Stevens Point - Wholehog RIS

Friggen Twins... seriously?!  Pavano goes out and pitches 8 flawless innings.  Nathan comes in and jacks everything up.  Then, oh hey!  Valencia gets us back on the board with a RBI and we bring in Capps to seal the deal.  Guess what Capps?!  You cant pitch around Johnny Damon even though he is about 74 years old!  Bye bye win for Pavano, hello walk off home run for the Rays in 10... ugh.  I swear the Twins are going to give me an aneurysm one of these days.  Good thing I have a fridge full of beer to dampen the sadness.

Tonights sadness-curing beer is a Russian Imperial Stout brewed by Stevens Point Brewery.  These guys are located to our East (for once!) in our neighboring, cheddar filled state of Wisconsin.  As cheese loving natives, Wisconsinites are surprisingly adept at brewing beer as well.  Famous mostly for breweries like Miller and Leinenkugel in non-craft beer loving circles, Wisconsin has plenty of smaller breweries putting their "craft beer approved" seal on the state as well.  New Glarus, Lakefront, and Capital Brewing are all making solid names for themselves in the Midwest.  Stevens Point is one that I have heard little about.  Their RIS is a winter special release that comes in a four pack.  I had the other three back in November when I originally purchased it.  Lets see what an additional six months in the fridge does to this 8.6% ABV stout.

Prying off the cap yields threading around the top of the bottle... twist caps (booo...), one of beers worst enemies.  Twist-offs, when compared to pry-offs, generally allow more oxygen to seep through the seal causing the beer to go stale.  The pour looks good.  A nice tan head forms and hangs around for a bit, leaving a thin layer of foam to settle after a few minutes.  Bittersweet chocolate and subtle hop aromas are noticeable as I go in for my first sip.  Roasted malts are first to the taste party with the strong presence of bitter hops crashing in quickly thereafter.  A creamy texture and smooth finish keep me coming back, sip after sip.  Hardly any evidence of alcohol to be found throughout with only a slight warmth sneaking in towards the end as this brew warms.

Overall 3.7592/6.0 - Its not my favorite RIS but its not bad either.  The body is a little lacking and the finish is a little thin for what I like to experience with the style.  To me, Russian Imperial Stouts should be thick, bold, chewy but not so cloying that you cant have more than a few drinks without developing diabetes (insert Wilford Brimley mustache joke here).  The flavors were nice and the beer was easy to drink.  A well balanced brew overall, but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to pick it up again next season.