A Year of Craft Beer, Vol. 40, Victory Storm King

This beer is a Russian Imperial Stout hopped with American hops that work extremely well.

Don't look too hard at that glass as I am shirtless.

F@ck yeah!  I can reuse this bottle!

The beer pours thick and black at 60 degrees.  For the first half of the glass you can see light through it and then it's opaque and clear with a nice one finger head of tiny bubbles that fade to a Friar Tuck cap with really cool tiny archway lacing that only opens up after a long wait.  Really nice.

I get a sour malty espresso-like aroma that may be due to some of the grapefruit flavors involved in this brew.  A hint of yeast.

Taste is complex.  Lots of mingling with the roasted malts in there.  Grapefruit, yeast, strong strong hop character that I'm not too hip on but its still really good.  I suppose you need lots going on to cover up the fact that it's 10% Alc by Volume.  It's balanced enough to do that.  The hops start at the same time as the espresso and continues on well after the beer is finished.

Mouthfeel is pretty full, but not overly so.  The finish is super dry and makes me feel like I just ate a box of saltines without the salt.  Fairly heavy carbonation for what I would expect, but it works.

Victory gets a 9 out of 10 for this.  I have to stop drinking such good beers OR get better at judging, but this is quite an excellent stout.  I personally won't seek it out as the hop character is way too strong for me.  I would prefer English hops with this one.  Of course.  ha ha ha

Have a great night everyone!

-Wiss