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It’s okay if your only real experience with stouts is Guinness and similar beers. We won’t hold that against you. This means you’ve enjoyed a creamy, roasted coffee, and chocolate-flavored stout. Hopefully, you even decided to order it again — after all, Guinness is beloved around the world for a reason. It also means that perhaps you’re ready to level up to a more potent, robust, higher ABV stout. Of course, we’re talking about the imperial stout.

In the simplest terms, an imperial stout is the ramped-up version of the popular dark beer. It’s higher in alcohol, usually completely black in color, and loaded with flavors like roasted coffee, caramel, and chocolate fudge. While it isn’t necessary for the style, a lot of popular imperial stouts are also barrel-aged.

Since we’re always on the lookout for warming beers to drink this fall and winter, we turned to the pros for help. We asked a few of our favorite bartenders to tell us the one imperial stout they’d drink this fall, winter, and forever. Keep scrolling to see their bold, rich, warming picks.

Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout

Lewis Caputa, lead bartender of Rosina inside The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas

ABV: 7%

Average Price: $9 for a four-pack

Why This Beer?

There is no imperial stout that represents the fall better than this one. It’s very smooth and features flavors such as dark chocolate, figs, and, my favorite, port wine. I would love to drink this beer right after dinner to get my night started.

Evil Twin Nuts 4 Nuts

Katherine Ball, consumer engagement and mixology director at Black Button Distilling in Rochester, New York

ABV: 12%

Average Price: Limited Availability

Why This Beer?

I have to go with Evil Twin’s Nuts 4 Nuts. As this stout drinks, the different nutty flavors build as you sip, especially that butter toffee and cashew flavor. It’s a decadent tasting experience that’s great for the colder days of fall. Fair warning, the 12 percent ABV here will leave you feeling a bit nutty!

Boulevard Whiskey Barrel Stout

Austin Jacobs, bartender at The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills, California

ABV: 11%

Average Price: $16 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

My favorite Imperial Stout for this fall and every one after it is the Whiskey Barrel Stout from my hometown’s Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City. They age their imperial stout in used whiskey barrels (Templeton Rye) to give it an intense boozy flavor that’s balanced by the sweetness of the stout. The flavor is super complex with notes like coffee, chocolate, and molasses. And at almost 12 percent ABV, you can’t miss the booze either.

Great Divide Yeti

Austin Sheffield, bartender at 8100 Mountainside Bar & Grille in Beaver Creek, Colorado

ABV: 9.5%

Average Price: $14 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

This is produced in the great state of Colorado. The notes of chocolate and cherries pair well when the snow starts falling and our mountain town turns into a winter wonderland where everyone is itching to get out on the slopes.

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

Lauren Navarro, head bartender at Apothecary 330-A Cocktail Bar in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

ABV: 10.5%

Average Price: $15 for a four-pack

Why This Beer?

A can’t miss imperial stout is Oskar Blue’s Ten Fidy. It’s nicely malted with rich flavors of caramel and coffee. Served best in an ice-cold can on any fall day — or night.

New Holland Dragon’s Milk

Mohamed Khald, food and beverage manager at The Vinoy Renaissance in St. Petersburg, Florida

ABV: 11%

Average Price: $16 for a four-pack

Why This Beer?

Dragon’s Milk from New Holland is a great go-to imperial stout for fall sipping every year. Hints of sweet chocolate and coffee paired with oak and vanilla lead to a crisp, clean finish, perfect for gathering around the fire.

Epic Big Bad Baptist

Robbie Robinson, bartender at The Ballantyne in Charlotte, North Carolina

ABV: 11.7%

Average Price: $15 for a 22-ounce bottle

Why This Beer?

My personal favorite imperial stout is Big Bad Baptist by Epic Brewing. Big Bad Baptista is a high-octane imperial stout coming in at 11.7 percent ABV. The cornucopia of flavors it brings to the table overshadows the high alcohol content. On the nose, it boasts coffee, dark chocolate, cinnamon, and a hint of whiskey. I expected it would taste quite strong due to the ABV, but instead it was full of chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, molasses, and medium bitter coffee tones. All in all, it is a great cold weather or holiday season beer.

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

Chevy Farrell, beverage director for No Man’s Land in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

ABV: 15%

Average Price: $25 for a four-pack

Why This Beer?

There’s something to be said about a beer that can be considered “Top Shelf.” These vintaged yearly offerings are barreled in bourbon casks heightening the presence of chocolate, caramel, and vanilla. This beer brings some heavy flavors as well as a heavy dose of alcohol so please drink responsibly this fall and winter.

