Brewery: Poppels Bryggeri
Country: Sweden
Size: 33cl
ABV: 9.5%
Price: 35kr
Systembolaget: 30285
So, I knew that after the Brygghuset Pride beer and the six coloured beers, I knew I would have one slot left in the tasting for the final beer. As there were quite a number of fruit based beers in this tasting, I thought I would go for something completely different. I love stout and it is definitely one of my favourite genres of beer. Poppels have a reputation for putting out solid, well made beers and so I decided to go for their Russian Imperial stout to finish the night with.
As you might expect with a stout, this was deep, dark brown in colour with a toffee hued head that faded rather rapidly. The beer was clearly thick in body and coated the glass well when swirled. The fragrance was a blend of all the classics associated with this style, with sweet licorice, milk chocolate and sweet coffee beans all noticed. Upon tasting, the first thing that was noted was the high level of carbonation. I have to say that I really dislike lots of bubble in imperial stouts, so straight away this put me on edge. After getting past the fizz though, the taste was reminiscent of a creamy espresso transitioning into a raw coffee and cocoa bean bitterness at the end. The alcohol was hidden well, and it felt like they had really spent time getting a nice balance of the dark malts in there to not be too overpowering.
I thought this beer was really nice but with one major fault. I just don’t like the mouthfeel of imperial stouts when they are just packed full of carbonation. It’s almost like they explode in the mouth and remove some of the thick cream body sensation. This was a great stout, but maybe it just needs to have a bit of life taken out of it before I can really enjoy it fully.