I completed my CBC three-part series on Stouts last Friday, and they just posted the mp3 here. I look at the biggest, baddest, meanest of stouts – Tropical Stouts and Russian Imperial Stouts. As usual, I walk through the history and what makes these styles distinctive, and then we taste a good example of one. I ended up selecting North Coast’s OldRasputin as a great example with one of the most appropriate names.

I particularly like the story behind the evolution of Russian Imperials. Catherine the Great, so it seems, was quite the lush. All the better for the two British breweries from whom she ordered beer. Great source for sales, plus the golden opportunity to link your beer to eastern European royalty. The evolution of the style name seems only natural from there.

Most beer folks assume that we today call all jacked-up versions of styles “Imperial” as a derivative of Russian Imperial Stout. Well, that may not be the case. As Shut Up About Barclay Perkins discovered (he is always debunking some historical fallacy we all repeat) the word Imperial was used a little more widely than we expected. This need not be a drawn out debate, but it is interesting nonetheless. Whatever the origins, in today’s parlance Imperial means bulked up, and in more ways than one we can attribute that to Catherine the Great (see image – by the way, it is funny that Hollywood felt the need to cast Catherine Zeta-Jones as Catherine the Great – a woman who looks like she hasn’t been within 10 metres of a Russian Imperial Stout).

As for Tropical (or Foriegn Extra) Stouts, I will (for now) sidestep any potential debate about whether it should be classified as its own style. I, obviously, think it should. When I taste Jamaica Stout, I find it hard to put it anywhere else. However, others may disagree. Let’s share a stout and argue it.

At any rate, it was a fun series. I think I will do more multi-part style columns in the future. I think they offer a good opportunity to do some hard core education but in a way that remains entertaining.