Berkshire Imperial Stout
A dark rich creamy ale. This is our version of this classic stout style. With its dense black color and velvety texture, our stout's flavor hints of chocolate liquorice and coffee. This ale is truly a meal in a glass.
3.6
264 reviews
South Deerfield, United States
Community reviews
Bottle. Pretty much black, beige head. Aroma of licorice, burnt espresso. Taste is very roasty coffee, cocoa. Nice.
"Russian Imperial Stout" Bottle from Table and Vine. Near black with lasting brown head and lace. Earthy dark chocolate ashy aroma with hints of booze and fruit. Sweet and fruity with dark chocolate some roasted coffee and raisin fruitiness. Medium earthy ashy roasted bitterness. Medium full body. Somehow not really rich, more fruity and herbal. Decent enough but not up there with the champions of the style.
22oz bottle pours dark oily black brown with 2 finger offwhite head. Nose is rich dark bitter cocoa and licorice, some vanilla. Taste is semi sweet, pretty good mouthfeel, some sweet vanilla, licorice spice, dark dusty bitter burnt chocolate, some charred coffee. Finish is bitter with some sweet vanilla and earthy cocoa and coffee bean.
pour is dark brown with a light tan head. Nose is sweet, magic marker, chocolate, uneaten sugar, stale grain. Taste is overly sweet and lacks malt complexity. Some chocolate, lots of sugar, brown sugar, caramel, thinner body and moderate carbonation.
Bomber from a store local to the brewery. Labeled Russian Imperial Stout. Poured a thick tan soapy head. Jet black in the glass. First taste yields a syrupy carmel note which fades sweet all the way through. Didn’t really end, but faded away gently. Not much chocolate, and I don’t miss any char from the roast. Pleasant all the way around, just not as complex as I expected.
Labelled as "Russian Imperial Stout." Dark brown, bubbly, small beige head. Aroma sweet malt, nutty, a litle cocoa. Medium to light body, some carbonation, not much alcohol. Flavor is unobjectionable but unmemorable, some sweet malt, nutty, a little chocolate syrup. Finish off-dry. It’s drinkable, but kind of thin for the style.
28-Apr-14 (22-oz bottle: Obtained in trade with jjpm74, thanks John!)
This beer pours a very dark brow body with an inch of tan head that settles to a ring and swirly sheet. The nose is roasty and sweet, with dark chocolate and earthy, mossy notes. On the palate, the dark, slightly sweet chocolate is dominant, but lacks richness and "deliciousness", but the toasty, lightly roasty malt has a somewhat dirty flavor in the finish. The beer is full bodied, but not rich like the typical Imperial Stout, and carbonation is moderate. Overall, this isn’t one of the better Imperial Stouts I’ve tried, primarily because of the finish that tastes like dirty floors.
Bottle. Sweet hazelnut, vanilla, and dark chocolate aroma with some pine hops lingering in the background. Opaque black under a thin, tan sheet with a bubbly island meandering around. Sweet cereal grain and vanilla roast flavour with some oaky butterscotch. Very low bitterness with balance on the sweet side, but not cloying. Nutty. Low carbonation doesn’t help with the sweetness, cut is okay, medium body, clean and smooth.
22oz bottle. Pours nearly black with a tiny light tan head. Aroma is roast, yeast, coffee, and licorice. Taste is licorice, molasses, coffee, chocolate, some roast, light nuttiness, and some dark fruit. Medium-full body. Moderate carbonation. Sticky, slightly syrupy, slightly creamy mouthfeel. [4/5]
Bottled: unk
Black beer with a latte surface of foam and no lace. Nose brings through licorice, malts, licorice, molasses, some sweetness. Not really impressed, but not surprised - this seems to be the standard differentiation from Impy Stouts with the licorice. The flavor has plenty of dark malts, hints of leather and dark stone fruit and a little bit of molasses - the licorice doesn’t dominate the flavor as much as the nose. Medium bodied and moderate carb with a dry finish. This is a decent beer, above average, but nothing worth seeking too hard.
Serving type: bottle
04-04-2012
Black pour, small super-creamy head. Light roasty aroma. Sweet chocolaty flavor with notes of fruit and sake. Nice creamy mouthfeel :)
Publik House Draught. Ok so this is not the best or even close to the best impy out there. BUT it is very good for its price point.
24.06.2013, 0,66l bottle @ hotel room in Boston:
Small slightly fizzy mediumlasting head. Aroma is slightly sweet, dark malts, licorice, dark sugar, coffee, caramel, grass. Taste is mild and slightly roasted, dark malts, grass, dark sugar, dark fruits, coffee, cocoa, caramel. Medium bitterness, thin body. Boring!
Opaque black with no head. Medium-full body with medium-high carbonation.
Aroma: dark crystal and toasted and roasted malts, mushroom soy sauce, some yeast esters, and not much for hops.
Taste: bready malt, pleasant roasted malt, umami, dark fruit, and just a hint of charcoal. There is a subtle sweetness in the finish like malto-dextrine or some other non-fermentable sugar, but no lactose flavor.
Lots of dark malt character, but not overdone. Nice balance, and a more sessional body than most RIS examples. More of a perfect example of a traditional irish foreign stout.
Another bottle a few years later is not quite as good. Less richness and umami.
Dark brown pour, brown head. Aroma of dark roasted malts, coffee, a hint of metallic notes. Flavor is charred, slightly bitter, chocolate and the metallic notes are in the flavor too.
