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Many beer drinkers consider Imperial Stout to be a young beer style that emerged as part of the craft beer movement over the last 25 years. This is mainly because countless craft brewers have an imperial stout in their range and the English beer style has previously received little attention.
Contrary to this popular misconception, Imperial Stout has existed for several centuries. The strong beer style can be traced back to the porter of the 18th century. The traditional Porter beer style is brewed with top fermentation and contains a lot of malt, which is not only responsible for the wonderful dark color, but also for the fine roasted malt character. The porter was developed to get the English dock workers through the cold and often wet British winter and to provide them with the necessary substance for the hard, physical work. Thanks to its higher alcohol content, porter warms body and soul and puts you in a good mood even in constant rain and darkness. The gentle taste ensures that the beer flows down your throat in a smooth and tasty way. A porter becomes a stout when unmalted grain is used instead of malted grain. A type of grain often used for stout is oats: when ground and brewed, it provides a fine taste and an incomparably velvety, creamy mouthfeel. Most stouts also have a higher original wort content and extra alcohol.
The Imperial Stout received the nickname “Imperial” when the beer began to be shipped to Russia. According to legend, a brew was brewed and presented as a gift to the Russian Empress Catherine the Great. In order to maintain the quality and taste of the beer over the long duration of the ship's voyage, a larger amount of hops was added to the stout and the alcohol content was increased. This meant that the beer could be safely stored for several weeks or even months without losing its aroma. The Tsarina apparently liked the beer creation so much that the Imperial Stout became Catherine the Great's court beer. The beer style was very popular for a while, but then fell into obscurity - until the craft beer movement caused a renaissance. Nowadays the beer market is rich in sophisticated imperial stouts, which pamper the knowledgeable palate with a variety of malt notes and intense aromas. The complex beer appears in an opaque, richly dark guise and is usually crowned with a small amount of hazelnut-brown foam. The aromas develop best when the beer is enjoyed at 10 to 12 degrees.
The Imperial Stout can taste of strong malt, candied fruits, melt-in-the-mouth chocolate, creamy caramel, freshly roasted coffee beans, winter spices, rum-pickled raisins, dried fruit and licorice and is the right choice for fans of intense beers with a roasted character and dark aromas.
