine notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: The wine barrels add an interesting dimension to the aroma and flavour, but it’s not among my favourites of the Black Damnation’s. It’s a decent sipper, but I didn’t think it was better than much of the whiskey barrel aged variants.