Russian Imperial Stout

[r2eng]

Brooklyn Chocolate is great, but not an RIS!

Not nearly the bitterness of the RIS style.

Then again, I may be full of ****e... (doubtful).

 

[weirdboy]

I just finished off a 22oz Stone RIS and I am completely ****ing blotto. Maybe I should have eaten more today. It's a good beer, the malt flavor is good and the contribution of the roast malt lends a flavor that wavers between chocolatey and ashey in character.

 

[Ryan_PA]

Brooklyn Chocolate is great, but not an RIS!

Not nearly the bitterness of the RIS style.

Then again, I may be full of ****e... (doubtful).

You should contact the BJCP people, apparently you can teach them the style guidelines:

13F. Russian Imperial Stout


Commercial Examples: Three Floyd’s Dark Lord, Bell’s Expedition Stout, North Coast Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, Stone Imperial Stout, Samuel Smith Imperial Stout, Scotch Irish Tsarina Katarina Imperial Stout, Thirsty Dog Siberian Night, Deschutes The Abyss, Great Divide Yeti, Southampton Russian Imperial Stout, Rogue Imperial Stout, Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout, Great Lakes Blackout Stout, Avery The Czar, Founders Imperial Stout, Victory Storm King, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines - Category 13

 

[deepsouth]

+1 on the Abyss

hard to find, but my favorite example.

 

[deepsouth]

I just finished off a 22oz Stone RIS and I am completely ****ing blotto. Maybe I should have eaten more today. It's a good beer, the malt flavor is good and the contribution of the roast malt lends a flavor that wavers between chocolatey and ashey in character.

easier to find and a fantastic example as well.

 

[r2eng]

You should contact the BJCP people, apparently you can teach them the style guidelines:


Sorry, didn't mean to irritate you.

Jeez...

 

[Ryan_PA]

Eh, not irritated, just clarifying. Ending a long weekend. Sorry if it came across harsh.

 

[r2eng]

My $0.02 (an I am so far from BJCP)...

Brooklyn is categorized as an RIS, Deschutes Obsidian is qualified as an American stout... less IBU's. Obsidian seems way more bitter than Brooklyn. Both are excellent stouts.

As I said... I do not claim to be a qualified judge, just giving my opinion. Ignore if you would like, no harm done.

 

[Ketchepillar]

If you can find it towards Christmas, try to track down Goose Island's Bourbon County Stout. Its not just a beer, its an experience.

Bell's Expedition Stout is very tasty too.

BCS is tasty if you're willing to wait a couple years for it to be palatable and hopefully not oxidized. Things you have a chance of actually finding on the shelf: Rasputin and GD Yeti

 

[Ketchepillar]

My $0.02 (an I am so far from BJCP)...

Brooklyn is categorized as an RIS, Deschutes Obsidian is qualified as an American stout... less IBU's. Obsidian seems way more bitter than Brooklyn. Both are excellent stouts.

As I said... I do not claim to be a qualified judge, just giving my opinion. Ignore if you would like, no harm done.

I think it's the ABV that makes the difference in almost all (including this one) cases. Obsidian=6.4% Brookyln Black Chocolate = 10.6%

 

[firefighter0585]

victory storm king is incredible , I'd drink it all day and night if i could!

 

[davesrose]

I like the oaked aged Yetti from Great Divide. There's also a Norwegian brewer that makes a nice RIS called Nogne O (the bottle has a purple O on it). While I like Stone for hoppy IPAs....I find their stouts and porters just don't have as much character.

 

[alcibiades]

victory storm king - watch out though its almost 10 percent alcohol

 

[candlejackstraw]

Old Rasputin if you can locate it... it is my favorite beer on this planet:

Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout - North Coast Brewing Co. - BeerAdvocate

I second this

 

[jmo88]

Jeez. Everyone talks about North Coast and only mentions a few others. It sounds like we need more examples of this style. I mean imagine if we had an IPA thread. We'd get stone and DFH, but not every post. My experience with big stouts from breweries, is that they always muck with it by oak aging and adding bourbon or some other junk that turns me off. I wish they could just leave a RIS be an RIS.

 

[fishruss]

Old Rasputin from North Coast. Just had one. Can't wait for the next!

 

[StunnedMonkey]

+1 to Victory Storm King. Hell, +1 to anything from Victory.

 

[Brew-boy]

#1 Old Rasputin Done.

 

[straycat]

victory storm king is excellent (and perhaps one of my top 5 all time beers)...i like old rasputin too but a 6 of storm king costs the same as the old rasputin 4 pack (both 9.99)

 

[Naked_Eskimo]

Bought a 4-pack of Rasputin last night, and cracked one open. Seems to me that it still needed some time to mellow out a bit. Is this usual for RIS stouts to be "young" when bottled?

Not sure if commercially they age their beers sufficiently prior to bottling, or whether they rely on some aging in the bottles too.

 

[Wilsons]

North Coast was a sponsor of the 2008 BYO label contest, which I won silver in. I was supposed to recieve an item from them, which they welshed on. In my opinion, that is a lifetime ban, not just because it effected me directly, but because there is no reason this should happen. The head guy for BYO was more than accommodating in trying to work with the brewery, but nothing came of it but several emails between me and the editor. I even reached out to the emails on the North Coast site, which were ignored. I did not need or want anything more than my label in the mag, but this is real bad form in my opinion.

It is a shame too, I really liked several of their products and have good availability to most out here on the east coast.

That was my issue with them. If they do not follow through with the homebrewing community, you can see what kind of people they are.

I never quite understand this, now i understand the principle why you now dont purchase North Coast products, but hear me out. Obviously you like North Coast's products, but your not purchasing (as in 1 person) is not hurting their business, seems like your only punishing yourself by obstaining from something you enjoy?

 

[psu00grad]

A bit late to the game but what, no mention of one of the finest examples on the planet? Speedway Stout from Alesmith is easily one of the best. A 12% behemoth from one of the best breweries in the country.