Dogfish Head Worldwide Stout

Christian Taibi, head mixologist at The Surfjack Hotel & Swim Club in Honolulu, Hawaii

ABV: 18%

Average Price: $11 for a 12-ounce bottle

Why This Beer?

There’s only one stout that stands above the rest: The “Worldwide Stout” from the Dog Fish Head Brewery. It’s annually released in small batches, which makes it very difficult to find. So when you see it on the shelves, grab it. At 18 percent ABV, its rich, dark, roasty flavor is unparalleled.

North Coast Old Rasputin

Alex Barbatsis, head bartender at The Whistler in Chicago

ABV: 9%

Average Price: $10 for a four-pack

Why This Beer?

Old Rasputin by North Coast Brewing Co. is one of the first imperial stouts I had and it still holds up as a go-to for me. It’s got light toffee flavors, an ester-rich body, and a warm finish that tastes great any time of year, but especially now. And it pairs well with food!

Zony Mash Lit AF

Christy Bradley, spirit guide at Virgin Hotels in New Orleans

ABV: 10%

Average Price: $27 for a four-pack

Why This Beer?

I have been enjoying LIT AF by Zony Mash Beer Project this fall. It’s a milk chocolate gelt imperial stout. I love the richness of the stout with deep coffee and chocolate flavors. I also sometimes pick up little nut flavors on the finish.

Founders Imperial Stout

Mallory O’Meara, author of GIRLY DRINKS: A World History of Women and Alcohol

ABV: 10%

Average Price: $12 for a four-pack

Why This Beer?

Founders Imperial Stout is so rich, but also so smooth. This stout is both fruity and chocolatey, like one of those fancy chocolate bars. The brewery’s barrel-aged stouts get all the press, but this one is pretty great, especially around this time of year.

Transient Double Barrel Junie

Emily Franchy, bartender at Uffda Hospitality in Louisville

ABV: 13%

Average Price: $20 for a 16-ounce can

Why This Beer?

I can’t miss any of the Junie releases from Transient Artisan Ales. Double Barrel Junie is the way to go this year. It’s aged in Henry McKenna and BLIS maple bourbon barrels for a year before bottling. It’s dark weather in a bottle and tastes great.

Dear Rider (HBO, 9:00pm) — Woody Harrelson narrates this celebration of pioneering snowboarder Jake Burton Carpenter follows the rise of a master of snowboard, who turned his passion into a cultural phenomenon. Carpenter’s prowess goes way back to 1977, when he first forged his own snowboard, and soon enough, he was conquering ski resorts and picking up sponsors, all while the press snarled at what they called “the worst new sport.” Fortunately, Carpenter had a punk attitude to help his budding community flourish.

La Brea (NBC, 9:00pm) — Natalie Zea is still stuck in a primeval hellhole, and after last week’s failed attempt to get home, it looks like that astral window might be closed for good. So, no one gets to change clothes again, ever, and there’s apparently a storm on the horizon.

Your Life Is a Joke: Season 1 (Netflix series) — Oliver Polak, a German stand-up comedian, welcomes weekly guests, who will receive the roasting of a lifetime. Then he’ll roast them on his social media accounts, which sounds like an interactive an long-lasting nightmare for those involved.

The Last O.G. (TBS, 10:00 & 10:30pm) — Season 4 continues with Tray helping to keep the community center open while wondering whether his streetwise tactics should be employed.

Stargirl (CW, 8:00pm) — Supergirl gets to welcome back Joel McHale next season, but this week, Courtney and her super pals are having a bit of a Lex Luthor crossover. Hmm.

Supergirl (CW, 9:00pm) — It’s series finale time, and somehow, Supergirl must waste this moment continuing to deal with Lex and Nyxly, all while Alex and Kelly are about to exchange vows.

Queens (ABC, 10:00pm) — The fractured girl group that was once part of a hip-hop dynasty continues to enjoy their second wind. However, they’re all gotta conquer their personal lives, too, and Brianna and Jill are having particularly tough times.

Chucky (SYFY and USA, 10:00pm) — The O.G. homicidal doll is still at it, this time with original voice actor Brad Dourif taking over for recent movie-version Mark Hamill. Here, Chucky must conquer both old enemies and allies.

Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm-and-blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B songs that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

This past week turned out to be a project-heavy week led by Summer Walker’s highly-anticipated sophomore album, Still Over It. The LVRN singer delivers a solid follow-up to her 2019 debut, Over It. Elsewhere, BJ The Chicago Kid arrives with his second EP of the year Three while Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s Silk Sonic brings us one step closer to An Evening With Silk Sonic thanks to “Smokin’ Out The Window.”

