Kölsch is the ideal style to reach for when you need to recharge your taste buds with a lighter, refreshing beer.

Geoff Coleman’s dark and ominous Russian imperial stout fills your senses with huge notes of coffee, chocolate, dark fruits, and rich roasted malts.

Cy Bevenger used the London water profile as the basis for his tasty Russian imperial stout.

This Russian imperial stout forms the basis of Neil Fisher’s bourbon-barrel-aged stout.

Whether English or American or breaking new ground, barleywines are the Cadillacs of the ale world. Can you brew a great one with extracts? Of course you can. Annie Johnson breaks it down in our ongoing series on extract-brewing exceptional beers.

**Aroma:** “A prominent roastiness, with even a touch char and black licorice. A light sweet chocolate rounds it out, but the roast dominates. Nice sweet malt roast. Chocolate. Some vanilla. Toast.” **Flavor:** “Moderately sweet cherry chocolate with a touch of roast and some vanilla underneath. A nice chocolaty flavor, but it has a hard time rising over the roast. Some barrel character, but overall the roast dominates.” **Overall:** “Fairly true to style in all respects. The heat on the finish is a bit detracting. Other than that, pretty easy drinking. A singularly roast-forward stout with just a touch of barrel character. The chocolate was nice, but the booze was pretty hot throughout this beer.”

With its robust flavor, inky darkness, alcoholic warmth, and august lineage, imperial stout is the ne plu ultra of big beer, and indeed, the source of all things imperial.

**Aroma:** “A huge, rich nose with lots of complexity. Chocolate-covered cherry dipped in vanilla, with fruity esters, roast, and light raisin. Wet oak, smoke, and red wine, possibly scotch, with a touch of sourness. Some roasted malt and coffee with chocolate in the background, but the wood is what shines through.” **Flavor:** “Strong oak presence—almost sawdust—with tannin and vanilla, and a huge smoky, roasty backbone. Some of the chocolate notes help to round things out, making it taste like a chocolate-dipped campfire. There is a medium spiciness toward the end of the sip that could be rye, and a light sourness mixes with a bit of alcohol in the finish. Light cherries linger after the sip.” **Overall:** “A complicated and disjointed beer that probably has a good underlying stout base, but it gets distracted with too much oak and other interesting recipe choices. The roast and oak characters are not cohesive, and clash on many levels. There are fruity esters toward the end, but a larger alcohol flavor takes over. A lot of different flavors going on.”

Aroma: “Molasses, sherry oxidized character with moderate raisin, Tootsie Roll, dark brown sugar, dark cherry, plum, and blueberry notes. Light ginger spiciness, Moderate alcohol lingering as it warms.” Flavor: “Like eating an alcoholic gingerbread house. Heavy sweetness, molasses, gingerbread spiciness that extends into the aftertaste. Cloying sweetness covers everything but the gingerbread. Finishes with light bread, chocolate, and coffee.” Overall: “Too sweet, too much molasses and sugar, cloying. Other characteristics are present such as spiciness, coffee, and vanilla, but they are diminished by the sweetness. One ounce is almost too much.”

“Compelling aroma of vanilla, dark fudge, smoke, boysenberry, anise, dried cherry, caramel, coffee. Flavor reveals sweeter hints of sherry, vanilla, caramel, turbinado. Beautifully orchestrated.”

**Aroma:** “Pumpernickel biscuit, with rising bread dough yeast notes. Dates and bright stone fruit up front, with slightly hot-ferment aromas and booze coming in at the back. The medium-low roast is evident, with an ever-slight chocolate and malt sweetness.” **Flavor:** “This beer is a nice balance between dark, sweet chocolate, and roasted malt. It has a rich toasted bread-crust character, malty roast, and tobacco leaves. Slightly earthy hops are present on the sides of the tongue, with small alcohol warmth at the back, and a lingering roast astringency. Some backend fruity esters emerge as it warms. A nice body carries the beer well, and the carbonation is spot on.” **Overall:** “An incredible, complex malt profile that challenges the senses but is still delightful to drink, and overall a good beer that has some complexity throughout. It’s woody, cinnamon, earthy, and roasty, with tobacco—like chewing a cigar while eating a chocolate-covered raisin.”

Need a last-minute idea for a veggie side-dish? This recipe explores the savory and sweet potential of an imperial stout.

