Scotch Irish Tsarina Katarina Imperial Stout

Very robust, with hints of raisins and licorice, this vintage dated black ale will improve in the cellar for several years.

3.7

171 reviews

, Canada

Community reviews

4.1 Black w/ frothy ring of brown foam. Aroma of burnt(-in-a-good-way) coffee, dark chocolate, & earthy, herbal hops w/ notes of dried fruit. Thick, chewy, creamy feel. Rich, complex flavour of roasted malts w/ some nicely bitter, earthy hops in the finish.

4.0 2005 Bottle shard by mds at BCTC! Thanks Mike! Nose and flavor of chocolate, cream, roasted malt. I really enjoyed this one.

3.9 Thanks to seaoflament for seeing this on my wants list and bringing to the rbsg. You’re a great guy, Carlos! Pours attractive deep brown with a nice pancake colored head. Huge nose of bourbon, oak, molasses, vanilla and chocolate. The taste was equally complex, but a bit of disjointedness, along with an earthy influence. (I learned that word from aspidites!) Quite an experience. Thanks again Carlos!

3.8 Sample from a bottle. Big, rich toffee and vanilla nose, some bourbon, chocolate and roast as well. Creamy and rich, excellently made, somewhat oily in the finish before a surprising dryness, with abundant dry cocoa developing on the back. Quite good.

3.9 2005 at Beer Bistro. Dense mocha head forms on top of a very dark brown body. Less oily looking than average imperial stouts. Lovely dry and sharp roastiness leads the charge in the aroma, followed by cocoa, burned marshmallows, and substantial hops. Coffee bitterness as well. Flavor expands on the aforementioned, a little too typical and lactic in the end, proving to be a somewhat boring flavor. The dryness in the mouth is pleasing. Finishes slightly stinging with ample, even impressive at this age, hop bittering. Taste is definitely the least interesting component of this beer.

3.8 12oz bottle, vintage 2005, courtesy of mds. Thanks, Mike! Pours a very dark, chocolate-brown color; dark brown head with fine-bubbled lacing. Lots of dark chocolate and roasted / charred malts in the aroma. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: relaxed carbonation; lots of dark chocolate, roasted / charred malts, and caramel upfront; toasted malts and roastiness; nicely roasted, soft, chewy imperial stout. Lengthy finish: roasted malts, toasty breadiness, and lots of dark chocolate; nicely dry. Solid, generous impy stout.

3.6 2005 bottle. Thanks to richlikebeer. Pours a dark tar-like color with a thick consistency. Brown head. Roast and burnt aroma with hints of chocolate, coffee and lots of licorice. Taste matches the aroma. A bit sour at the end, but very good nonetheless.

3.9 This 2005 vintage is courtesy of gunhaver. Pours deep deep darkness with thin mocha head. The aroma is just irresistible with dark roastiness, burnt notes, some chocolate, some faint coffee, earthiness and a hint of toffee. Yum. The taste is smooth and blended with some roasted notes toward burnt, faint soy, chocolate and a mild amount of coffee. Yummy indeed. Its melded, blended and silky smooth. Very nice.

2.9 12 oz bottle thanks to drewbeerme for sharing this on the train down to Flossmoor Station. Pours a dark brown black with a creamy tall beige head. Roasted chocolate, some cherries, and dark fruit in the nose. Sweet cherries, chocolate with a sour soy that makes these flavors hard to drink. Drying bakers chocolate finish that is really sour and soy. Not too good.

3.3 2005 bottle, kindly shared by CapFlu, thanks a lot man! Milky notes followed by a portlike aroma. Black with a brown head. Roasted start, a certain milk acidity cannot be denied, chocolate notes round it off. Full bodied, dry mouthfeel. Roasted aftertaste. Allthough the milkacid probably was not intended I actually think it adds to the complexity of the brew.

3.0 341ml bottle. a few years old. pours black with tan head. aroma is soy, chocolate, dark fruit. flavor of soy, dark fruit, mild chocolate, roast, and rather soured. very blah, this has aged poorly, soured impy.

