“Russian Imperial Stouts are known to be the strongest of all stouts. Originally brewed in London in the late 18th century for export to Russia, they were a favourite of Catherine the Great, the Russian empress at the time. Entirety is big, bold and intense, with rich roast and chocolate flavours. We used an extended five hour boil to give it a very full bodied mouthfeel.”

Glassware: Snifter.

Appearance: Dense black with a thumb of dark tan foam resting on top. The head falls away and settles at the rim but it still manages a cascading lace down the walls of the glass.

Aroma: Interesting. Super rich and hedonistic. Tonnes of charred malt and heavy roasted characters, leather, molasses, sweet espresso, licorice, ash and yet it’s nicely offset by a smooth velvety quality we can best describe as musk. Kind of a fruity dark chocolate develops as it settles in. At first we were a bit unsure but it has all come together nicely.

Flavour: Holy moly this is delicious. It’s literally one step away from being edible. Insanely deep and complex but astonishingly smooth notes of chocolate, espresso, ash, charred malts and licorice are brought to us with a notable warmth from the booze. As it progresses it gets a tad sharper, much more roasty and burnt as it slowly shifts into a heavily charred finish with plenty of dark chocolate and espresso on the rear.

Mouthfeel: Beer soup. Incredibly dense and velvety, full bodied and finely carbonated. The 11% ABV has no qualms revealing itself either.

Overall: These guys have proven themselves to be the real deal. We’re about 6 or 7 in now and we don’t think we’ve had one sub par beer from them. They’re on point every time. Kudos, Slow Lane…onwards and upwards!