Olde Hickory Event Horizon
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Tasting Notes
Event Horizon pours with the dense, roasted intensity you expect from the style — dark chocolate, espresso, and a undercurrent of dark dried fruit like fig or prune. The mouthfeel is thick and viscous, coating the palate with layers of molasses and char. Bitterness is firm but balanced against a sweetness that keeps the finish from turning too harsh. At 10%, it sits on the leaner end of the Russian Imperial Stout spectrum, which keeps it from becoming syrupy while still delivering real weight.
About the Brewery
Olde Hickory Brewery is based in Hickory, North Carolina, and has been operating since the mid-1990s, making it one of the earlier craft breweries in the state. They've built a strong reputation around big, barrel-aged, and high-gravity beers, with Event Horizon being one of their flagship achievements. Their approach leans toward patience and complexity — several of their releases involve extended aging programs that reward collectors and serious beer hunters.
Food Pairings
A thick slice of flourless chocolate cake works well here because the beer's roasted bitterness mirrors and amplifies the cocoa. Aged cheddar or a hard cheese like Manchego provides enough fat and salt to cut through the sweetness. Braised short ribs or beef stew offer savory depth that holds up to the beer's intensity without being overwhelmed. A smoked or salted dark chocolate bar keeps the pairing simple but effective, letting the beer's own complexity do the work.
Style Guide
Russian Imperial Stout is a big, intensely roasted ale originally brewed in England in the 18th century for export to the Russian Imperial Court, where strong beer survived the cold transit better than lighter styles. Defining characteristics include flavors of dark chocolate, coffee, molasses, and dark fruit, with a full, chewy body and ABV typically ranging from 9% to 13% or higher. It's distinguished from standard stouts and foreign extra stouts by sheer intensity and alcoholic strength, and from pastry stouts by a drier, more roast-forward profile — though the line between them has blurred considerably in modern American craft brewing.