Spetsnaz - The Grumpy Troll Restaurant and Brewery

TheSSG

Illinois

3.93/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Pours a HUGE, dense, tan head. Roasted coffee in the nose, even the acidity is there; grassy hops behind it all. Black. Starts with a deep, roasted coffee, then moves into the flavor of coffee beans crushed by your teeth; rich, dry, and a bit earthy. There is a build of the hop bitterness (which is floral), which mostly just makes it taste acidic like coffee. The finish is just coffee and roasted malt.

There's hop bombs, and this is a roast bomb. I've never had anything this roasted outside of espresso. A bit light in mouthfeel.
Just great.

Serving type: bottle

12-25-2012 00:33:44 | More by TheSSG

kawilliams81

Illinois

3.18/5  rDev -20.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Reviewed from notes from stout tasting.

A- thin black, light tan head with large bubbles.

S- sweet dark malts, slight almost mint aroma

T- nearly same as smell. Still has something I can't pick out, mint?

M- medium to thin.

O- ok. Hard to rate after black ops and abyss!

Serving type: bottle

12-24-2011 04:47:35 | More by kawilliams81

Duff27

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A- pours a thin light mocha head that dissapates quickly. Black/dark brown beer. Above average lacing.

S- a real faint sweetness, lactose sugar? Lovin the aroma.

T- touch of roastiness. slight sweetness on the tailend.

M- medium mouthfeel although it is creamy. Low carbonation.

D/O- Overal an above average milk stout. Recommended for fans of the style.

Serving type: bottle

12-18-2011 02:19:26 | More by Duff27

znichols

Wisconsin

3.33/5  rDev -16.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A- lucid dark with a creme colored one inch head. A touch of lacing that hangs to the side of the glass for a short period of time. Looks a little watery for a stout.

S-smells like light roasted coffee with a dollop of milk and some sugar. But really, there's a touch of coffee bean and bakers chocolate in the smell with some herbalness too. Very nice aroma.

T-light roast right away. Almost an oatmeal flavor in the middle and a sweet finish kind of like a hersheys bar. Aftertaste is a little hoppy, actually. Pretty nice flavor.

M- somewhat thin for my taste. A touch overcarbonated for a deep flavored stout. More like a porter, but still not aweful.

O- I enjoyed this beer and might have it again if I want roasty flavor that's not too heavy. There's much better stouts out there but this sweet coffee tasting ale ain't bad.

Serving type: on-tap

09-18-2011 23:13:29 | More by znichols

uwmgdman

Wisconsin

4.08/5  rDev +2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

This stout is jet black with a nice sticky tan head. The aroma is moderate-high roasted malt, a bit of coffee. The flavor is an intense burst of roasted malt, coffee, yet the sweetness of the beer provides nice balance the bitter roasted malts. The body is full and creamy feeling, with medium-low carbonation, very nice. Overall a well made stout, with good flavor with great mouthfeel, I could have a couple of these, recommend.

Serving type: on-tap

07-09-2011 19:12:55 | More by uwmgdman

SykDoc

Wisconsin

4.2/5  rDev +5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a bomber into a snifter. It pours a deep brown and appears black and opaque. A 1 inch mocha colored head forms and slowly reduces leaving a large full coverage lacing.

The aroma is great with the primary component being a dark chocolate sweetness. Some roasted coffee components also. Not the sweet/milky I was expecting, but very good.

The taste comes through on the milky lactose components, which are nicely blended with a dark chocolate and coffee bitterness, which combines with a bit of hops. An interesting bakers chocolate component a couple of minutes later is present.

The mouthfeel had a frothy carbonation feel to it. It is creamy with a medium/full body. Well balanced and leaving a nice dryness at the end.

Overall, this is an easy to drink and solid beer. Everything about it is good and the ABV is not real prominent. I could definitely enjoy this one again.

Serving type: bottle

02-01-2010 01:42:05 | More by SykDoc

DeeMented

Wisconsin

4.22/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Served on tap at the Grumpy Troll brewpub.

The beer arrived in a pint glass. It appeared dark and opaque black, with a thick, tan head. Lots of lacing on this one.

The smell was very toasty; roasted malts and bit of chocolate. Slightly sweet, slightly earthy, there was also a hint of coffee as it warmed. Very nice aroma.

The mouthfeel was smooth, if slightly on the thick side. Good carbonation that really opened things up.

The taste wasn't overly sweet, but leaned toward bitter chocolate with a mild hops bitterness and a coffee finish. The toasted effect lingered long after the hops faded. It tasted like a big beer, but the alcohol content made this a very sessionable brew.

Overall, a very impressive stout that rates right up there with the big boys on the "Best of BA" list.

Serving type: on-tap

11-03-2009 02:53:49 | More by DeeMented

emerge077

Illinois

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

Grabbed this at the brewpub yesterday, guess it's not currently distributed to stores.