Summer Walker — Still Over It

After two long years, Summer Walker finally returned with a new batch of songs that details her recurring struggles with love and her distaste towards it all. Still Over It compiles 20 songs and features from Ari Lennox, SZA, Lil Durk, and more to detail the pitfalls of love through raw emotion and unfiltered accounts of the past.

Silk Sonic — “Smokin’ Out The Window”

At long last, we’re just a few days away from the release of Silk Sonic’s debut album, An Evening With Silk Sonic. As a final treat before the project arrives, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak deliver “Smokin’ Out The Window.” The track dismisses an ex who simply used the singers for their money and played their part in the game of love to reap a boatload of lavish items.

BJ The Chicago Kid — Three

BJ The Chicago Kid is on a roll this year and it continues with his new EP, Three. Staying true to its name, the project delivers three songs that are brought to life by BJ’s own life experiences while reflecting on the ups and downs as well as the love/hate dynamic of relationships. It’s also a follow-up to his 4 AM EP which he released earlier this year.

Dijon — Absolutely

Dijon is sharper than ever on Absolutely, a project that arrives after his 2020 EP How Do You Feel About Getting Married?. Its 12 songs find the singer discovering his potential as a musician while also attempting to meet the expectations that surround him.

Elijah Blake — The Neon Eon

Elijah Blake’s last project arrived back in 2018 with Bijoux 23. Now the talented singer-songwriter is back with a new body of work thanks to The Neon Eon. Blake enlists help from Trinidad James, Tamar Braxton, Keyshia Cole, D Smoke, and more for an album that’s short and sweet at just ten songs.

Ejay Mallard — Healium.

Houston has itself an up-and-coming R&B singer worth paying attention to. His name is Ejay Mallard and his latest second album, Healium. is a strong display. Throughout 15 songs, Mallard dives into topics surrounding mental health while healing from past traumas in real time through the music that appears on the album. Mallard also made it a point to invite fellow Houston acts onto the project like Guapo, Jet The 3rd, Lace Hampton, Mynd, and Sion to help tell his story.

Tempest — “Lemon Pepper”

Last year, Long Beach’s own Tempest shined brightly thanks to singles like “Sorry To Say” and “Not The Same” and now she’s back with new music. The singer drops of a three-song EP titled Lemon Pepper with tracks named after a pair of lemon pepper wing orders. Hopefully, this marks the start of a new chapter for the very talented singer.

Jordan Hawkins — Heart Won’t Stop

North Carolina’s own Jordan Hawkins will absolutely blow you away with his debut EP Heart Won’t Stop. Carried by soaring vocals that push the genre of R&B pasts its traditional limits, his background in the church choir aids the music present on this album.

Hunnah — Unloved

After gracing us with her ear-pleasing single “Appreciate” back in August, Hunnah is back with her unapolgetic EP, Unloved. It presents seven songs that detail her shame and desire for romance. “I had all these songs about my feelings of coming into my late 20s and never having been in love or in a relationship and feeling so detached from the world of romantic love and it all just started to fit together,” she said about the project. “So I decided to release that element of shame and make this EP that was honest and in my heart.”

Titose — Was It Something I Said?

Botswana singer Titose is a new artist you should probably keep an eye on in the future. Her debut project Was It Something I Said? arrives amid difficult times for Titose, which she alluded to in a previous post announcing the project. She described music as “a solace, a way for me to make sense of the chaos,” and it’s clear on the project’s eight songs, which includes an appearance from The Big Hash.

Muni Long — “Ain’t Easy”

With her Public Displays Of Affection EP on the way, Muni Long offers up another single before its release with “Ain’t Easy.” The project is billed as a “beautiful and introspective collection of records touching on heartbreak, love, empowerment, and self-confidence,” according to a press release, as evidenced by “Ain’t Easy.” The track also comes after she released “No R&B” with Ann Marie last month.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Analogies can be a useful tool when attempting to help someone understand a situation or scenario they have little to no personal experience with and have trouble relating to. They can also be wildly misguided. On Monday, conservative radio talk show host and co-founder of PragerU Dennis Prager made a statement that fell firmly into the latter category with a violent thud.

As the Daily Beast reports, Prager was being interviewed on Newsmax on Monday when he began speaking about the state of America, and the way history will look back upon this time. “If we survive this as a free country,” Prager said, “historians will just ask: How did this happen? How did people get governed by irrational fears?’”

You might think you know where Prager is going with this, but no—it got much, much worse.

By “irrational fears,” Prager was referring to the discomfort vaccinated individuals often have when faced with an unvaccinated person. To Prager, the unvaccinated have become “the pariahs of America as I have not seen in my lifetime… During the AIDS crisis, can you imagine if gay men and intravenous drug users, who… were the vast majority of people with AIDS… had they been pariahs the way the non-vaccinated are? It would have been inconceivable. And it should have been inconceivable! They should not have been made pariahs. But this is kosher. This is ok… So it’s a different America.”

