Brewery: Thornbridge
Location: Buxton, England
Style: Imperial Russian Stout
ABV: 7.7%
Version: Bottled
Source: Courtesy of MyBreweryTap.com

I’ve learned a lot in the almost-two-years that I’ve been expanding my beer horizons and two of the most emphatically driven-home lessons have been:

1) Imperial Stout is my absolute favourite beer style.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good, hoppy IPA, I’m steadily growing partial to a range of interesting Belgian beers and I’ve even learned to appreciate a good Helles lager. But give me a choice of something to sip and savour and love, then I’ll pick a rich-nosed, full-bodied, black-as-the-inside-of-a-cat Imperial Stout any day of the week.

2) Thornbridge brew bloody good beer.

No, scratch that. Thornbridge brew bloody excellent beer. Every one of their brews that I’ve sampled to-date have genuinely impressed me.

So, combine 1) and 2) in the form of Thornbridge St Petersburg Imperial Russian Stout and it’s pretty much a no-brainer.

I’ve had Thornbridge St Petersburg before, on draught at the Marble Arch, and it was superb. And the bottled version – whilst not quite hitting the same dizzy heights – was still very good indeed. Big hits of chocolate and coffee accompanied by faint vanilla notes; a slight sweetness up-front, with a long, smooth, dry, roast-malty finish to follow. Lovely.

If I’m being perfectly honest I’ve had bottled Imperial Stouts that I’ve enjoyed more – Dark Star Imperial Stout and BrewDog Tokyo* spring to mind, as well as BrewDog Paradox – but it’s definitely up there with the likes of Acorn Gorlovka and Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout; one of those big, bold, flavourful beers that I’ll happily come back to time after time.

Another very big thank you to Richard at MyBreweryTap.com for adding this one to my recent order!