Aroma is not so good. It ha a weird peanut butter like note to it along with a lot of dark fruit. There is also a bit of oxidation showing up as wet paper. There is some chocolate and roast, well balanced but subdued. Pours black with brown highlights on the edges. A thin dark tan he's quickly recedes to the edges. No lacing or legs. Flavor is slightly better than the aroma as the nutty note is lesser but it is still present. The dark fruit is more subdued as well and the chocolate malts show up more nicely. Light astringency and moderate bitterness. Still some signs of oxidation in the flavor. A light roast note in the finish as well as some alcohol. Medium to medium full bodied with medium carbonation. Finishes with low to medium low astringency and a bit thin in the finish. Medium low alcohol heat. Overall there is just something off with this beer. Whether oxidized or infected it has serious flaws. Definite drainpour.
Tried a 22 oz bottle in early 2016. Aroma is a bit better, but it is still quite a bit nutty. Some medium light phenolic notes. Flavor is moderately sweet with some nice chocolate and lighter roast. Fairly sweet with light phenolics. Better than the previous time I tried it, but still not great. Score has been updated from the original 2.7 to reflect the new bottle.
on draft at willimantic brew pub, nah. Just a sweet ashy mess, a pretty terrible stout with not much body, the dry finish kind of saves it. Kind of.
650 mL Bottle purchased from Leary’s for $7. To snifter, it pours an oily dark purplish charcoal brown with a trim off-tan ring which rested atop. Smells straightaway of caramelized raisins, fudge, cocoa powder, milk chocolate and some heat. Ends with aromas of yeast, licorice and chile peppers. Tastes certainly milkier and fruitier than expected: lactose, raspberry jam, pears, and honey. Midway, it’’s hinting at chocolate malt, booze and, as TurdFerguson said, ashy which is quite prevalent by swallow. Overall, enjoyable stuff. Also has a nice warming sensation you find out almost immediately. I don’t love this beer, but Berkshire do know how to competently brew a beer that is both interesting and balanced. The chocolate flavors could have been more pronounced, but I’m not complaining.
Bottle at Paul’s tasting. Pours near black with a beige head. Lighter roasted malts, dark chocolate, and a hint of floral hops in the finish. Decent.
Bottle at Paul’s for the Blind Stout tasting. Pours a clear brown with a thin white to beige head. Soft roast and cocoa on the nose, chocolate, toffee. Medium bodied, toast, roast, a touch of sweetness. Long cocoa, toffee, sweet plum. A touch of oxidization. Warm and spicy.
Poured from 22oz into a snifter. Initial head was drk brown and robust within a few minutes laced down to a ring of grey. Aroma is malty and toasty and all the warm smells of a stout. Unfortunately the bitterness is missing. This tastes like a rich brown ale with a hint of stout earthiness but the love does not linger on. I was hoping for a Rasputin-like timbre to this stout but the marriage is already starting off on the wrong key. I’d probably buy it again if I had to, but I’d go for their Draymans Porter as that serving is light years ahead of this imperial swill.
22oz Bottle, purchqsed from the Wine Thief - New Haven, CT and enjoyed from a plastic Amtrak cup with ice. Steel railings humming, this noses warm and a little bit fruity. On the palate this holds a mix of fresh toasted bread and some sweet grapes. I’m trying to enjoy this beer as though I were living in the UK in the 50s. It’s so hard to hold an old-style, nuanced lower gravity stout like this to all the brash, overly strong American renditions. This is subtle, hopped with Goldings, and a gracious old timey beast. If we split Imperial Stout into American and English, this would rock the latter category and thus I’m scoring it highly.
Lotsa bottles. Dark brown with a minimal tane head. Light carbonation. Nose is booze, molasses, roast, light cocoa, and ash. Flavor is similar with a dirty, slightly earthy bitterness, some light dark fruits, ends ashy and boozy.
Pours black with no head worth mentioning. Aroma is sweet malts, roasty. Taste is sweet up front, slight chocolate, sour, slight bitterness, a little thin and light for this style, dry, almost milk stout type finish, slightly alcoholic.
22oz bottle. Rating #226. Dark black with a tan head. Light roast with some sweet dark candy syrup. Flavor is bitter roast up front, followed by a candy syrup sweetness in the finush, kind on the lighter side as far as imperial stouts go, not bad. (2362)
Half pint taken at the Great British Beer Festival on Wednesday 4th Aug 2010. My only non-UK beer of the day.
Gravity poured by MattW, a guy I know from Belgian trips; he also recommended it to me. £2.70 for the half, my most expensive drink of the day!
Dark and deep looking brew, thin tanned head which became a collar too soon.
The smells were coffee, chocolate and liquorice and in that order of strength.
The taste was in tune with the aromas, chocolate first though, then the coffee and liquorice third.
The body was thick and rich like a friutcake mix.
A lot of the US beers didn’t travel well according to my source at the Fest, this barrel however was very good and hopefully showed off the beer in its best light. I certainly enjoyed it.
Pours typical stout black with a small tan head. Smell is slight chocolate and coffee. Nice roastieness. Taste is a bit harsh, creamy, almost tart/sour, cherry and dark fruit overpower chocolate and coffee. Bit of a lactic aftertaste. Reasonably drinkable. Ok.
Black color with an averaged sized tan head. Aromas of chocolate, roast, dark fruits and a little on the earthy side. Tastes of light coffee, prunes, chocolate, and roasted malts. Medium mouthfeel.
Warms the soul, this is the beer I want to warm up by a fire with after a long day of snowboarding.
Draft @ Coalhouse Pizza, Stamford, CT. Unlike most imperial stouts, this beer is kinda watery and very drinkable. With notes of vanilla, bourbon, dates and grapes, this beer laces modestly. This is a good beginners imperial stout.