Ummm… what America was Prager living in during the AIDS crisis? You know, the one that started out with the virus being referred to as a “gay disease” or “gay cancer.” Despite the overwhelming number of people who became sick or died from HIV/AIDS, it took years for the CDC to even acknowledge that it was a problem. Meanwhile, the stigma of being diagnosed with HIV often led to people being totally ostracized: people lost their jobs, their homes, and their families. Ryan White, a teenage hemophiliac who contracted the virus through a blood transfusion, was famously banned from his own school as the administration didn’t want to deal with him.

The big difference? Had there been a vaccine that would greatly decrease the chances of these same people contracting the virus, or becoming fatally ill if they did get it, most of them surely would have taken it. So where was Prager when all this was happening? According to Daily Beast’s AJ McDougall: “Prager, who would have been in his thirties during the height of the AIDS crisis, apparently went the length of the decade without witnessing the endemic fear, ostracizing, and mistreatment of AIDS sufferers by wider society.”

(Via Daily Beast)

The final moments of the first Karate Kid movie transformed two lives forever when Daniel LaRusso pulled off the Miyagi-taught crane kick on Johnny Lawrence. That’s when Daniel ascended to franchise hero at the All Valley Karate Tournament, and Johnny got pushed down into the gutter by his sensei, and arguably life, forever. In the moments immediately thereafter, Johnny admitted, “You’re alright, LaRusso!” Cobra Kai has yet to follow up on how those words fell by the wayside (although I did dig some insight out of Ralph Macchio ahead of Season 3).

Then there’s the question of that crane kick, and whether it should have been allowed to stand. In the decades since that movie has passed, fans have wondered if that kick was actually illegal and, if so, that means that Daniel could be a kind-of villain. People take this very seriously, too, so much so that there’s an oral history of that crane kick. It’s awesome, really, that the moment inspires so much debate, all these years later, but consider this: What if Johnny Lawrence decided to do the crane kick in Cobra Kai.

Chaos, sweet chaos, will reign. Well, it is truly Johnny’s turn to do the move, and co-showrunner tweeted the Season 4 photos to prove it.

Hell yeah. To further hit that point home, Macchio previously told us that the crane kick kick was such a big hit at an early screening that “a majority of the audience — whether they were 10 or 62 years old — they were out on the sidewalk doing the crane pose to each other.” And now, Johnny has that power, so good on him.

Most notable as the frontman of Blood Orange, Devonté Hynes has also built an impressive resume as a composer of film scores. Hynes’ film score credits include Melina Matsoukas’ Queen & Slim in 2019, Gia Coppola’s Palo Alto (2013) and Mainstream (2020), Luca Guadagnino’s We Are Who We Are (2020), and most recently for actress Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut in the Harlem renaissance drama, Passing, which comes out on Netflix tomorrow.

Hynes has just shared “Passing,” the title track to the film, a somber trumpet-laden number with a hushed piano in the background. He certainly has a penchant for setting the mood musically for dramas and you can almost feel the imagery of the cold Autumn streets that Tessa Thompson’s main character traverses in the film’s scenes. Hynes also recently scored the HBO series In Treatment this year and his music showed a distinct ability to heighten the emotion of serious interactions between characters. It’s brilliant in and of itself, but it lets the picture shine above all else.

As for Passing, it’s based on a 1929 novel by author Nella Larsen, and tells the story of a 1920s Black woman (Thompson) who re-connects with an old friend (played by Oscar nominee Ruth Negga) who is living her life passing as a white woman during the Harlem Renaissance. Watch the trailer for it below and listen to “Passing” by Devonté Hynes above.

While Demi Lovato has brought joy to fans for years through their music, the artist is now making this a bit more, well, intimate. Following Gwyneth Paltrow releasing her own line of sex toys through her lifestyle brand Goop, Lovato has partnered with sex toy retailer Bellesa to launch their own discreet device: the Demi Wand.

According to its listing (via Rolling Stone), the Demi Wand is a compact 5.5-inch device that works “for all body types” and offers the user “whisper quiet” yet intense vibrations in eight speeds. The toy comes in two colors — beige and bright, buttery yellow — and is made of “silky-smooth” silicone that’s non-porous, body-safe, and fully water-resistant, making it easy for cleaning as well as bath time fun. Last but certainly not least, the vibrator also comes with a clam-shell carrying case that charges the device when not in use, similar to AirPods. Honestly, this might just be the device’s biggest selling point, as it makes it a real must-buy for folks who never seem to have any batteries lying around or, much like myself, can’t even be bothered to charge their phone half the time. The Demi Wand is available exclusively through Bellesa Boutique and retails for $79.

