Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout

I just love them big bottles of stout.

Had assumed from the bottle (perhaps naively, looking back at the red star logo) that this was a standard english stout, but from the plum pudding nose you become instantly aware of it's Leninist roots.

You get lovely round oily stout first up, then it moves into fruit tones, and finishes up dry roasty coffee. Pretty damn good, but contrary to the label marketing I found this kind of slow going due to its Ruski nature. A good beer to sit with over a long evening with a book. Or a bear. 8.0