Want to Know What Russian Collusion Tastes Like? Pretty Good, As It Turns Out

“Great stout. The Best stout. More flavor than any other stout. We make the best stouts, believe me.”

By Matthew Korfhage

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Sometimes brewers make a beer just for the name. Collusion Russian Imperial, the new Baerlic beer whose bottle includes a Trump quote about the need for the "righteous many "to stand up to the "wicked few," also includes a Trumpian description: "Great stout. The Best stout. More flavor than any other stout. We make the best stouts, believe me."

But though the whopping 9.8 percent ABV stout was made with luxuriant dulce de leche—sweetened condensed milk boiled for hours until it turned to caramel—the stout bespeaks less Trumpian excess than it does a collusion between sweetness and roasted notes.

The caramel sugars certainly make this a dessert beer, but it balances nicely against the coffee and chocolate notes, with only the tiniest hint of bitterness at the back of the palate. It's pretty easy to get toasty on a $5 bottle of the stuff while nursing much greater bitterness against the world.

Recommended.

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Baerlic Brewing Co.beer reviewsCollusion Russian Imperial StoutPortland Beerstout

Matthew Korfhage

Matthew Korfhage

Matthew Korfhage has lived in St. Louis, Chicago, Munich and Bordeaux, but comes from Portland, where he makes guides to the city and writes about food, booze and books. He likes the Oxford comma but can't use it in the newspaper.

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