North Coast Brewing's Old Rasputin

Facebook is well on its way to taking over the world. Even my mom has a facebook profile now, so it's really not much of a surprise that North Coast Brewing has their own facebook page where you can become a fan of the brewery or a particular beer. What was surprising to me was when I stumbled upon their page for the Old No. 38 Stout earlier this week, and found a link to my own blog up there! So having this on my mind, when I made a trip over to State Line last night to pick up some new brews I couldn't resist grabbing a 4-pack of Old Rasputin.

When a beer has an A on Beer Advocate and a 100 on Rate Beer, it's a pretty safe assumption that it's not only tasty, but also a decent representation of the style. I've had a few Russian Imperial Stouts in the past such as Rogue's XS Imperial Stout, Great Divide's Yeti, and Stone's Russian Imperial Stout. My reaction to these has varied pretty greatly from not being able to finish the Rogue XS, to enjoying the Great Divide and Stone brews even though I had to take my time with both. Not knowing quite what to expect from Old Rasputin, I was a little nervous going in.

The beer poured a deep, nearly black hue with a 1-finger light brown head. The head dissipated to a thin layering fairly quickly, but this remaining layer stuck around for a while. As I drank the beer, it left a decent bit of lacing at first, but this dropped off after I got about a quarter of the way through the glass.

My first whiff of the beer surprised me a little bit. One of the things I've come to expect based on the Russian Imperial Stouts that I've had in the past is a blast of aroma when it's first poured, and a decent bit of alcohol coming through in the smell. Old Rasputin however had a moderately strong, but not overpowering aroma, and the alcohol was definitely not forefront. What I did smell was a nice, slightly sweet combination of chocolate and coffee. Underneath this was just a touch of smokiness, and finally just a hint of alcohol. For being 9% ABV, this was definitely well masked.

Having had my nerves comforted a bit by the pleasant smell, I went ahead and took the first sip. What I immediately noticed was a mix of dark chocolate up front in the mouth, a little bit of a nutty quality in the center of the tongue, and a bitter roasted coffee flavor in the back of the mouth. There was a bit of heat left in my mouth from the alcohol, but I didn't really taste alcohol in the flavor. The aftertaste is pretty similar to dark chocolate as well. The flavors are bold, but they mix together well. Even though the bitterness was the dominant flavor of the beer, it wasn't so bitter that it became a chore to drink or needed to be sipped to get through the glass. The sweetness from the chocolate flavors and the nutty quality are also balanced in such a way that the bitterness isn't the only thing to focus on.

The beer had a fairly thick feel in the mouth, as is to be expected with a Russian Imperial Stout. There's a very substantial quality to it. It's moderately carbonated, just enough to leave a nice tingle on the center of the tongue, but not so much as to distract from the flavors. As mentioned before, there was a nice subtle warmth imparted from the alcohol as well.

As with all the other Russian Imperial Stouts I've had, Old Rasputin was definitely not a gulper. It's meant to be savored and enjoyed over a longer period of time than it would normally take to consume a beer. However, unlike the other Russian Imperials I've had, I didn't feel like it was a chore to get through at any point, and felt like I could have had another without getting sick of the flavors. It was definitely the easiest to get down of the Russian Imperials I've had. It had a nice balance, complex flavors, but still didn't completely overpower the palate. I'd definitely recommend this one to others and I can see myself going back to try it again. Another strong offering from North Coast, so I'm looking forward to seeing what else they have out there.

- Adam