Cosmic Eye Brewing - Your Friend Death Imperial Stout

"This beer contains NO: vanilla, marshmallows, cookies, breakfast cereals, coffee, chocolate donuts, chilis, milk, sugar, or syrups. It does contain water, hops, yeast, oats and a whole bunch of dark malt. As always we kept the ABV in check so you can drink an entire beer yourself and still function. Yay!"
~ ~ Quote from the back of the can

As the quote above indicates, there is nothing in this beer that wouldn't pass the German beer purity laws (maybe the oats, not sure). I'm perfectly okay with added flavorings in moderation, but the truly great beer experience lives in a beer that derives all its flavor from...the beer. Your Friend Death is brewed in one of the traditional styles: the Imperial Stout. The Imperial Stout was an English ale that was brewed for the Tsar of Russia - he had taken a liking to the working man's stouts and porters and had asked to have some shipped to Mother Russia. In those days of no preservatives, beers were prepped for long journeys in two ways: by brewing it either with a lot of hops (like the India Pale Ale) or a lot of alcohol. Russian Imperial Stout had a high ABV to help it make the trek to St. Petersburg. Modern brewers have taken to using the adjective "imperial" to indicate a higher-than-usual alcohol content.

Your Friend Death pours a tarry black with a robust tan head. The 8.1% ABV isn't what's classified sessionable, but still low enough so that you'll retain your senses after one or two. The bitterness is fairly intense, at 66 IBUs, but it's not the kind of hoppiness that will peel paint or take the enamel off your teeth, just a nice edge that complements the silky smooth maltiness. Despite there being no added flavorings, there are appreciable coffee, chocolate and vanilla notes. The mouthfeel is creamy and thick. Really, this is everything an imperial stout should be. 9.75 on the IGB scale.