Sprecher Brewing Company - Glendale, Wisconsin
Publisher's Note: Our second Guest-Review comes from Jason Johnson from the awesome Barleypopmaker's Beer Blog. Here, Jason gives
us his impression of one of the favorite beers here at the MidwestMicroBrews offices: Sprecher Brewing's Russian Imperial Stout.
MidwestMicroBrews occasionally offers our opinion of beers from Midwest brewers. These reviews are meant to be informational and are
for adults who enjoy craft beer in moderation.
Seeking help for alcoholism is one thing that responsible and moderate beer drinkers thankfully never would have to do.
-Michael Bergman
Russian Imperial Stout
Thanks to MidwestMicroBrews for allowing me be a guest on their site. In my blog, I generally score beers as we do in homebrew
competitions using the BJCP scoresheet and the 50 point system, that is what the point value at the end of each segment represents.
Today I will be reviewing Sprecher Russian Imperial Stout. Sprecher is located in Glendale Wisconsin, just south of Milwaukee. From the
name, it is obvious this is going to be a Russian Imperial Stout. In general, according to the BJCP guidelines we can expect the beer to be
“An intensely flavored, big, dark ale. Roasty, fruity, and bittersweet, with a noticeable alcohol presence. Dark fruit flavors meld with
roasty, burnt, or almost tar-like sensations. Like a black barleywine with every dimension of flavor coming into play.” So with that, let’s
take a look at Sprecher’s version of this beer. Be aware that this beer also comes in a bourbon barrel aged version, this is not the barrel
aged Imperial Stout.
The aroma is quite rich and complex. What hits me first is the aroma of prunes and alcohol. Digging a bit deeper you get some rich toasted
caramel and dark chocolate. Some coffee notes linger around in there as well, but are not as pronounced as chocolate. There is also a sweet
character to the aroma of the beer, which lends to some impression of black licorice. As the beer warms the aromas smooth out and blend a
bit as well . You can detect some hops in here as well, although they don’t take the center stage, this seems to be moderately hopped given
the slew of other aromas in there. (9 points)
The appearance is black as midnight and pours a thick dark tan head. The head lasts for quite a while, but not as long as one expects in
other forms of stout. It was a very nice head while it lasted, but the high alcohol can lead to lower retention time, which is OK for this
style. Even held up to the light this beer is opaque, but I see some muddy dark brown highlights around the edges. (3 points)
The flavor of the beer is quite nice, but not spectacular. I was expecting a bit more diversity in the flavor given the aroma. Very dark
chocolate dominates the flavor, with some background notes of sweet caramel. There is mild booze soaked raisin flavors, and a lot more
alcohol comes through when you breath out. The strength of this beer is quite evident. You do not get much flavor from the hops, but the
bitterness is well balanced for this style in my opinion. That licorice flavor comes through in the finish. In the end though, the beer does
finish quite clean and does not leave a long lasting cloying roasty flavor that some bigger stouts can leave. That does make this beer fairly
easy drinking given the ABV. (15 Points)
The mouthfeel is full and quite chewy. I knew before I even took the first swallow, the beer even poured thick. There is some astringency
derived from roasted grain, but is far from hash so is acceptable. (5 points)
Overall, I think this is a very nice representation of the Russian Imperial Stout. What I like was the complexity and richness in the aroma.
Off the pour this beer screamed at you that it was going to be huge, and it delivered. My only gripe is that the complexity in the aroma
seemed to be a bit less in the flavor. However, it still ended up being a very tasty Imperial Stout. The alcohol, although evidently high,
was not hot at all and contributed nicely to the overall experience. (7 points)
At the end of every review I also assign it a score that many can relate to, which is the old A, B, C, D, and F scores. In the end, I scored this
beer a 39. Which is a very respectable score and would translate to a solid B+ in my eyes. Generally, I give any beer that is 40-50 points
an A, 30-39 points a B, 20-29 a C, and 10-19 a D, and anything undrinkable an F. However, the conversion from number score to letter
grade is not set in stone for me. I do take liberties if I feel a beer maybe was not to style so I scored it low, but it was simply so delicious (or
the other way around) that I may be a bit more lenient on the letter grade.
About the author: I am Jason Johnson and I write for my blog Barleypopmaker’s Beer Blog. I currently live in Manitowoc, Wisconsin and beer
is my passion. I love drinking beer, evaluating beer, talking beer, and brewing beer (not always in that order).The main purpose of my blog is to
review beers in the BJCP style against the guidelines. I also do quite a bit on homebrewing as well as other aspects of beer culture I may feel
like writing about. I hold a certified rank with the BJCP and have been homebrewing for a little over 7 years.
~I know you drank the beer, but did you experience it?
Publisher's Note: Our second Guest-Review comes from Jason Johnson from the awesome Barleypopmaker's Beer Blog. Here, Jason gives
us his impression of one of the favorite beers here at the MidwestMicroBrews offices: Sprecher Brewing's Russian Imperial Stout.
MidwestMicroBrews occasionally offers our opinion of beers from Midwest brewers. These reviews are meant to be informational and are
for adults who enjoy craft beer in moderation.
Seeking help for alcoholism is one thing that responsible and moderate beer drinkers thankfully never would have to do.
