Bold black-as-oil Estonian-styled Russian Imperial achieves iconoclastic status by melding dry port tendencies to chewy prune-ripened chocolate liqueur illusions. Reigning 9% alcohol pungency enhances lingering sweet barleywine richness countering burnt coffee bitterness. Beer equivalent to a slow sipping port wine not for weak-hearted.

Rich 8% alcohol stout rejects expectant chocolate-coffee traits for unanticipated port wine skewer. Ester-y red grape core, soured prune vestige, and minor cherry notion stabilize creamy malt foundation.

Immensely complex oak-aged Old Heathen dry stout (with maroon-highlighted deep mahogany hue) scatters bittersweet black chocolate urging across charred hop frontage as tannic grape-soured cherry tartness infiltrates Black Forest cake illusion. Further sips reveal sherry-port kick at lingering lacquered vanilla finish, though stabilized aftertaste recalls marshmallow-imbued chocolate liqueur. Updated 2013 version ‘aged in whiskey barrels’ brought deeper wood-smoked bourbon tenacity to oaken cherry and tannic grape pucker – overriding chalky mocha thrust.

Ruinous ethanol-like 9.5% toxicity and murky chocolate malting drag down suspect ebony-hued Russian stout. Slick hop oils severely taint parched cocoa, molasses, and prune astringency as well as tertiary licorice, espresso, cola, and hazelnut illusions. On bettered second passing, bittersweet black chocolate stead picked up maple-sapped wood-burnt bourbon vanilla soothe, black cherry flash, and anise hint, increasing its rating a whole point.

Viscous oats-charred lactic stout lands sticky molasses-soaked anise punch, overwhelming thick black chocolate, vanilla, and espresso creaminess as well as tertiary plum-raisin-fig souring. Chocolate liqueur, black cherry, and burnt cedar illusions also intensify anise impetus.

Complex black-hued stout pours like 10W40 motor oil. Heavy molasses, rich chocolate, and tangential coffee bean ascent combine for luxuriant facade. Sweet sherry, ripe fig-raisin, and vanilla juxtapose vinous oaken cherry slip to the thoroughly satisfying, fully formed, hickory-smoked cocoa-nutty finish. Better than espresso as after dinner treat.

Mighty fine off-dry cream stout flaunting signature roasted coffee sourness gains chalky cocoa bitterness, milk chocolate richness, sweet toffee insistence, dry burgundy richness and maraschino cherry piquancy to juxtapose coarse wood-smoked hop char. Perfect espresso alternative. ’13 version: dark-roasted black chocolate contingent rides above dry beechwood-like smokiness and floral-tinged pumpkin spicing.

Cascading tan bubbles surface above re-fermented hop-moderated brown-bodied dry stout. Burnt coffee resilience sours caramelized black chocolate cake overlay, powdery cocoa bitterness, black cherry tartness, and creamy liqueur assertion, deepening cola-hazelnut-walnut scour as grain-roasted oatmeal thickness amplifies. Woody bottom awakens thick sherry grandeur for fine digestif feast.

Fixed black cherry-currant nose complements prune puree thickness and syrupy maple malt resolve of weighty ebony stout. Toasted hop dryness deepens robust black coffee-chocolate finish, gaining burnt wood hint by third passing.

Hop-fizzed persistence unexpectedly exceeds mocha proclivity, but sharp grain presence adds enough vigor to assure full-bodied finish, if not prolonged aftertaste. Brewery defunct: 2001.

Burnished maroon-hued rocky-headed stout places tart raspberry puree insistence atop deepened dry mocha-prune bitterness ’til prevalent coffee bean bitterness overtakes creamy chocolate cake finish. Dried-fruited fig, raisin and black cherry recess secures tertiary tobacco chew, powdered cocoa and Bakers chocolate wisps.

Sensational tan-headed mahogany-bodied 12% alcohol Imperial Stout flaunts prominent roasted coffee bean theme that’s nearly as punctual as Red Hook’s defunct Double Black Stout (made with Starbuck’s coffee). Creamy molasses sapping coats lactic black chocolate resonation and wavered black cherry nuances while bourbon-licked creme de cacao liqueur pillages thickening cappuccino finish. Burnt cedar, wet bark, and ashen oak found in recessive cove.