Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Wellington Brewery - Russian Imperial Stout


This beer takes me back several years. 


It was before I really got in to craft beers. I found it at the LCBO (or was it the Beer Store?) as a 6 pack of bottles. As a budget conscious student looking to get drunk I thought to myself, a 6 pack at 8% abv that costs roughly the same amount as a 6 pack at 5% abv is a huge deal. I figured as long as it didn’t taste horrible, it was a good deal. 
That afternoon I was enjoying Wellington’s RIS while watching a demolition derby up in Hanover over on a cool autumn day. The beer kept me warm and tasted great.

The beer pours a deep black coffee colour and the head’s colour has a brown tint to it. The carbonation is pretty low. There’s lots of roastiness and coffee to the beer but its sweeter than I remember - it’s not quite as sweet as a milk stout but it’s getting there. It also has a bit of a maple flavour. The increased alcohol content isn’t present in the flavour making it very drinkable - and also dangerous.

Sadly, this Russian Imperial Stout is no longer available in a 6 pack of bottles. You can’t even find it in tall boys at the LCBO. If you want to find this beer these days you have to make the trek to Wellington Brewery and pick some up from their retail store, or find it as a feature tap at a beer pub.

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