Today, I have made the biggest beer I have ever brewed--hence the new name, Bigiz M'cak Imperial Stout*.This desire for a really, really powerful beer entered my imagination when I first tried North Coast's Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. Having had many dry stouts, this thick, gritty, puts-hair-on-your-chest brew became a fixation of mine. How do they brew such a gravity? How can brewers control the balance of bitterness versus full-bodied flavor?

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