The Battle Between the Russian Imperial Stouts

Hello, beer-loving Steemians! As I couldn't manage to write a beer post last weekend, I decided to do a special "VS" review today - The Battle Between the Russian Imperial Stouts. Just to make clear from the beginning, none of these brews is made in Russia (by the way, finding Russian beers in Bulgaria is not easy) - LA Konrad's Stout comes from Norway while Thornbridge Saint Petersburg is from near Sheffield in the UK. That being said, both of the brews incorporate Russian elements (the red color and the star) in the design of their labels.

Getting in the mood to drink beer. The first one of you that manages to guess the name of the song will receive a full-power upvote. Hint - it's a popular Russian folk song.

My tools. Once you drink beer from a jar, you can never go back to beer glasses (I'm joking).

I also took a self-portrait before starting. The Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 has some excellent macro capabilities.

Ready, steady, go!

LA Konrad's Stout (~ 4.5€) vs Thornbridge Saint Petersburg (~ 3€)

Color and Aroma

Konrad's Stout pours tar black in the glass with a tiny mocha-brown head, which I thought would dissipate quickly. Luckily, that didn't happen. The aroma is a blend of malt and chocolate - it makes me think that the taste will be on the sweet side. There's also the smell of something roasted, which I am not able to identify. My sense of smell is not the best after years of abuse with nasal sprays.

Saint Petersburg is also black in color, but its big creamy head looks delicious and inviting in comparison. It's long-lasting, and it leaves nice patterns on the sides of the jar. The aroma is sweet, malty and smokey.

Taste

Taste-wise, these stouts are very different! Konrad's stout is pleasantly sweet with hints of coconut, milk chocolate, and malt. The body is smooth and goes down the throat with ease: the carbonation is perfect. There's a long and slightly sour aftertaste, which reminds me of good Arabica coffee. I am impressed with the taste.

Saint Petersburg, on the other hand, starts off sweet; however, the sweetness lasts in my mouth for less than 1/3 of a second before it's abruptly replaced by strong bitterness. It almost feels as if I am eating one of these 95% cocoa chocolates. Likewise, the aftertaste is bitter and long-lasting. Although carbonation is good, I find this one hard to drink.

The Winner
You probably guessed it already :) The winner is LA Konrad's Stout! It was much more enjoyable to drink compared to the overly bitter Saint Petersburg. Now, I am not saying that Saint Petersburg was bad; it's just that I am not the biggest fan of pronounced bitterness. There are many people out there who love such beers.

Cheers, thank you for reading, and have a wonderful weekend!
Dan

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With this beer post, I am participating in the weekly #beersaturday challenge, which is run by @detlev. You can see the main post and all entries here. If you'd like to help me win the contest, please visit the main post and upvote my comment. Thank you!