Pours black in the glass, the beer had a woody mahogany tinge when it caught the light. There was a generous amount of foam that rose evenly, leaving creamy textured lace in it's wake. An attractive crescent ring is left after awhile. Slightly sweet and mellow coffee aroma. Soft mellow feel, earthy roast aftertaste and bakers chocolate bitterness. Pleasantly mellow chocolate flavors are what dominates to me. As it warms it feels slightly fuller with medium to low carbonation. A surprisingly good stout that I would definitely buy again if it had distribution to the Madison area.

Serving type: bottle

07-28-2009 23:45:23 | More by emerge077

yesyouam

New York

4.7/5  rDev +17.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

My brother picked up a bomber of this in Wisconsin and left it in my fridge. Grumpy Troll Spetsnaz is a brownish black beer with a thin film of a coffee colored head that has some pretty nice lacing. It has a nutty and roasty aroma that's a touch sweet and quite pleasing. It's pretty full bodied and very smooth. The finish is very dry. It has a mellow roasted flavor. It's well balanced and very flavorful. Coffee seems to be the strongest note here. The bitterness is light and grassy. It starts dry, but there is a bit of sweetness at the finish. This is excellent.

Serving type: bottle

07-15-2009 02:52:23 | More by yesyouam

Tone

Missouri

3.98/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a dark black color with only the faintest dark brown along the bottom of the glass. One inch head of a tan color. Good retention and decent lacing. Smells of roasted malt, sweet malt, slight hops, and maybe some nut aroma as well. Fits the style of a Milk / Sweet Stout. Mouth feel is smooth and slightly thick with a strong bitterness and slight tartness as well. There is also a higher than average carbonation level. Tastes of roasted malt, alcohol, sweet malt, hints of coffee, with some hops in the background. Overall, a great blend, the alcohol is present but not overpowering. This was amazing on tap and pretty damn good in bottle after a harsh road trip back to Missouri through some blistering heat and erratic air-conditioning.

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2009 03:37:16 | More by Tone

hopdog

Pennsylvania

4.33/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap at the Grumpy Troll Brew Pub. I had this one side x side with the BA version.

Poured a dark black color with an averaged sized tan head. Aromas of roast, chocolate, and lighter coffee. Tastes of roast, chocolate, caramel, and coffee. Lacing left on the glass.

Notes from 7/21/08

Serving type: on-tap

11-12-2008 20:08:33 | More by hopdog

Atron67

Wisconsin

4.33/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Got a 2 L growler a week ago on a visit down there, decided to open this up for some afternoon drinking. It was 10.50 for the growler fill. 9 for a normal but 2 l growlers get an extra 1.50 charge for some reason. I loved the brandy aged spetznaz so im expecting good things

Review 300!

A- Poured a creamy silky looking black with a big brown head on top that stuck to the glass pretty well and the head slowly fell over maybe 5 minutes

S- lots of roasted character and chocolate. pretty strong coffee notes as well. its an all around great smelling stout

T- big dark character, smooth roasted characters, very dominant throughout. a bitter chocolate rises up with the roasted character flavor but fades out while the roasted character stays on top. then there is a decent hop bitterness that comes in at the end which gives it a nice roasted bitter finish. the roasted character even manages to linger around after the fact.

M- pretty full body, however not as creamy as the BA version, but no surprize

D- glad i got the 2 L's hehe, its gonna be a sweet afternoon

Serving type: growler

05-17-2008 19:30:24 | More by Atron67

BeerBelcher

Ohio

4.22/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

In short, I thought this beer was awesome. This beer had a touch of sweetness, and a ton of dry roastiness that was clean, dry, and offered plenty of the "burned pizza crust" character I crave.

The beer appeared opaque and thick, with a medium amount of head. Aroma was a bit chocolatey, and offered a ton of dry roastiness. Flavor and mouthfeel was terrific, and as I've described above.

I thought this beer alone was worth the trip to Mount Horeb.

I had this on draft at the brewpub.

Serving type: on-tap

09-16-2007 16:20:36 | More by BeerBelcher

DaPeculierDane

Wisconsin

4/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Cool name, I guess in Russian it would be Войска специального назначения – спецназ or Special Forces RIS, as it is named after the Russian Special Forces.

Great Label: CCCP over a hammer and sickle with Spetsnaz below.

At the brew pub this was listed as a RIS but the website lists it as a sweet stout. After contemplating the pint I drank a few nights ago, I would have to agree with the website. This didn’t seem big enough to qualify as an RIS, not quite anyways, especially at 6% ABV.

Appearance: Big brown froth over an ominous black, almost completely opaque body.

Aroma: Very fragrant with loads of sweet milk chocolate in the nose and plenty of roasted coffee and grains to boot. Sweet but balanced aroma with a noticeable amount of hops.

Taste: First and foremost this beer is rich with milk chocolate. The flavors are large and delicious but the sweetness is nicely balanced by a deep roasted oats character and coffee bitterness. The finish has a hop dryness but isn’t really bitter.

Mouthfeel: Creamy and smooth with a sweet front and balanced finish.

Drinkability: Quite good.

Update, 05-21-07: This beer is now listed as an export stout by the Troll.

Serving type: on-tap

04-02-2007 19:42:51 | More by DaPeculierDane