Ten FIDY - Oskar Blues Brewing Company

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rAvg: 4.37
pDev: 9.38%
Reviews: 1975
Hads: 2042

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Brewed by:
Oskar Blues Brewing Company

Style | ABV
Russian Imperial Stout | 10.50% ABV

Availability: Fall. can (1721), on-tap (147), bottle (87), growler (13), nitro-tap (5), cask (1), nitro-bottle (1).

Notes:
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Reviews

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Reviews by tectactoe:

tectactoe

Michigan

4.4/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

The pour is extremely viscous, thick, and blacker than a black hole. Let's put it this way - if your motor oil looks like this, then you should have changed your oil months ago. A creamy, tan-leather head caps the beer as it just sits, still and menacing. Swirling the snifter around allows the head to grow even more as the beer makes a slow and deep sloshing noise as it lapses over itself.

The nose is as powerful as the appearance; deeply roasted, almost burnt malts and grains; thick, bittersweet chocolate; creamy, dark fudge. Sweetness is heavily present from the malts, and some cocoa beans, burnt coffee/espresso, and slight char reside in the background. An ever-so-slight hop presence can be detected as well, even more so as the beer warms up; ashy, leafy, herbal. I like RIS's to have a deep, bitter offset, and if the nose is any indication - Ten FIDY will fulfill that desire.

Upon taking the first sip, I'm pretty blown away. The body hits my palate as creamy and chewy as they come. I feel like I should be cutting this beer into pieces with a knife, I can't tell if I'm drinking it or eating it. The intense roasted malts hit your tongue right away and come hand-in-hand with a gentle gradient that runs a slow course on your palate from a mellow sweetness to a sharp, yet delicate bitterness. The malts appear as a rich, dark chocolate, creamy, bitter espresso beans, and even a deep, dark fruit sweetness in the form of bruised figs and raisins.

Once the sweetness has taken its turn, the bitterness starts to make its crescendo on your palate - some more of that sharp fruitiness comes back in a subtle, yet effective way, along with a new set of flavors that start to take over. Ashy, leafy, and herbal hops, woodiness, slight nuttiness, and smokey, charred bitter hints sift through the static and leave a lasting impression long into the aftertaste. I haven't taken a sip in 5 minutes and I can still taste Ten FIDY. The 10.5% ABV is nothing to scoff at, and it provides a robust feel and a solidifying warmth all around. Carbonation is fairly low, but strong enough to bring out the best flavors - it works incredibly well, here.

Ten FIDY is simply outstanding. One of the first Russian Imperial Stouts that I truly fell in love with. It's quite a shame that I can't get this regularly in my region, or you can bet my fridge would be stocked with it all the time. If you're a fan of big-ass, robust RISs, do yourself a solid and seek this bad boy out - you won't be disappointed. Plus - it comes in a can. How fucking cool is that?

Serving type: can

10-31-2012 23:53:14 | More by tectactoe