Brodie's Romanov Empress Stout

London Drinker and Brodie’s Bunny Basher Beer Festivals March 2010

ABV: 12.1%
Origin: London E10, England
Website: www.brodiesbeers.co.uk

Catherine II The Great (Екатерина II Великая, 1729-96), Empress and Autocrat of All the Russias, by D G Levitsky c1770

The Brodies only revived brewing at the King William IV in Leyton a year and a half ago but already they’re producing a large range of solidly impressive beers. This is currently their strongest and one of their most accomplished — a big Imperial Stout based on a 19th century recipe and named with reference to Empress Catherine the Great of Russia, in fact born a German aristocrat but who ruled Russia when the eponymous William was born, and oversaw the importation of British strong stouts into her empire.

I happened on a bottled version at the Pigs Ear beer festival in December 2009, mistakenly listed as Romanov Express, which sounds like the name of a very romantic train. This was a mahogany-black beer with a fine deep orangey beige head and a chocolate, cofffee and raisin aroma with notes of grapes and smoky roast. The rich strong chocolate palate had grape and blackcurrant coffee flavours and varnish notes, turning tart and mouth-numbering with a restrained roasty quality. A dryer finish became more definitively roasty, with concentrated cocoa and a fruity, viny slick. Although complex, the flavour was a bit close and slow developing, and the beer will almost certainly spread and relax with a little bottle age.

In the brewpub itself for its Easter beer festival, I couldn’t resist sampling Romanov Empress again, this time on draught — particularly since it was on sale at the standard price of all the draught beers. It’s not often that a beer of over 12% is sold at £1 for a half pint. This version was jet black, with a lovely creamy cappucino-like beige head, and a toffee and liquorice aroma. This time the fruity notes brought to mind blackcurrant and blueberry, and there were toffee and spirits too, leading to a thick, rich, sweetish and very fruity toffee palate with a slightly medicinal edge and malt cake. A toffee apple note on the swallow led to a long, slick, warming finish with emerging relatively gentle roast, and a lightly oxidised minty quality. Again a very complex beer, rather sweet but beautifully balanced, and worth at least five times its listed price.

Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/brodies-romanov-empress-stout/114717/