RIS Swap. McKBrew's Brews.

Sent out two 22oz bottles to Biermuncher, Trencher, and Shunoshi. Scheduled arrival dates of 24-25 July.

Enjoy.

Just cracked the first if my 08-08-08 RIS samples for the evening. Let the fun begin!

Pours thick and black with a light, brownish head that diminishes shortly thereafter. Fresh bready aroma with a slight fruity element. A strong bitterness hits the tongue on first sip, to be quickly replaced by raisin and plum elements. These give way to roasted, chocolate and coffee flavors that then subside to a lingering bitterness. Mouthfeel is surprisingly light and dry for such a big beer. Very quaffable. I can't wait to open the other bottle - thanks!

Glad it held up in transit and storage in my garage. I seem to have problems keeping head on stouts, maybe the cocoa nibs in secondary did have a negative effect. Still it looks like you enjoyed it, so I'm happy.

Shunoshi, Biermuncher????

Just prodding, take your time and enjoy.

I finally got around to opening one of the 22-ouncers the other evening while I was watching gymnastics.

I poured into a nice, wide mouthed goblet that I like to use for my "sipping" beers.

As usual, the RIS was ink black with a copper colored head. Nice, dense and frothy at about 1/4 inch. Dissipated rather quickly, but left some thin residual swirling that looked nice.

The aroma was definite chocolate. Not quite the sharp bitter-sweet aroma of others. This was a more mellow tone. A nice hot chocolate type of aroma.

First sip confirmed what the aroma hinted. This was a smooth chocolate taste. Still a nice firm bitterness that hit the front of the tongue with those 88 ibu's but the roastiness of the grains was more subdued. This was a very enjoyable beer.

Smooth, clean tasting. No off flavors at all. No astringency.

This RIS also happened to go very well with the sharp cheddar cheese I was snacking on.

I can't find any flaws with this beer and it is an excellent example of an RIS. I enjoyed every one of those 22 ounces over the course of an hour and the warmer the beer got...the better it tasted.

Thanks for a great beer. I really enjoyed it.

Thanks for the review BM. Glad to see other people are less critical of it than I was. The extended time spent in secondary with 4oz of chocolate nibs was probably the biggest contributor to the chocolate flavor.

I just drank one tonight. I'm really liking this beer now, esp since my other stout tastes like butt. The only thing I'd change is to get the OG up a little higher and maybe some more roastiness/hops.

Sorry about the delay.

To open, I shared this with a friend and he said it was one of the best beers he's ever had in his life. He's not a beer snob like us, but that has to say something in itself, right?

Visual: Poured into a standard pint glass with a nice tawny head that dissipated quickly with light lacing.

Aroma: Chocolate, not overbearing though. Hints of roast in the background.

Taste: Chocolate, coffee, and roasted malt tones. Clean finish that begs for another sip.

Mouthfeel: Very smooth, almost creamy. No astringency.

Overall: I thoroughly enjoyed this beer and wouldn't mind seeing the exact recipe you used. The addition of cocoa nibs was pure gold in this beer.

Thanks for the chance to try an excellent brew.

Thanks for the awesome review Shunoshi. I'll look at my notes, but I'm pretty sure I followed the original extract recipe posted. The cocoa nibs in secondary were my idea and I'm glad I used them.