-Michael Bergman
Russian Imperial Stout
Thanks to MidwestMicroBrews for allowing me be a guest on their site. In my blog, I generally score beers as we do in homebrew
competitions using the BJCP scoresheet and the 50 point system, that is what the point value at the end of each segment represents.
Today I will be reviewing Sprecher Russian Imperial Stout. Sprecher is located in Glendale Wisconsin, just south of Milwaukee. From the
name, it is obvious this is going to be a Russian Imperial Stout. In general, according to the BJCP guidelines we can expect the beer to be
“An intensely flavored, big, dark ale. Roasty, fruity, and bittersweet, with a noticeable alcohol presence. Dark fruit flavors meld with
roasty, burnt, or almost tar-like sensations. Like a black barleywine with every dimension of flavor coming into play.” So with that, let’s
take a look at Sprecher’s version of this beer. Be aware that this beer also comes in a bourbon barrel aged version, this is not the barrel
aged Imperial Stout.
The aroma is quite rich and complex. What hits me first is the aroma of prunes and alcohol. Digging a bit deeper you get some rich toasted
caramel and dark chocolate. Some coffee notes linger around in there as well, but are not as pronounced as chocolate. There is also a sweet
character to the aroma of the beer, which lends to some impression of black licorice. As the beer warms the aromas smooth out and blend a
bit as well . You can detect some hops in here as well, although they don’t take the center stage, this seems to be moderately hopped given
the slew of other aromas in there. (9 points)
The appearance is black as midnight and pours a thick dark tan head. The head lasts for quite a while, but not as long as one expects in
other forms of stout. It was a very nice head while it lasted, but the high alcohol can lead to lower retention time, which is OK for this
style. Even held up to the light this beer is opaque, but I see some muddy dark brown highlights around the edges. (3 points)
The flavor of the beer is quite nice, but not spectacular. I was expecting a bit more diversity in the flavor given the aroma. Very dark
chocolate dominates the flavor, with some background notes of sweet caramel. There is mild booze soaked raisin flavors, and a lot more
alcohol comes through when you breath out. The strength of this beer is quite evident. You do not get much flavor from the hops, but the
bitterness is well balanced for this style in my opinion. That licorice flavor comes through in the finish. In the end though, the beer does
finish quite clean and does not leave a long lasting cloying roasty flavor that some bigger stouts can leave. That does make this beer fairly
easy drinking given the ABV. (15 Points)
The mouthfeel is full and quite chewy. I knew before I even took the first swallow, the beer even poured thick. There is some astringency
derived from roasted grain, but is far from hash so is acceptable. (5 points)
Overall, I think this is a very nice representation of the Russian Imperial Stout. What I like was the complexity and richness in the aroma.
Off the pour this beer screamed at you that it was going to be huge, and it delivered. My only gripe is that the complexity in the aroma
seemed to be a bit less in the flavor. However, it still ended up being a very tasty Imperial Stout. The alcohol, although evidently high,
was not hot at all and contributed nicely to the overall experience. (7 points)
At the end of every review I also assign it a score that many can relate to, which is the old A, B, C, D, and F scores. In the end, I scored this
beer a 39. Which is a very respectable score and would translate to a solid B+ in my eyes. Generally, I give any beer that is 40-50 points
an A, 30-39 points a B, 20-29 a C, and 10-19 a D, and anything undrinkable an F. However, the conversion from number score to letter
grade is not set in stone for me. I do take liberties if I feel a beer maybe was not to style so I scored it low, but it was simply so delicious (or
the other way around) that I may be a bit more lenient on the letter grade.
About the author: I am Jason Johnson and I write for my blog Barleypopmaker’s Beer Blog. I currently live in Manitowoc, Wisconsin and beer
is my passion. I love drinking beer, evaluating beer, talking beer, and brewing beer (not always in that order).The main purpose of my blog is to
review beers in the BJCP style against the guidelines. I also do quite a bit on homebrewing as well as other aspects of beer culture I may feel
like writing about. I hold a certified rank with the BJCP and have been homebrewing for a little over 7 years.
~I know you drank the beer, but did you experience it?
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MidwestMicroBrews -- contact@midwestmicrobrews.com |
Sprecher's Notes Imperial Stout Facts Alcohol by Volume: 8.5% Degrees Plato (Initial Gravity): 20P Weeks Aged: 12 Bitterness Units: 32 IBU Year First Brewed: 1994 Serving Temperature: 55° Malts: 2-Row Pale, Caramel, Carapils, Chocolate, Munich, Roasted Hops: Cascade, Chinook, Mt. Hood, Tettnanger Sizes: 1/4 and 1/2 Barrels, 16oz Bottles Once brewed in Britain for the Russian Czars, this tremendously rich and thick ale uses a profusion of burnt and caramel malts. A massive mouthful of dark roasted malt and coffee flavors finishes with hints of chocolate, caramel & licorice. Randy's Notes: “We just raised the abv up 1.0% to meet int'l standards for contests. I had a very old 22oz. bottle at a friends last fall. He was moving and found this bottle in the fridge. It was unpasteurized and just delicious chocolate and stout flavors. It was 7years old. Just shows that cold (under 40deg F.), no light and still can allow rich products to age gracefully.” |
| MidwestMicroBrews' Midwest Beer Reviews! |
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