Courage Imperial Russian Stout, 10.0% ABV
Unbelievably, I found the bottle of this stuff on the bargain shelf of Red, Wine and Brew. I’m not normally into Imperial Stouts. Most of them are ridiculously overdone and overpowering, trying to hide it’s double-digit ABV behind more hops than a double IPA. Still, I took a chance. Maybe because it was made by some brewery named “Courage” and I felt a cornerstone of my personal Awesome Brew explorations was courage.
I was extremely and pleasantly surprised. Courage Imperial Russian Stout has got to be the best Imperial Stout I’ve ever had! It was not overpowering in the slightest, in-fact it was pretty mild. Not in a milk-stout-mild kind of way, but mild enough you could drink it at your own pace rather than sip through it fighting off the punishment it was inflicting on your mouth. It has a smooth, chocolaty taste, with a hint of fruit like cherries. It was almost silky to drink, like most good stouts and the carbonation was solid even though it wasn’t a nitro. After a little research, this is a re-vitalization by Charles Wells brewery of a recipe, that apparently Catherine the Great enjoyed very much. Who’s to argue with a woman like Catherine the Great, especially if she was a beer drinker? Serve cold with a dinner of Beef Stroganoff and a copy of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
