December 11 - Great Lakes Blackout Stout

Not the same type of blackout, but I stay true to my Milton roots.  Method Man and Redman, Starsky and Hutch...

Taking a look at my post views for the last week, it appears the novelty has worn off.  Overall post views are tapering off to slightly under 30 per post.  Maybe it's too many pictures and not enough beer.  For those of you still with me...

Tonight from Great Lakes Brewing Company we have their Russian Imperial Stout, Blackout Stout.  

Drink, Ivan.  You mean drink.  Your English is slightly off.

Paying homage to the 2003 blackout that plagued the region, this beer clocks in at 9% ABV.  The following is from their website:

Finish each other's beer?  Sign me up!

  

This beer pours an opaque black (I guess Blackout is appropriate here for sure) with a creamy brown head on the top.  The aroma has so many levels.  There is a chocolate/cocoa aroma along with roasted coffee, roasted barley and even a slight floral bouquet too.  Oh, and coffee.  Lots of coffee...

The flavor of this stout started out very sweet and fruity, which took me by surprise for sure, especially for the style of beer that this is.  The fruit flavor is mainly dark fruits (cherry and raisin are what I personally gather).  There is a smooth coffee bitter in the middle and it finishes with a star anise and licorice bite.  This becomes more prevalent as the beer warms up a bit.  

There are a ton of slight flavors that I pull from the complexity of this brew.  Other than what has been mentioned thus far, there is also some caramel and toffee tastes that definitely compliment and add to the awesomeness that is this brew.

All things considered, this is definitely a winter brew for me.  A Russian Imperial Stout just isn't the same in the Summer compared to the Winter months, even though it's December in Pennsylvania and it's still 60 degrees outside.  

Thank God!  Especially for those of you who use Facebook on a regular basis...don't forget this!

Double Entendre - Rocky 4 makes sense because of Drago above and this beer gets a Rocky 4 out of 5.  Rocky 5 sucked...