It is a dreary, rainy, chilly, mid March day outside and after a hard day of working at the cubicle farm you need a good beer. For me, the perfect beer for this scenario is a nice, dark stout with lots of character; it just seems to fit the environment. The one that I reached for today is Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout from North Coast Brewing Company out of California.

This beer pours like a fine motor oil and is 10 times as dark as one. To say this is a dark beer is an understatement. I think the only thing darker is a black hole. The head is a dark woody brown and it lingers nicely on the glass as the beer is consumed. The smell is of dark roasted malts with hints of chocolate and alcohol.

If you don’t like big flavors you should back away slowly from this beer. It has a great flavor and it punches you right in the gut…in a good way. The taste of this beer will stick with you long after the last sip, continually reminding you of what you drank. The flavor consists hugely of roasted malts, chocolate, some coffee, oh – and roasted malt. There is also an alcohol element. It is bordering on being burnt it’s so roasted, but it doesn’t cross the line.

For what it is, and the amount of flavor it packs, Old Rasputin is incredibly easy to drink. It is not a beer that you will have five of in a night, but it is a beer that you can easily kick back and relax with after work. Old Rasputin is continually at near the top of my best beer list.

Overall: 9.5/10