Hoppin' Frog - B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher Oatmeal - Imperial Stout

I was pretty excited to find out that Habersham got distribution from Hoppin' Frog. I knew that both barrel aged B.O.R.I.S. and D.O.R.I.S. got high ratings on Beer Advocate. Habersham had both B.O.R.I.S. and D.O.R.I.S. I was unsure of what to expect with the non barrel aged versions. With some ales like Sexual Chocolate, the barrel aged version is awesome, the regular one, is just regular. B.O.R.I.S was definitely on my list of ales that I wanted to try. Having been so close to Ohio I still had no chance at getting my hands on this brew. But moving 1,000 miles away gave me immediate access to it, go figure.

Not knowing what to expect, I cracked B.O.R.I.S - the Bodacious Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout - to be welcomed by an enveloping aroma of chocolate. It poured an opaque deep brown with a moderate head. Chocolatey, smooth like one would expect from an oatmeal stout, and just a little bit sweet. This is a really good ale. I was expecting the standard big bad Imperial Stout - which don't get me wrong I love - but this ale really has something extra. It has this unique little character like a lactic acid sweetness, kind of like a doppelbock. To digress for a moment, I distinctly remember having Garret Oliver's Brooklyn doppelbock at Pete's Waterfront Alehouse in the late nineties. I just loved that sour character. B.O.R.I.S. is no where near that sour, but it just has a tiny bit of something, maybe German malt that I really like.

No level of disappointment here. I love this ale.