**Aroma:** “A rich roast malt, with licorice and coffee, and a hoppy backbone. Cherry esters with dark sweet cherry, and perhaps some date and prune notes are present as well. Woody, earthy hops aroma, with tobacco and leather. A hint of sweetness makes this smell like a Tootsie Roll.” **Flavor:** “Big and sweet, like a malted milk ball. Moderate mocha flavor, with a good balance of chocolate and coffee, with a bit of char present. Some dark stone fruit sweetness of dried cherry and chocolate peek through to bring some balance. The hops bitterness is medium and balanced, perhaps a bit stronger than I’d expect. The body is a little thin, with strong alcohol warmth, which lingers on the back of your throat. A bit harsh on the finish.” **Overall:** “Assign your favorite synonym for massive—this is a big, viscous (or vicious?) stout that’s just for sipping. Still, it’s fairly smooth. Starts with a nice complex aroma and flavor, but shifts to being a bit over-roasted, to the point of being burnt. A very tasty beer.”

__Aroma:__ “Smells like a Mounds bar, with deep chocolate and coconut. Aromas from the oak barrel as well, with vanilla, cherry esters, rich malt, and chocolate fudge. Decadent.” __Flavor:__ “Tons of roasted marshmallow comes through in the flavor, with rich chocolate, malt, and toast. Intensely sweet up front, but with a healthy amount of roast to keep it grounded. Big vanilla, light cherry, and coconut flavors play throughout with subtle spice from the bourbon emerging as it warms.” __Overall:__ “The base stout is perfectly brewed to highlight the amazing flavors found in these barrels. The play of sweet, dark chocolate with barrel spice and coconut make for a delicious and well-crafted beer. The roasted marshmallow was unexpected, but supported the hops and roast malt bitterness.”

Thick molasses nose, rich chocolate cream, savory roast nuts, toasted marshmallow. Luxurious, cottony texture, like drinking taffy.

Straightforward bourbon nose. Sweet flavor up front with chocolate-covered cherry balls swimming in bourbon-soaked malt. ‘Luscious’ is the word—creamy milk chocolate, vanilla- and barrel-derived spice. Clean, defined roast. Not as complex as some, but brilliantly executed and integrated.

**Aroma:** “Rich chocolate and high vanilla aromas (a full bean in every bottle?) with a touch of marshmallow. Vanilla starts to take over the aroma, with a medium alcohol note toward the back. Moderate cinnamon, light spicy note and light coffee. There’s a hint of roast underneath, but I have to dig my way through cream soda, white chocolate, and vanilla shortbread to find it.” **Flavor:** “High vanilla and moderate spiciness that extends into the aftertaste with medium roast notes. Light earthy hops and some light chocolate with a mildly roasted coffee in the background that becomes more prominent as I sample more. A nice alcohol warming at the end of the sip.” **Overall:** “A lot of vanilla! Dab some of this behind your ears before you go out, and your date will nuzzle you during the slow dances. It will probably get some people to try a stout, and that’s good.”

**Aroma:** “Fairly mild aroma. Slight alcohol and chocolate. Medium coffee and roast notes. Hints of cocoa nibs along with a light smoky phenol and very mild metallic hops. Nice cocoa and caramel, like a classy milk chocolate bar. Dark fruit esters. Everything I want in the aroma!” **Flavor:** “Oily coffee roast hits first, satisfying that stout character. Moderate sweetness ushers in a simple chocolate flavor. Warming alcohol joins with the long-tail roast fade for a lingering finish. Caramel and toffee come out. Suporting hops bitterness. Hops flavor is resinous, woody.” **Overall:** “Alcohol is not as forward as other examples and is more warming and subtle. Good chocolate, coffee, and roast notes. Slight fruity esters in the background. If you’re a big roast fan, this might be your cup of Joe. Smooth and balanced, a finely crafted beer. The flavors play off each other wonderfully, building to a crescendo of roasted sweetness.”

“Smells like a bottle of vanilla dumped in a batch of brownie batter. Flavor-wise: intense punch of roast malt quickly tempered by caramel and vanilla, leading to a rich, sweet—not cloying—finish. Gradually fades into a soothing, boozy warmth.”

__Aroma:__ “Rich roast and chocolate up front, with a light smokiness and a touch of malt sweetness. There’s a light dark- fruit/date note, with cherry, dark fig, and vanilla. The sugar sweetness and smoke reminds me of candied bacon.” __Flavor:__ “Chocolate and roast add complexity up front, with a light alcohol warming toward the finish. Notes of rum, but also a note of tequila. The oak quality of the barrel is evident. Flashes of cocoa and vanilla weave through dark fruits of fig, plum, prune, and raisin. Intense flavors, but no single flavor dominated.” __Overall:__ “This beer is hot and boozy, with a rum presence that’s really just complexity and heat. Could use some aging to let the alcohol mellow out and the flavors shine through. A beautifully rich and complex beer that takes a minute to wrap your head around, but once you’re into it, you don’t want to leave.”