Looks:
Smell:
Taste:
Overall:
Description:
This titanic, immensely viscous stout is loaded with inimitable flavors of chocolate-covered caramel and coffee and hides a hefty 98 IBUs underneath the smooth blanket of malt. Ten FIDY is made with enormous amounts of two-row malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, flaked oats and hops. Ten FIDY is the ultimate celebration of dark malts and boundary-stretching beer. (Description provided by company)
Brewer:
Beer Style:
ABV:
10.50% ABV
Availability Frequency:
winter
Containers Available:
can
draft
Locations Where Available:
Eastern US
West Coast
Southwest US
Colorado
Idaho
Kansas
Minnesota
Texas
Wyoming
Store/Serve Temperature:
close to 60 degrees F
Comments
Funky Imperial Stout
I popped the can of Ten FIDY open and poured the stout into a pint glass to see a motor oil colored brew with a thumb-wide brown head that slowly melted to a film that left ample lacing. Looks gorgeous!!!
As I pull the glass to my nose, I start to scratch my head. I take another sniff. The dominant smell I get is a kind of soy sauce or beef marinade smell; like smokey, salty, beef jerky. There is a bit of coffee, chocolate, and licorice that I can smell...but I gotta concentrate to get past the soy sauce aroma. Thankfully, I tasted coffee, dark chocolate first...and the soy sauce then came along in the finish and then the whole aftertaste. Blech.
The mouthfeel is just like the appearance, nearly perfection for a Russian imperial stout. Alas, the smell and taste really drag down my overall feelings on Oskar Blues' Ten FIDY. Use it for marinade, it would probably be superb. But as far as a RIS to drink, if other cans are like the one I have...please skip it and reach for another beer.
Worth Every Penny!
Pours out pitch, with one of the darkest brown heads that I have ever seen. It's less tan and more the color of chocolate milk.
Not surprisingly for an Imperial Stout, the strongest aromas are burnt and dark roasted malts and a bit of dark fruit along with a touch of alcohol. Despite the assertive aroma, the flavors are very nicely balanced, and the bitterness (though high) is well controlled, and is really more of a bittersweet flavor. Some more dark roasted and burnt flavors come out in the finish, but even these are nicely controlled and balanced. A smooth, not overly chewy body.
I've got to admit, this is one of the first beers by Oskar Blues that I've had, but if its taste is any indication of all there brews, it won't be the last!