Emelisse Imperial Russian Stout - Ardbeg Barrel Aged - Bierbrouwerij Grand-Café Emelisse

duluoz

California

4.29/5  rDev +36.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

On draft at Tørst.

The look and the mouthfeel are high quality -- smooth and lightly creamy, not watery at all. Not sure how much to credit the brewer and how much to credit Tørst's insane draft system there.

Smells like a malty, peaty heaven. Taste is slight roasty stout qualities which are then edged out by the heavy peat, a little smoke, and a touch of bandaid from the Ardbeg barrels.

Excellent beer. Crazy smooth for 11%. Seemed to nail what the brewer was aiming for. I'm guessing the low reviews are due to a big difference between draft and bottle, or else they're just not Ardbeg/Islay whisky fans.

Serving type: on-tap

04-04-2013 18:10:30 | More by duluoz

Jeffo

Netherlands

3.25/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Got this one at the liquor store down the road. Glad to see these guys in town now. Cheers!

From a bottle into a snifter
Best Before June 2015
Lot A
EBU: 75

APPEARANCE: Pours a thicker black and yields a delayed, cascading, small tan head. Head quickly fades to a faint wisp and a bubbly ring. Black body with no carbonation evident. A ring remains until the end with touches of lacing down the glass, but it does finish relatively flat looking.

SMELL: Lots of bold peat aromas. Some smoky aromas with dark chocolate in there as well. Peatty and earthy stuff.

TASTE: Peat flavors and some roasted and smoky malts up front, then some dark chocoalte and bitter coffee at the swallow. Bold finish with nice peat flavors that balance nicely with the roasted malt, bitter dark chocolate and coffee flavors. Some minor booze as well. More balanced than the nose had advertised.

PALATE: Very mild levels of carbonation. Almost flat. Syrupy and smooth going down, with a mouth-coating and oily finish. A touch too flat; needed some more carbonation here.

OVERALL: The look and feel didn't work out on this one, but the ideas are there. This is a solid effort that turned out tasty and aromatic, but the details were lots. I hope to see another batch of this come out in the future at some point.

Serving type: bottle

10-15-2012 19:36:43 | More by Jeffo

Morningstorm

Netherlands

1.98/5  rDev -36.9%
look: 1 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Bought a bottle for 5 euro's at slijterij Spraakwater in Breda. I'm digging the label, looks pretty good.

Appereance: Pours a pitch black liquid with no head or carbonation, kinda worrying.

S: Peaty, strong alcohol, reminds me of wood being treated with chemicals. I don't know if I should find this appealing or not.

T: Smoke and peat right upfront. A huge bourbon aftertaste, the alcohol taste is way too present in this beer.

M: Silky and smooth but quite heavy on the tongue, no carbonation at all.

O: Well, the barrel-aged IRS was a good idea but it's poorly executioned. It's almost like drinking a really light and cheap whiskey.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2012 19:37:11 | More by Morningstorm

beerenjoyer1

Illinois

4.48/5  rDev +42.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to De Bierkoning in Amsterdam for this beer.

A The beer pours dark and thick with no foam.

S A strong barrel smell with liquor notes with malts which is very nice.

T A big beer taste with a liquor flavor which is nice for a big russian imperial stout.

M A great mouthfeel of big flavor, thick and tasty.

O An awesome beet. I will be getting more of this brew. Nice job.

Serving type: bottle

09-14-2012 01:48:10 | More by beerenjoyer1

Brabander

Netherlands

2.08/5  rDev -33.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Wow! This is probably one of the worst beers i have ever tasted from Kees Bubberman!

A week ago the son of one of my cousins came to my place for a few beers and this was one of the bottles he brought with him.

When the bottle was opened there was a strange smell coming out of the bottle. Like Kees had laft some cleaning fluid in the bottle before filling it.

Because i think something was terribly wrong with this beer i will have to drink it again in the future to see if this was an incident or not.

Almost no head and no carbonation. Very dark fluid.

Serving type: bottle

07-13-2012 09:52:44 | More by Brabander

Absumaster

Netherlands

4.18/5  rDev +33.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Hardly any sound of carbonation when opening the bottle. Pouring the bottle in the glass shows no head at all. It pours a pitch black beer.

Smell is very peaty, with notes of earth and iodine. This smell is so overpowering, I can't pick up anything else from the smell.

Taste is strong whisky-like. The peaty flavors are very bold and very present. Again the iodine taste is very present and even has a minerallic taste. The roasted flavors usually present in an RIS are low, the beer doesn't appear to be very roasted at all. The mouthfeel of the beer is sticky on the lips. Bitterness seems low, but somewhere halfway down the glass the beer presents a roasty and hoppy bitterness. I am amazed on how much taste is achieved from the barrel. Too bad for the low/no carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

07-06-2012 20:56:56 | More by Absumaster

ZorPrime

Quebec (Canada)

1.2/5  rDev -61.8%
look: 3 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 2 | overall: 1

Black color beer. Very dark. No head. Quite ordinary look IMO. The aroma is pretty intense and it isn't very good. I don't like it. Again in the mouth, it's quite intense and not good. High alcohol presence... It's burning my throat. Drain pour... Sorry too extreme for me I guess or a bad beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-27-2012 11:00:45 | More by ZorPrime

StJamesGate

New York

2.55/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Lots of fluffy cocoa head over black body. Straight methylate nose, like being back in the nurses' office in primary school.
Tobacco and ash kill all the stout flavors leaving a bit of soil and scat.
Ash and bandaid finish. Medium to full, smooth, a bit of chew.

Peat bomb! Like drinking a cigar. I don't know if it's what it should be, but it's undrinkable.

Serving type: bottle

06-19-2012 15:09:52 | More by StJamesGate

DARIVA

Netherlands

4.33/5  rDev +37.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

A: Very dark beer that has the appearance of non-carbonated cola, there is therefore no head on.

S: Ardberg, salty and smoky.

T: Ardberg, salty and smoky. Also biter light and slightly sweet.

M: Nice bitter aftertaste, little tingling and even slightly syrupy.

O: His appearance, press the score but this is really a class beer. A Arberg whiskey lovers will appreciate this well, I myself am a whiskey lover and Ardberg whiskey is for me over the top, but in this context great, it tastes more ...

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2012 20:12:42 | More by DARIVA