Russian Stout 2 Tasting

My second Russian Stout is now 11 months old, and this time around it was done with the benefit of a kegging system with which to dial in the right volume of carbonation. However, since I would prefer not to have a keg of 10% beer in my 2-tap kegorator, I have bottled this beer using my new toy, a Last Straw counter-pressure filler.

Appearance: Deep black and opaque. Dark tan head which dissipates a little too quickly but leaves decent lacing.

Aroma: Malty sweet, roasted malts, moderate dried fruit like raisins or plum. Earthy and woody. Whiskey aroma, if any, is quite light. Hope aroma is low to none. I was hoping for more of dry-fruit notes from the WLP007. Aroma improves as it warms.

Taste: Like the aroma. Fairly sweet but not cloying. Roasty quality and sweetness well balanced, so that it's not acrid or over-roasted. Boozy and warming but alcohol is pretty smooth. Hop bitterness mixes well with the other flavors. Hints of wood blend well with other flavors. Maybe some dry tannic quality in the aftertaste. Complex and difficult to describe.

Mouthfeel: Thick and viscous but not as syrupy as Port wine. Carbonation is low to moderate.

Overall: An intense and complex sipping beer. Very pleasant as a winter warmer. No flaws or off-flavors as far as I can really tell. In my view this iteration is smoother than my previous one, as this beer is better balanced between the sweetness and roasty/acrid flavors. The whiskey / oak combo is very subtle and might not be detectable except if the drinker knows that whiskey / wood was added, which is not surprising given the intensity of the underlying beer style and the melding of the flavors.