Stone Brewing Co. Imperial Russian Stout
Stone Brewing makes the first beer that I ever got really excited about, the Stone Ruination IPA. When I first drank Ruination it was early in my beer experiences and it completely amazed me. The flavors that hit your palate and the sheer massive hoppiness of the beer was astounding, and it quickly became my measuring stick for other beers. Each time I tasted a new beer, and not just IPAs but any beer, I consciously or unconsciously measured it against the Ruination.
As a result, I went through the process of trying a number of other beers from Stone, including their Smoked Porter, Arrogant Bastard, IPA, Pale Ale, and Imperial Russian Stout. The problem was that on some level I was comparing them to the Ruination, which ultimately made no real sense given how unique a beer Ruination is relative to their other beers. Add to that the fact that part of the reason that the Ruination awed me so much is because my beer tastes were so undefined and it is such an extreme beer. When it came right down to it, I hadn’t tasted enough beers to fully appreciate the whole line of Stone Brewing’s offerings.
In hind sight, I think of this as the Islay-Scotch phenomena. For many people new to scotch, Islay scotches quickly become their favorites. My theory is that this is due to the extreme nature of Islay scotches, most of which are pungently smoky with oily palates combined with a panoply of other flavors depending on the distillery. The Islay scotches are easily accessible in the sense that you can get so much out of them without knowing anything about scotch or having ever tasted another scotch in your life. Thus, many scotch novices initially gravitate towards them, only later branching out to explore the scotches of other regions and distilleries.
Now, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this approach, it is simply one avenue towards a greater appreciation of the full range of scotch whisky. Similarly, ultra hoppy beers are one route towards gaining a greater knowledge of the beer world, one born of the sheer accessibility of this style of beers. If you develop a palate for imperial IPAs, then eventually making the transition to regular IPAs, then to bitters and pale ales, etc., is a logical road to follow. As long as you don’t become mired in the one style that first grabs your attention, then it is fair to look upon imperial IPAs or Islay scotches as valid starting points, perfect for drawing someone in to the world of beer or scotch.
Thus, while I was looking up to Ruination as my ideal beer, and tasting other beers whose style bore little or no resemblance whatsoever to an imperial IPA, it was difficult at best for me to fully appreciate these other beers for what they were. Realistically it is only now, a few years later, that I can say with any degree of confidence that my palate is familiar enough with other beer styles and that my mind is open to what they have to offer to truly give me the chance to appreciate just how good a beer can be, no matter what its style.
So it is with this in the back of my mind that I decided to pick up a bottle of Stone Brewing’s Imperial Russian Stout the other day. I wanted to revisit a beer that I’d tried back in the day, to give myself the chance to taste what is reputedly a great beer now that I’m more knowledgeable about the kind of beer to expect and now that I better know my own likes, dislikes. Basically, now that I have a real frame of reference to rely upon I think it’s time to revisit beers I may have written off in the past.
The beer is opaque, pitch black with ruby highlights at the rim. The nose contains roasted coffee, anise, bittersweet chocolate and a very slight hint of rumminess. The palate is thick-bodied and viscous with just a hint of carbonation in place to liven the flavors up. Flavors of roasted coffee, molasses, and dark-roasted malts dominate the palate. A just noticeable thread of hops can be picked up at the tail end and carrying through to the finish where it is more pronounced. The finish is fairly long and is accentuated by bitter roasted malts along with the mild hop flavor. In general, I don’t think the palate is quite as dynamic as the nose, but in this case that’s not really a bad thing. The nose is a mix of several elements while the palate reduces these to straight-forward and well-balanced flavors of malt, molasses, and a bit of hops.
The Imperial Russian Stout is age-dated, and Stone encourages you to age this beer. I do think it would be quite interesting to see how the flavors developed over the course of a year or two, as the hops that are so pronounced at the back end of the palate and throughout the finish mellowed and gave way to the coffee and malt flavors that are so dominant throughout the rest of the beer. My suspicion is that the beer would be even better than it is right now.
And that’s saying something, because I think this beer is really quite good. Of all the imperial stouts that I’ve had this is easily one of my favorites. The flavors are pretty well balanaced at this point, and I think the balance would improve with a little bit of time. I’m not usually much keen on aging beers, but I’d give it a shot with this one. In fact, along with the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine, this is one of the two beers that I’d be interested in cellaring for a period of time to see what happened.
So perhaps this is the first step in reevaluating some of the beers that I tried a few years ago as I was just getting to know beer in general. I’m very aware that there are a number of beers that I’m sure I’d enjoy much more now with the benefit of having become more familiar with the many styles (and variants on those styles) out there. Hopefully, they’ll all be as enjoyable as I found this beer from Stone to be.
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