North Coast Brewing Company Old Rasputin

**Aroma:** “Roast and chocolate. Some mild dark fruit esters. A little leather and wet tobacco. Clean roast, honey, slight vegetal. Some heat on the nose. Roasty malt with an undertone of tobacco. Maybe a hint of _Brett_ and damp leather.” **Flavor:** “Chocolate sweetness carries from the start to finish. The roast builds and adds great complexity. The body is full and sits on your tongue. Some mild fruity esters of cherry and raisin with coffee roast in the finish. Clean, lingering bitterness. Slight chocolate and caramel notes.” **Overall:** “Very good, this beer drinks better than it smells. The complexity of the roast and malt sweetness balanced well together. The warmth and earthy bitterness helped to cut the sweet. Very good stout. Heavy on the roast and alcohol, but the hops bitterness and other malts help balance. Could improve with age. This is a great example of the style once you get past the nose.”

**Aroma:** “Big dark chocolate and coffee aroma. Big plum, dates, moderate cherry, light acidity, moderate caramel, light umami, light earthy hops, some brown sugar notes. A backbone of bready malt. I’m sitting by the fire with a snifter of...not barleywine, but this beer. Rich malt complexity with sherry, dried figs, and raisins, and warming alcohol. More caramel than roast, but the coffee and chocolate are there.” **Flavor:** “Lovely complex malt sweetness—like chocolate-covered Fig Newtons, or maple syrup, with a touch of earthy hops to help balance. Like a shot of strong expresso, no cream. Complex and deep, but a bit intense so sessionable is not part of this section. Big cherry, light plum, big chocolate, moderate coffee, light hops bitterness, touch of alcohol, moderate caramel. Aftertaste: big chocolate, touch of coffee, light bitterness. Starts out like a thinner-bodied barleywine, but the hops and roast bitterness crack that illusion. The promise from the nose is here, but it doesn't quite mesh as well in the flavor because the lingering hops and slight astringency add some harshness. Hops flavor is as big as the roast. Sherry, malt, dried fruit and esters are still nice, though.” **Overall:** “Very tasty, but could use a bit more carbonation to help the flavors pop. Love the fruitiness. Fun dark-fruit dominated imperial stout. The chocolate, caramel, and roast notes are present throughout with just enough hops to balance. It is fairly well carbonated, but that works to bring out the brighter fruit notes. The nose had me, but the flavor not so much.”

**Aroma:** “A moderate chocolate note that reminds me of opening up a chocolate bar. A slight boozy note, but sweet enough to complement the chocolate. Strong chocolate flavors, reminiscent of bittersweet and sweet baker’s chocolate. Nice malt sweetness and a touch of roasted malt notes.” **Flavor:** “Sweet malt and chocolate prevail, with just a bit of roasted malt coming through as coffee. Balanced with a slightly sweet finish. Intense sweetness has some fruitiness that comes off a little bubble-gummy. Cherry and fig, dark fruit malt sweetness. Slight warming helps in the finish, and the fruitiness adds complexity.” **Overall:** “Full-bodied, sweet chocolate stout. A boozy chocolate milk is the best descriptor. The dark fruit esters from the fermentation overwhelm the chocolate character. Not quite enough hops bitterness to balance out the malt bill. Smooth, with a nice warming, and very easy drinking.”