Tallgrass Area 51 Russian Imperial Stout

Note to all: after writing the notes below, I found something fitting it's exact descriptions on Untappd going by the name given above. So that's what I'll call it, I guess. Here, come, the notes....


Tallgrass Russian Imperial Stout (sample can)

Hear, hear for friends in beer! If you read my report back in June about my visit to 11 of Minneapolis' breweries by bike in the course of a day, you may recall that I met Tallgrass rep Tim Olson on one of those stops. He was with another Tallgrass salesman, and talked up this new beer that I am about to try. I was not at the time a beer buyer, like I was at the Blue Nile, and even if I were doing such at the job I then held (I'm almost letting the cat out of the bag…just as well), I wouldn't have been buying any kegs or cans from Kansas.

And, yet…one day, I went to work at Northbound and there in the cooler was this can, labeled for me. Thanks, Tim! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it! I hope that someday soon I will return to the business of giving you some business. Someday, soon…

Let's drink it, already…

On the makeshift label it reads: "Tallgrass Big RICC"…no clue what that means. Russian Imperial Chocolate Coffee? 10.5% ABV. 60 IBU.

Solid blackness, with a slim, soon-gone dark brown head.

Aroma: deep, rich and chocolatey. Dense as fudge. Espresso notes right behind. Vast in flavor and expression.

Taste: bittersweet notes hit first, the coffee next, and then the cocoa. Full-bodied, starting fierce and cooling down. Big and bountiful, not thick and sludgy as some. Just a little bit hot and spicy, flavors of dark rum and molasses coming through.
I like this. It hits the spot.