Last September, a good friend shared a bottle of Hunahpuh's with most of the bloggers here. We were all blown away by that amazing stout and ever since then, I have been very interested to try the base stout that Cigar City Brewing uses to create their Mayan inspired Hunahpuh's. Recently, the same friend was kind enough to share this foundation:
Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout by Cigar City Brewing
Style / abv: Russian Imperial Stout / 11.5%
Source / Temp: bottle / ?
Glass: Large Wine Glass
Appearance: Completely black ale with a thick mocha brown head.
Aroma: The aroma is both appealing and unusual. I smell cocoa powder, molasses, soy sauce, and I detect just a hint of alcohol.
Taste: I taste creamy molasses, dark cocoa powder, and a medium roasty finish. This is a very sweet brew, but the roasted malt finish balances the taste nicely.
Drinkability: Despite Zhukov's being an extremely thick brew with only medium carbonation, I find it to be surprisingly drinkable. Not drinkable like a glass of pilsner after mowing the yard in the hot summer sun, but rather drinkable like a cup of hot chocolate that you just can't put down on a cold winter's day.
Notes:
As Zhukov's warms, I notice more roastiness in the finish to the point that it actually tastes a bit smokey.
Some aspects of this beer feel like they contradict one another: good and strange aroma, sweet and roasty taste, thick and drinkable body, highly alcoholic with almost no evidence in the taste or aroma. Yet somehow they all work together for an extremely enjoyable beer and one that I will seek out again.
I give Marshal Zhukov's 9 out of 10.
Eis Igian,
Randall
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