4.0 05 bottle, courtesy CaptainCougar. Pours a very dark brown, with a creamy dark vanilla colored head, and sticky lacing. Giant roasted coffee aromas, raisin, chocolate, brown sugar, alcohol, vanilla. Flavors of big roasted malts, full of coffee beans and chocolate, some raisin and some slight soy sauce. Very smooth, so drinkable, has aged very well. Perfect at room temperature.

4.3 2005 vintage, thanks to MrManning (thanks Lem!). This may or may not have been one of the very last bottles in existence. Pours a perfectly viscous black colour with a very large brown head. Aroma is nice, lots of hop character on top of dark chocolate and anise, raisin. Flavour is intense yet highly drinkable for an Imperial Stout, and the ABV is pretty much undetectable. Nice chocolatey creaminess and velvety palate. I really like this one, and it’s a shame it’ll never be around ever again, and this is probably the only chance I’ll ever get to have it. Very rich, roasty malts, satisfying, even in hot weather!

3.9 2005 Vintage ~ Rating #1300... 5/01/2008: Tsarina Katarina Imperial Stout 2005 pours a pretty much black and is opaque with a mostly lasting creamy brown head. Aroma is dark chocolate and licorice and heavily caramelized malt so it is a bit sweet. The flavor is roasty and rich with some dark fruits (bourbon-soaked raisins or prunes) and licorice evident. It also has an earthy/dirt-like characteristic to it as well hints of smoke/char from heavily roasted malts. A little bit of oxidation is starting to set in though. The finish tastes like coffee and chocolate. The body of this beer is medium-full and it is soft and smooth on the palate. The alcohol starts to pop out as the beer gets warmer, but it isn’t overwhelming at all. This beer has held up pretty well over the past few years and would probably be good for a couple more... 341ml bottle (9% alc./vol.) sent to me from ross. Thanks Ross. I appreciate it! Rating #139 for this beer...

3.9 This was a 2005 vintage that i have been sitting on and it was not bad at all with hints of chocolate and some fruit,the pour was black as night with very thin head and a nice smooth finish,as it warmed the abv was noticeable.CHEERS!

3.7 Pours black with thin quickly disipating head. Aroma is choclolate, coffee, very sweet. Medium bodied and a bit oily. Flavor is sweet and chocolaty. Very dry finish. Decent as far as imperial stouts go.

2.6 2005 vintage, sampled April 2006. Nose of chocolate, coffee, some vegetal. Chocalote, cola, and licorice is accompanied by vegetal and a ton of acidity. Acrid and thin. Not my favorite Impy.

3.7 Finally cracked this one open. Pous a beautiful deep dark black. Anise, roasted malts, chocolate, dark dried fruits. Slight smoke flavor. Medium full body. Well done

3.5 2005. Tasted in Dec. 07. Pours black with fine dark brown head. Sweet prune-like smells dominate with sour cherry and a whiff of coffee. Very tart flavor impression, tastes of bitter chocolate, tart cherry, and cidery yeastiness. Very little carbonation left on this one, wine-like mouthfeel; maybe due to the screw-cap more than age?

3.8 2005 vintage from a trade with Capflu - thanks! Pours a pitch black with a small brown head with poor retention. Aroma is of rich dark toffee candy & chocolate fudge - too bad it’s a tad recessed. Taste is lovely - figs, chocolate, enough hops to keep everything in line, sweet with hints of alcohol. A touch of smoke without being overwhelming. Body is reasonably thick and creamy, carbonation was a bit much at first - it needed to really sit a while before I could taste it properly. Probably one of the best Canadian Imperial Stouts. What a shame it’s retired!

4.1 05 bottle via mrmanning via hogtownharry. fucking darkest beer i’ve seen, thick brown head. the roasty nose is strong with this one. lots of dark fruit & brown sugar & a noticeable alcohol scent. i love this aroma, s’mores and booze, oh yeah. a bit over sweet but an amazing caramel . sweet cocoa lingers. very plummy notes in this with a bit of marshmallow(yes, marcus, i still taste marshmallow you are not alone) reminiscent of chocolate pie. 5 1 0 7 3 16

4.0 Lots of bright fruit and chocolate in this beer. Pours with a slight head, but quickly dissipates. Aroma is very much the bright fruit, hints of soy, and chocolate. Also got a decent amount of wood in this one with a touch of smoke. Pretty decently complex. Taste very much followed suit with the red fruit playing the most central role. Very nice.

