Day 219, August 7 / Stone Imperial Russian Stout

Day 219, August 7, 2011

Stone Imperial Russian Stout

Stone Brewing Company / Escondido, CA

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Russian on the river.  Or lake.

When I was a kid in Liverpool, NY, my dad had a 19 foot, wooden Penn Yan inboard/outboard runabout (boat) that we used to take out on the rivers and lakes of central New York.  Down the Seneca River, through the locks on the Erie Canal, and sometimes we'd end up at Cross Lake for a day of sunning, swimming and water skiing.  Cross Lake is...  When I got older, I could take the boat out by myself, with my friends, including my friend Jeff, who I was staying with last weekend.

Now, 30 years later, my friend Jeff and his wife Cindy own a cabin on Cross Lake, with a dock and a boat (along with 2 of Cindy's brothers and their families).  My daughter Katie and I spent Sunday afternoon up there with Jeff and Cindy and their 2 daughters, Elizabeth and Chelsea, boating, sunning, swimming and tubing.  There was also a speedboat race going on that day, starting at the marina just down from their cabin.  On the other side of the lake, there's a rusted out old tugboat on the shore, nicknamed The African Queen.  The water's very shallow here, and several boats of all shapes and sizes dropped anchor here - the boaters hung out, socialized, walked the beach.  It was truly the Redneck Yacht Club.

And of course, we brought a cooler of beers.  Surprisingly, Jeff had a limited selection of beers left in the fridge - Harpoon IPA, Bud Light and 2 bomber bottles of Stone Russian Imperial Stout.   I've already blogged both Harpoon IPA and Bud Light, so I reluctantly asked him to bring along a bottle of the stout.

As you know, Stouts are really not my thing, so Imperial Stouts really aren't my thing.  This is a very thick, very dark beer, strong tastes

As you know, Stouts are really not my thing, so Imperial Stouts really aren't my thing.  This is a huge beer - very thick, very dark beer, strong tastes of coffee and alcohol.  So since I didn’t really like it, I will give it a passable grade, BUT I encourage those of who have had this beer to offer your opinion in the comments section.