KGB
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 10%
Presentation: 650 ml brown bottle
Brewery: Alley Kat Brewing Co.
Country: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
KANPAI! w/ Jeff Werstiuk
“We have ways of making you drink, comrade.” Or so states the label. No need to take it personally or show your papers comrade, you’ve been cleared to try this locally produced Russian Imperial Stout, several times over. In fact get ready for something special. This KGB has everything to do with the ABC.
Now in this case ABC stands for the Aurora Brewing Challenge, a homebrewing competition hosted by the Edmonton Homebrewers Guild since 1999, and the 2nd largest of its kind in the country. Plus ever since 2006 the Alley Kat Brewery has been brewing a beer chosen from the winner’s portfolio for mass consumption, along with the Sherbrooke Liquor Store jumping in to carry it in 2008 as an anniversary exclusive to the store, last year’s being the surprisingly successful Heatseeker coconut curry porter-surprising how tasty and how well it sold for such a unique beer style that is.
KGB is just as cryptic at first as the ABC, representing the old Edmonton-area powerhouse brewing team of Kevin Zaychuck, Glen Hannah, and overall winner of this year’s Aurora Brewing Challenge Bruce Sample, who chose this particular recipe and style from his personal brewing portfolio to represent himself and as a tribute to this classic homebrewing monopoly. I know you’re a swift crowd and have already put together the fact that KGB represents the first initial of the first names of these fine homebrewers.
This particular style came to prominence in the 1700’s thanks to Russia’s Czarina of the time, Catherine The Great, and her unquenchable taste for strong dark beer. What initially started as the commission of a British brewery soley for the Russian Imperial court became such a ragingly popular style that it was named after its initial customer. I’ll go into more depth on this history in a forthcoming column.
Whether you are familiar with this style or not we are talking about an intense dark 10% ale brewed with 6 different malts and 3 separate hops. In fact I was shocked and surprised to see such a hop bill for a stout, as it was enough to power your average hoppy India Pale Ale into a bitter pine sap and grapefruit rind orbit of bliss. However with such an intense density of malt it’s all that can be done to simply balance it all out to prevent an overload of sweetness and astringent grainy bitterness. The result is a magic show of sleight-of-hand, what you get also includes what you don’t see. Think of it as a stout and then some, and then some more.
Let this bottle warm up a good 10-20 minutes before cracking it open, trust me on this. There is so much malty goodness to be had and enjoyed that it’s worth the wait. While you’re doing this you can take the time to choose your favourite mug, the bigger the better. Of course a pint glass will also serve well as a trusty stand-by. When you pour it into your chosen glass be prepared to stare in the heart of darkness, true to form this stuff is opaque pitch black and impervious to light. At first the head will be a tall dense dark sandy mound that appears with the pour, slowly settling down to a tight creamy beige cap that will linger for almost the whole time it takes to empty the glass. A few lingering inhalations should deliver up some notes of a sweet mocha, light molasses, and dark roasted malt. The flavour continues along this motif with sweet treacle at first, dry dark roasted malt, even a bit of smoke and wood if your taste buds are in tune, with the roasted malt rounding it all up as well, although if you’re really good you may even pick out some spicy herbal notes from all the hops that were use. And even though it may look like thick gooey motor oil this KGB Stout has a much lighter mouthfeel than anticipated, mid ranged with low carbonation and a bit of stickiness that will coat the palate. A great local introduction to this style for people who have never ventured this far to the dark side before. It’s a limited edition, so enjoy it while it lasts!
Stouts tend to be great to pair with grilled red meat, and this Russian Imperial Stout is big and bold enough to match and harmonize with game fowl and animals too, so consider this the perfect bottle to bring along for dinner if your friend has a freezer full of deer or moose. Another classic pairing is with oysters, dressed up or in their own briny goodness. KGB will also be your best friend when it comes to dessert, paired with anything of a chocolate base, or gourmet and handmade chocolates and truffles. Fruit-based dessert can’t lose either, especially dark berries from cherries, strawberries to blackberries. Cheesecake anyone? Don’t forget that this big bottle, so grab a good comrade and feel free to share!
The next steps in the cooler:
In-Style:
Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout - Lost Coast
Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout
Lagunitas Imperial Stout
Peche Mortel - Dieu Du Ciel
Pike Entire-Wood Aged Stout
Brewdog Paradox
Other Stouts:
St-Amboise Oatmeal Stout
Bête Noire - Paddock Wood
Stir Stick Stout - Half Pints
Midnight Sun Espresso Stout - Yukon
Jamaica Stout
Pike Street XXXXX Stout
Rogue Shakespeare Stout
Spell-Binding Stout - Wychwood
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
Rogue Chocolate Stout
Lateral Steps:
Brooklyn Monster Ale
Mill St. Barleywine
Olde Deuteronomy - Alley Kat
Double Double - Paddock Wood
Old Crustacean - Rogue
Jewbelation 12 - He’Brew
Palo Santo Marron - Dogfish Head
For The Adventurous:
Humulus Ludicrous - Half Pints
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A. - He’Brew
Tree Hophead