"A. Le Coq Imperial Extra Double Stout is a towering achievement, on the same level as a great old Barolo or vintage port. It makes a mind-boggling match with venison in sour cherry sauce and is a fine accompaniment to game sausages, particularly wild boar... As for cigars, only the finest, strongest Cubans will do, unless you have an Arturo Fuente Opus X. In that case, I'll be right over."
Garrett Oliver, The Bremaster's Table, p.151
The style "Imperial Russian Stout" and the name "Albert Le Coq" are synonymous. In the early 1800's the Belgian A. Le Coq exported Imperial Stout from England to Russia and the Baltic area. After the import traffics increased dramatically in the early 1900's A. Le Coq was invited by the Tsarist government to brew his legendary Imperial Extra Double Stout within the Russian Empire.
In 1912 the first Imperial Extra Double Stout left the Brewery in Tartu, the former province of Livonia, now Estonia. The Russian Revolution and World War I, however, brought a dramatic end to A. Le Coq's venture. His brewery was nationalized by the Bolshevik government in 1917 and production ceased. The original recipe on each bottle of Imperial Extra Double Stout pay hommage to A. Le Coq without whom this classic style would never had reached its legendary place in the world of beers.
Harvey's A. Le Coq Imperial Double Stout - the roast, alcoholic and spicy notes combine in this unusually sweet and sour beer. Steeped in the depths of chocolate and coffee, this brew will improve and develop complexity up to one year.
A. Le Coq's Imperial Extra Dbl Stout
Alc./Vol.: 9.0
Orginal Gravity: 1099
EBC: 235
IBU: 50
