Widmer Brothers KGB Russian Imperial Stout
This long-time favorite brewers’ choice beer was created to hop us challenge expectations and keep us true. We now expose it to you.
Using roasted barley, chocolate malt, and Midnight Wheat (tm), KGB has a color that is as dark as a torrid past, a body as full as a well kept dossier, and a taste a complex as a conspiracy theory.
Using roasted barley, chocolate malt, and Midnight Wheat (tm), KGB has a color that is as dark as a torrid past, a body as full as a well kept dossier, and a taste a complex as a conspiracy theory.
3.7
234 reviews
Portland, United States
Community reviews
Drank a bottle poured into imperial pint beer glass. Label said it was bottled Jan-2013 in WA. Drank in Dec-2013. Solid, dark pour. Medium head with consistency of boiling caramel. Strong nose; hints of coffee and dark chocolate, and alcohol. Bitter front end; more coffee, chocolate, and alcohol. Bitter back end. Paired surprisingly well with sweet potato pie.
From the W Series 650 ml. bottle stamped: 11:37-WA-DEC1012. It pours jet black with a modest tan head that settles back slowly and leaves a light lacing cling to the glass. The aroma is full of dark cocoa malts, dark grainy malts, rye, mild sweetness, and a touch of cherry. The body is full. The taste begins with dark malts and bitter almost boozy bite at the end. The 9.3% ABV shows through a little.
Dark brown pour with medium sized tan head. Aroma of roasted malts, chocolate, coffee and earthy. Taste of roasted malts, stale coffee, unsweetened chocolate, slight hop bitterness. Full bodied, medium carbonation. Nothing really stands out in this one, just an average imperial stout.
Pours black with dark burnt cream head. Aroma of molasses with bits of burnt coffee. Firey in the mouth and down the throat. Taste of fire, burnt, and coffee, with hints of bourbon.
Pours dark brown, small tan head with very fine bubbles. Aroma is strongly chocholate, roasty malts. Round, velvety mouthfeel. You can feel the burn from the alcohol and acid from the carbonation on the finish. Taste is earthy, toasty, roasty, bitter dark chocholate.
Sample at SBWF 2013.
Almost black with a small head. Aroma and taste of roasted malt, dark choclate, coffee, caramel and some light notes of fruit. Not that heavy. The finish was dry.
My 100th rating! 22 oz. bomber. Pour is jet black, milk chocolate head which has decent retention and good lacing. Smell is slight coffee and caramel, some dark chocolate licorice and booze. Taste is very dry a decent hop profile, with all of the aroma flavors coming through very subtly as it warms. Decent booze kick gong down. Pillowy carbonation gives it a decent mouthfeel. Far from greatness but not bad.
From 22oz bottle to snifter. Pour is beautiful, very dark brown, thick look to it with a dark cream colored thick head. Nose is aggressive, notes of malt, chocolate, caramel, and molasses are present, as well as a lingering hop smell. Taste is bitter, very heavy body. At times there are notes of sweetness as well. Finishes strong with a lingering flavor, that slight signature imperial bite at the end. Great beer, love the complexity of this one.
Pours very dark brown, with a nice tan head. Aroma is malty and rich. Taste of chocolate, malt, and is slightly sweet, but still complex. A very smooth, nice Imperial Stout, especially for the price. Thumbs up!
Bought from Rakuten, 9.3% it pours a dark inky brown, completely black in the glass with a tan head that lingers. Nice chocolatey malt aroma. Great full mouthfeel! Very smooth, bitter roast chocolate, sweet herbal or floral hop notes that complement the dark malts very well. Sweet bitter chocolate aftertaste. Really good stuff!
Nice chocolate, bourbon, roasted malts, and sweet molasses aroma Jet black with a ark brown head. Velvety smooth mouth feel, Sweet malt comes first, quickly followed by bitterness and warm alcohol burn. Molasses and chocolate flavors blend well and it finishes with bitter chocolate notes and a nice warm buzz. Very nice.
Growler from Gremlin Growlers. Dark brown with a brown head. A good mix of flavors include roasted nuts, chocolate, and coffee. Full bodied and a a long aftertaste.
Pours black with a more full and thick looking dark tan head. Nice aroma of roasted malts, chocolate, licorice, and some lesser notes of vanilla, smoke, and faint raisin. The taste has a burnt smokiness to it. Some heavier chocolate as well. Underneath I find vanilla, coffee, and a very unusual grapefruit citrus flavor. Medium bodied with a thick, smooth texture. Average carbonation, but more than you usually find in this style. Aftertaste is lingering smoky citrus blend. The advertised alcohol content is more subtle and creeps up on you. This is a solid beer. No weaknesses, but nothing particularly jumps out at me here to stand out among others.
Poured from a 22 ounce bomber, thanks to Mike. The stone is fishy, smoky, astringency. The flavor is chocolate, alcohol, peat smoke, roasted malt, a bit of wood.
