Russian Imperial Stout with Brettanomyces - 2015 Vintage Tasting

I brewed this Russian Imperial Stout in November 2014.  I let it ferment out for a couple months and then let it age with oak and Brettanomyces for almost a year.  This was an attempt to create a beer like the defunct English brewery "Courage's" RIS which reportedly featured some Brett character including a leather like flavor.  I based the recipe on one from the Mad Fermentationist.

I harvested the Brett (Brett C) from some bottles of a Berliner Weisse I'd brewed.  The beer formed a pretty good pellicle after a few months and dropped about 10 points of gravity during it's time with the Brett.  I was very concerned that the Brett might over attenuate on me but it ended up finishing at a really nice 1.022.

It was a complex beer to start with and it got more complex with age on it.  I found it difficult to sort out anything I would describe as Brett character.  The later tastings all had a slight earthiness that I was thinking could be attributable to the Brett but I wasn't sure.  I was very interested to see what the time in the bottle would bring.  This beer has now been in the bottle for 3 months and I think it is high time for a tasting.

The beer tastes fantastic at basement temps which are about 60 F so that is what these notes are based on.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• A mix of roast, dark chocolate, and a fruitiness (maybe raisin).  Also get a bit of coffee.  There is some alcohol mixed in but doesn't smell like it would be 10% ABV.  Get quite a bit of vanilla oak character.  Still get the earthy aroma that I had attributed to the Brett in my initial tastings.  Well blended with everything else.  I don't think it's really gotten any more prominent.  Aroma of the beer is quite complex and, overall, very nice.
• Appearance:
• Pours with a pretty light head that quickly dissipates down to nothing.  The beer is a very dark red/brown pretty much opaque.  From the edges it looks pretty clear.  This bottle had a slight pellicle and there were little chunks of it floating on top of the beer.
• Flavor:
• Bitter dark chocolate and dark fruit ester character are pretty prominent along with coffee.  The oak cuts through in the finish along with a definite earthy Brett character (it might be fair to describe it as tobacco or leather like).  I think this has gotten more prominent during it's time in the bottle.  I don't really get any hop bitterness in the finish at this point.  It is a little malty sweet but the earthiness balances it out pretty nicely.  The beer has really good bold flavors which come out really nicely at basement temps.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium bodied and smooth.  Slight alcohol warming.  Mild astringency.  A pretty easy drinking beer.
• Overall:
• This beer had a great level of complexity after primary fermentation and it has gotten significantly more interesting with age.  I really like the coffee/chocolate/roast flavors and aroma along with the dark fruit character.  The Brett seems to be getting to be a more significant player in the flavor profile with some time in the bottle and it is creating some really nice aged beer sort of flavors.  Hops have fallen off but they aren't missed.

I brewed up another batch of RIS with Brett this last November which went onto the Brett cake from this batch.  I am planning on drinking half of the batch of each of these each year and then saving the other half to do vertical tastings with future vintages.