Troegs Brewing Company - "Impending Descent" Russian imperial stout

Today's beer was brought to me by colleague and fellow beer afficionado Dave Slavick, who obtained this through back channels in Pennsylvania. It's Troegs' "Impending Descent," a 10.9% ABV Russian Imperial Stout that is part of their "Scratch Beer" series. The Impending Descent has not yet been released to the public.

According to the bottle, the Scratch Beer series started in the early days of Troegs, when the brewers would "[spend] countless hours sampling beer, jotting down notes and developing recipes from scratch." And so in that spirit, they produce some one-off beers and experimental offerings that may or may not make it into full production. And even when a Scratch beer is released, it's only available at the Troegs brewery in Pennsylvania. My research shows that the Impending Descent was released once before, in 2012.

It pours black and milky, with a dark tan head.

Not even light can penetrate this Stygian creation.

Noses are usual - faint chocolate, roasted malt, cocoa. It's not terribly aromatic. The taste of alcohol is very strong here - it's definitely the dominant flavor. There's some roast malts and chicory flavors, most prevalent in the finish and aftertaste, but the main flavor profile here is alcohol. Not bad - I kinda like it in a go-big-or-go-home kind of way. I don't terribly like it as a session beer or as something to enjoy with dessert, but I sure enjoy the punch this beer packs.