Black, opaque, tan bead. Aroma of bready and nutty malt, pretty light on the chocolate and roast character you would expect from an RIS, a little ashtray aroma. Flavor: bigger, deeper malt than in aroma, with dark bread, chocolate, nutty notes, cocoa, light toffee, light roast.
Courtesy of 5000 via trade
Bottle: The aroma consists of chocolate, roasted malt, vanilla, and faint alcohol. It pours a dark brown with a hint of orange highlights and a one finger light brown head that quickly fades to a thin ring around the edges of the glass. The flavor starts with chocolate and a touch of fruit. The finish has roasted malt and a touch of coffee. It’s medium-full bodied with soft carbonation and mouthfeel. Overall, a really solid Imperial Stout.
Dark. In fact black as not much light showed through. Medium tan head that lasted for a while. Malts and chocolate. The richness hides the alcohol. Very smooth. This is a really good brew.
Aroma is dark fruit/berries, coffee and earthy malts. The flavor is coffee, light chocolate, vinous notes, dark malts and a mild/medium acidic/mildly tart finish.
Pours jet black with a foamy cappuccino head. Aroma is dark dried fruits and malt with hints of chocolate and coffee. Flavor is predominately sweet with traces of bitter dark chocolate on the sides of the tongue.
Full bodied, moderate carbonation.
Pretty good brew! I'd happily have another.
22 oz. bottle, pours black with a small tan / light brown head. Aroma of roasted malt, some chalk, and some bitter dry cocoa. Flavour brings out heavily roasted malt, bitter dry cocoa, and more roasted malt. Finishes with quite a highly astringency roasted malt note. Full-bodied and medium complex. Good solid impie, but nothing extraordinary here.
Bottle. Pours near pitch black with a nice 1 finger head that fades very quickly. Aroma is sweet chocolate milk, light roast, and a touch of raisins. Taste is moderately sweet with no bitterness. Mostly milk chocolate with some light roast and very light fruitiness. Creamy finish with an odd aftertaste. Kinda chalky and a little fruity I guess? Doesn’t seem to fit. Overall, not well balanced and not very interested but still decent.
Dark brown/black with chocolate roast notes in both aroma and taste with the smoothness of a something that has milk in it. Very much a rich desert beer without the sweetness ever crossing the line to cloying. $3/10oz
Draft at Moriartys. Opaque brown pour with a pillowy brown head. Thin nose when cold. Burnt chocolate. Coffee grounds. Cinnamon. Charcoal. Leatherette. Mostly creamy palate. Nice black flavors. Missing a little something from some of the best Imperials but pretty damn good.
Draft. Poured a mostly hazy brown color with a touch of ruby notes and a small tan head. Aroma was some roasted malts, sweet caramel character. Flavor was sweet malts, with plenty of roast characters. Was pretty bitter. Dry. Alcohol in this one is really well masked. Impressed enough.
Pours a dark black with hardly no carbonation. A little smoky , with roasted malt and hints of oak. A liitle disappointing
On tap at Red Hook. Black as night. Disappointing nose, some coffee and dark fruit. Ok mouthfeel. Very bitter, more so than I would have expected. A bit of booze numbness on the tongue. True to style, but won’t seek this out.
Pours a pitch black color with a thick khaki head with great lacing. Smells of chocolate, vanilla, roasted malt and toffee. Tastes of bittersweet chocolate, vanilla, caramel, toffee, roasted malt and molasses with a little black licorice mixed in too. Mouthfeel is medium and creamy with great carbonation and a dry finish. I’m glad Widmer decided to bring back this delicious beer and it seems to taste a bit better than the last batch.
So glad they brought this back! Bitter dark chocolate, espresso, roast, slight alcohol sweetness & burn. Just a really solid, good RIS. Esp for under $5 a bomber!
12 oz bottle dated Dec. 18 12 pours an opaque dark brown/black with moderate mocha head and good lacing. Aroma has roasted malts, dark chocolate, vanilla, and some coffee. Taste is sweet with a little bitterness in the short finish. Body is full with minimal carbonation. Alcohol is well hidden in this thick, chewy stout. It’s not mind-blowing and won’t make you feel like your face is falling off, but is a solid imperial stout.
Bottle. 2013 vintage bottled on "DEC 18 12". ABV is listed as 9.3%. Black pour with a thick, sturdy brown head. Lots of roasted malt, dark bittersweet chocolate and coffee in the aroma along with burnt caramel and hints of vanilla. Taste is big roasted malt, bitter coffee, bittersweet chocolate, vanilla notes, light molasses and burnt caramel. Body is medium-full with a strong, dense carbonation. Moderate chewiness to the body as well. Ends with more bittersweet chocolate, dark, bitter coffee, caramel, treacle, strong roasted malt.