2.9 Bottle from C’est What? Pours like a really dark cola, with little visible head. Smells of dark chocolate and port. Flavour is of tracle, coffee and smoke. There’s a bit of bitterness in there too. A slight hint of cheese suggests that this beer is past its prime, and isn’t something I look for in a drink. Really thick, almost treacly mouthfeel, leads to a nice warming aftertaste in the stomach. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think this was a great beer which hasn’t aged as well as could be hoped.

3.4 (Bottle, 2005 vintage) Pours a opaque black body with a thick creamy brown head. Aroma of wood, light smoke, roastiness, and dark chocolate. Flavor of roasted malt, vinous, and chocolate with a dry finish.

3.8 2005 bottle from Sarlaander (Aaron) tasted at Saarlander’s SoCal tasting with saarlander, cquiroga, dirty_martini & kittiesandbeer, JohnC and others. As Aaron said, this is a great beer that is a little over the hill, and that I probably shouldn’t rate it for that reason. So I skewed my overall rating from from 15 to 17, to not affect the beer’s average rating today (3.77): 8,4,6,3,15:3.6. It’s actually fun to try an over the hill beer to find out what it’s like. A bit sour, some cardboard. Still pretty decent to drink, just not in it’s prime. Rerate at RBSG: 3.7, dry, very roasty. but still good.

4.8 this was good, and I was lucky to have it. (2005) poured into a large tulip. pours very black as night thick yet quick pour with a mild head that stays steady. creamy mocha chocolate aroma with a minor hint of alchohol. first sip you notice the front tingle of carbonation and the slight mocha smoked malty finish. as you set the glass down a thick lacing slowly slides down the edge of the glass staning its footsteps... very subtle and palatable yet exstremely complex, not an overpowering palate or flavor but a subtle demanding presence. seems very thick yet goes down easy. sweet front, smoky finish, mocha background, and slight smoked aftertaste. good stuff.

3.9 Name: Tsarina Katarina Imperial Stout Date: 02/03/2007 Mode: Bottle Source: Tasting, Cellar Party black, wispy tan head, roasted smokey chocolate aroma, rich chocolate malt flavor, very dry at first and picks up only a hint of sweetness, light bitterness, touch of smoke -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Tsarina Katarina Imperial Stout Date: 03/28/2007 Vintage: 2005 Score: ii to iii Words: Bottle Words: Trade black, big dark brown head quickly settles to a wispy head, streaks of lace, roasted milk chocolate aroma with a lactose sweetness, creamy body, light roasted flavor, touch of milky sweetness, starts of with a milk chocolate character then morphs into dark chocolate, Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 16/20 Rating: 3.9/5.0 Drinkability: 8/10 Score: ***/4

3.6 [428-20070718] 341mL (Vintage 2005, c/o jerc). Strong roast malt and coffee aroma with a hint of sickly sweetness. Black body with a long-lasting brown foamy head. Light bitter roasted coffee flavour with a sweet aftertaste. Full body is fairly smooth. Was expecting less sickly sweet, medium alcohol is mostly hidden. (6/4/6/4/13) 3.3 [8955D-20161227] 341mL bottle. Roasty soy grains aroma. Dark brown black body with a quick brown bubbly head. Roasted grains and woody dark malt flavour. Full body. Good. (8/3/8/4/15) 3.8 (Vintage 2005; c/o HogTownHarry, w/ him, biegaman, jercraigs, others)

3.4 Bottle from MrManning and 1FastSTi. Black with beige head. Aroma is full of rubbing alcohol, chocolate and light coffee. Flavor very mild. Nice balance of chocolate and coffee, finishes with some roasted/burnt grain. Mouthfeel has too much carbonation for an impy. Decent overall, but not big enough for an impy stout.

3.7 12 oz bottle from 2005 thanks to blankboy. Aromas were nice with some chocolate and molasses. Flavors fell off a bit. Still some decent flavors in there, but a touch metallic. Maybe the age? Still decent.