The maximalist American take on Russian Imperial Stout — thick, black, and layered with intense roasted malt, dark chocolate, coffee, and dark fruit character. Hops are assertive (often 50+ IBU) to balance the heavy malt bill, and alcohol is high and warming. Typically 7–12% ABV. A favorite canvas for barrel-aging.
In the glass
Origin
Imperial stout originated in the late-18th-century London porter trade as a high-gravity export beer for the Baltic and Russian markets — famously including the court of Catherine the Great, from which it picked up its imperial nickname. After a long decline in Britain, the style was revived from the United States in the early 1980s when Seattle importer Charles Finkel’s Merchant du Vin commissioned Samuel Smith of Tadcaster, Yorkshire, to brew an imperial stout at 7% ABV for export to America. That beer helped seed American craft-brewer interest in the category, and American brewers soon re-interpreted it in their own idiom — bigger gravities, American hop character, and a willingness to push everything further than the historical British template.
The American version matters for a second reason: it is the canonical vehicle for bourbon-barrel aging, now a major category in its own right. Goose Island’s Bourbon County Brand Stout is credited as the first widely recognized bourbon-barrel-aged beer — the brewery markets it as ‘Since 1992,’ though beer historian Josh Noel’s reporting for All About Beer traces the first commercially sold batch to 1995. From there, barrel-aged imperial stout became the defining showcase for the technique, and the broader American imperial-stout style became emblematic of the ‘imperial’ prefix as American craft shorthand for ‘more of everything.’ The United States now produces more imperial stout than any other country.
Notes
American imperial stout differs from the British / Russian tradition primarily in hop profile and overall intensity — American hops provide citrus, pine, or resinous notes that the British style avoids, and gravities and roast character are typically pushed higher. The 2026 Brewers Association guidelines separate American-Style Imperial Stout from British-Style Imperial Stout, with the latter mapping to the Courage / Barclay Perkins tradition. The 2021 Beer Judge Certification Program guidelines cover both traditions under a single 20C ‘Imperial Stout’ code and ask judges to indicate provenance on the scoresheet. Bourbon-barrel, rum-barrel, pastry (vanilla, coffee, chocolate, coconut), and lactose-sweetened ‘milk’ imperial stouts are all common modern sub-variants within the American tradition.
Defining examples
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout·Great Divide Yeti·Bell’s Expedition Stout·Founders Imperial Stout·Stone Imperial Russian Stout