The Beerspotter: Stone Imperial Russian Stout Comrade Willy Wonka approves.

Beer: Stone Imperial Russian Stout

Where Spotted: The Wine Specialist, 2115 M St. NW

Price: $6.99/22oz.

Weight for It: After a summer of armpit-like 90-degree days, I’m ready for big-boy stouts instead of crisp pilsners. The mocha richness of Stone’s imperial version tangles with bitter-chocolate hops and tastes like the motor oil Willy Wonka would put in his truck.

Stone in Love: Stone’s marketing language deserves eye-rolling—“You probably won’t like it,” reads one beer label. But more than any other American brewery, Stone has a signature style: big, aggressive, and full of hops. Their lineup is mostly IPAs and genre-less monsters, with nary a “beginner” beer among them. But I’ve devised a way around this hubristic foolishness—drink it on tap.

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