Here’s a great recipe for Old Rasputin Braised Bison Shanks from Scott at Food. Beer. Tunes.
I’m a big, big fan of North Coast Brewery’s Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. A year or two ago I came across a recipe for Old Rasputin braised short ribs. With that as my inspiration, I decided to use a bottle of Old Raspy as part of the braising liquid for the shanks.
Old Rasputin Float
Ingredients:
1 bottle Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout
1 generous dip of premium vanilla ice cream
Fill a chilled glass with Old Rasputin. Add the ice cream. Enjoy.
Old Rasputin was recently featured in Wired Magazine’s “Recommendation Engine: 5 Bold Dark Brews for Beer Geeks” by David MacNeal:
Perfect for: Proving your fortitude.
Geek factor: Russian imperial stouts had high alcohol content to survive 18th-century shipping times—and this one, with its 75 international bittering units (vs. Coors Light’s 6.8 IBU), could make a czar flip his ushanka.
9% abv, $9 (4 x 12 oz.) | North Coast Old Rasputin
Seven North Coast beers on tap at Oliver Twist in Stockholm, Sweden. Read more on Facebook.
From There Will Be Bourbon:
“We’re familiar with the high quality deliciousness of North Coast Brewing Company’s Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, but we didn’t know they decided to put Rasputin in a bourbon barrel until we stumbled across it last weekend. When you lock Rasputin away like that, it only comes out stronger and better.”
Laurie Delk of 100 beers. 30 days. just chose Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout as one of her top ten favorite stouts from the West Coast:
“Rich, homemade molasses cookies, baking spices, clove, nutmeg, cardamon, and even pepper prickled my nose. On the palate, tobacco and dark, dark chocolate with its trademark bitterness, a wonderful complement to the sugar and spice. And this one is everything nice.”
Read the whole article in Happy Hour Magazine.
#1 Craft Beer for 2011: Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout
—Beer Appétit
Best of 2011: Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin (Platinum Medal, “Superlative”)
—BTI: World Beer Championships
Brewer of the Year, 2011: North Coast Brewing
—Beer Journal, December 31, 2011
Top 11 Beers for 2011: Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin XIV
“…World class, the best of the best.…
This is beer at its highest level of sophistication….”
Modern Brewery Age Weekly E-Newsletter • Volume 63, No. 1 • January 5, 2012
YouTube review of Old Rasputin by RealAleGuide
Review of Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout by Brew Chief
CraftBeer.com:
“Chocolate rich Stouts go so well with high-percentage dark chocolate. The levels of bitterness and sugars, and in some cases, like [North Coast Brewings' Old Rasputin], the fruity notes are a good match…. Once they are in your mouth, there is little delineation between the beer and chocolate flavors. They pair together to create a beautiful balance of bitter and caramel. It really is magical.”
Philadelphia Weekly
To illustrate suggestions for pairing beer with food, author Brian Freedman offers North Coast Brewing Co.’s Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout with a chocolate tarte. Says Freedman, “A successful marriage of beer and food is often just as much about alchemy and the magic of the unexpected as it is about a thought-out plan of attack.”
North Coast Brewing’s Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout was named by RateBeer as one of America’s Best Beers for 2011 and given a Gold Award. The brew received an overall score of 100 and a style rating of 97 and was called a “perfect balance” with “coffee, chocolate and dark fruit” flavors.
“One of the all-time classics.”
“It’s loaded with chocolate and coffee aromas, some roasty notes and bready yeast. It’s a rich mouthful, sweet, even luscious, but nicely balanced by the hops.” Read the whole review by Tom Bedell here.
“The taste is something else, bitter chocolate and espresso with a sweet finish. I have to say that if you like bitter chocolate and beer—strong beer—you’ll like this. Nice creamy yet carbonated mouthfeel keeps it from being cloying. This is something you want to sip & savor.” –From a review of Old Rasputin by Emerald City Supertasters
From “Eight Great Winter Beers” by Joshua Bernstein in Gourmet Magazine:
“This obsidian flavor bomb has a thick pour that releases aromas of chocolate-dipped raisins, yeasty bread, and espresso. Java also defines Rasputin’s rich, roasty flavor, with a balanced sweetness that masks the beer’s strapping 9 percent ABV. It all adds up to a dangerously drinkable imperial stout that’s best shared with a couple cohorts.”