Wassailing with "Imperial Russian Stout"

Rasputin was a bad ass dude...

From a Russian website dedicated to the man we learn: Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was born a peasant in the small village of Pokrovskoye, in Siberia. The myths surrounding Rasputin portray him as having supernatural powers throughout his childhood. Rasputin held considerable personal and political influence over the Russian Royal Family up to 1917 when Russia fell to the hands of the Communists who then ruled Russia for more than 70 years as the Soviet Union. Rasputin's influence over the royal family during the First World War eventually was used against him as in the end he was poisoned, shot four times, badly beaten and thrown into a river where he finally died of hypothermia.  There are many stories and myths about Rasputin.  On the other hand there are no myths about the "Imperial" type stout made at Fort Bragg, California in his name.

Old Rasputin Russian Imperial is a bad ass Stout

From Wikipedia (which knows everything) Imperial stout, also known as "Russian imperial stout" or
"Imperial Russian stout," is a strong dark beer or stout in the style that was brewed in the 18th
century by Thrale's brewery in London, England for export to the court of Catherine II of Russia.
In 1781 the brewery changed hands and the beer became known as Barclay Perkins Imperial Brown Stout. When the brewery was taken over by Courage the beer was renamed Courage Imperial Russian Stout. It has a high alcohol content, usually over 9% abv.  I have yet to visit to Ireland never mind Dublin but you can bet I have a date with the Guinness brewery, yes I do.  My good friend Ron of many years has lived on the Emerald Isle.... and he's a fan of the Stout... and beer... and ale... and Pubs... and one would expect from a Yankee who retired to Ireland.  I cannot in all honestly say the road the taste of Guinness (the king of stouts) goes down is one I would have followed.  Yes, there are many who swear by Guinness as much as there are many who swear after hours.

I am fairly certain Rasputin never Wassailed

Unbeknownst to American's... in general... this is the time of year in the UK where folks are out
Wassailing... in various degrees for some take the ceremony seriously whilst others use it as an
excuse to go Pubbing... For many years I thought the art of the Wassail was that of singing and
drinking, as an excuse you see, to celebrate ancient traditions... to include drinking ancient
Traditional Cask Aged Ales in the pub where we find them on offer...and it is... so is a Wassail a
tradition to Hustle a drink?  We all know in a pub once past 22:00 hrs everyone starts looking
pleasing (the opposite sex) to the eye, the men the women and the Landlord Lord forbid!  And we
know why... the Ale, the beer, the bitters, the stout... so although I am a stranger to Stout and for
no reason other than no one bothered to get me into the groove drinking the stuff, I thought as I
eyed the packaging... "Is it time?"  By the way, Wassailing means "to wish health to" one's apple
trees, in the hope that they will bear well. 

But this is a perfect brew to Wassail...

Today, at our local Supermarket just down the street lucky me... while the weather outside is
getting snowy in these parts, wouldn't this would be a great time to throw down $10 bucks and get
a four pack of "Old Rasputin."  A four pack, not a six pack as a six pack might be a bit spendy, so
Old Rasputin is packaged for the holidays "Trendy" style a cute little 4 pack.  Also it might just
be the stuff is so walloping strong that it is sold in a four pack because it's nearly 10%
alcohol and 6 bottles at 10 % would knock the average 3.2% American beer drinker between the
eyes... one might succumb to an alcoholic coma, which would be an example of undesirable behavior
during the Holidays?

Keep the faith baby... Wassail !

I believe the ancient tradition of Wassailing on the other hand is sacred to the Druid crowd and New Ager's... and who am I to argue with that, Hell I'm an American, you can trust me... OK, you Wassail all you want for it's out of my lane and with that said, this Rasputin Stout, whew, hold on to your bar stool!   One thing that has always been a concern of mine in recent years was if I was getting enough flavonoids. This all started in Hungary back in 1998 when my friends Gary and Carl and I would get together after a long day at the job, and down some Leffee Brune.. which is a Trappist style beer and very much in the taste category of this Rasputin stuff.  Carl being the wiser of we three would praise the consumption f the art of the flavanoid and was at the time quite concerned we were not getting enough.  I can assure you, the flavonoids are with the Old Rasputin. So let me wrap this posting up, there are no words that can describe taste for me other than good or bad, this beers good.  It is a strong flavoured beer, not at all disagreeable to my pallet, it is smokey... and it is expensive.  I recall some beer reviewer trying to explain hue and "notes."  I parted with a $10 note for four of these babies...tasty and pricey.

Happy Wassailing for now.

Old Rasputin: Click Here