According to Lovato, this venture is part of their greater mission to reduce the stigma surrounding sex toys, as well as make them more inclusive and gender-neutral. In their press release for the toy, Lovato said:

“There is nothing more empowering than taking your pleasure into your own hands. We have spent far too long pretending we are not sexual beings – it’s time for us to put this stigma to rest. We are all deserving of pleasure. We are all deserving of orgasms.”

Lovato also shared the news on their Instagram, writing in the caption they “wanted to create my own sex toy to take the stigma away from pleasure, and to take your sexual relationship to the next level.”

In addition to Lovato, the partnership is also a massive milestone for Bellesa. Founded in 2017, Bellesa got its start by creating by-women, for-women pornography, and used its success in that industry to help launch Bellesa Boutique, an online storefront specializing in sex toys and sex-positive merchandise. Bellesa CEO Michelle Shnaidman gushed about Lovato and the collaboration, calling the musician “someone who is fiercely and unapologetically themself” and ultimately embodies “the Bellesa brand.”

“Demi is someone who is fiercely and unapologetically themself. This is the embodiment of the Bellesa brand .. We set out to design a product that is empowering, inclusive and approachable, in the way that Demi is. We achieved that, together, with The Demi Wand. It is a truly brilliant pleasure product that we are proud to introduce.”

Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany and former Senior Advisor Stephen Miller have just become the latest Trump administration stooges to get slapped with subpoenas by the January 6 committee. In late October, both their names came up in a trove of documents on the insurrectionist attack that Trump is trying to prevent the National Archives from releasing, so the two of them being dragged before Congress is not a total surprise. However, it should be a worrying development for others in Trump’s orbit during his disastrous “Stop the Steal” really that resulted in the U.S. Capitol being attacked by MAGA rioters. Via Mediaite:

McEnany has been subpoenaed for her very public comments pushing false claims of election fraud (including some absolute mathematical nonsense) and for allegedly being with Trump as the Capitol riots unfolded.

Miller was similarly subpoenaed for his public comments stirring up election lies.

According to the New York Times, the documents Trump is attempting to assert executive privilege over reportedly contain “proposed talking points” for McEnany from the day of the January 6 attack. As for Miller, he is referenced in 46 of the 770 pages that Trump wishes to block. However, President Joe Biden has already declared that Trump’s executive privilege ended when he left office, which naturally, triggered a court battle over the documents being released.

(Via Mediaite)

The National Rifle Association (or the NRA) is probably the most powerful political lobbyist organization on Capitol Hill. The group has dug in on their Second Amendment agenda in recent years and funded millions of dollars to various members of Congress to get their legislation passed. They’ve got a large, loyal, uber-conservative fanbase behind them too, one that’s so loyal in fact that top NRA executives don’t mind trashing them as “hillbillies” and “fruitcakes” in private meetings. (Because really, what are they going to do? Stop owning guns?)

A recently unearthed recording of a secret meeting between high-level NRA members following the Columbine shooting in 1999 paints a pretty grim picture of the group that claims to be representing everyday Americans invested in protecting their Constitutionally-given rights. The closed-door meeting happened soon after the mass school shooting left 13 dead and dozens more injured, and was recorded by a participant who asked to remain anonymous when giving NPR access to the tapes. NPR published parts of transcripts taken from the 2.5 hours worth of recordings today and those documents contain some damning insight into the organization, including how higher-ups within the group view their most outspoken supporters.

As the group, which consisted of NRA chief Wayne LaPierre, NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer, PR consultant Tony Makris, among others, debated on whether to hold a planned convention in Denver just days after the shooting, a handful of members questioned whether doing so would invite the more fringe guns-rights activists to stir up trouble for them.

“The people you are most likely to get in that member meeting without an exhibit hall are the nuts,” LaPierre says of the planned exhibit set-up before Makris quickly chimes in, “I agree. The fruitcakes are going to show up.”

Hammer can be heard backing both men saying, “You’re going to have the wackos … with all kinds of crazy resolutions, with all kinds of, of dressing like a bunch of hillbillies and idiots. And, and it’s gonna, it’s gonna be the worst thing you can imagine.”

NPR reached out to the NRA for comment after verifying the recordings and their courses to which the gun group responded like this:

“It is disappointing that anyone would promote an editorial agenda against the NRA by using shadowy sources and ‘mystery tapes’ in order to conjure up the tragic events of over 20 years ago.”

So, it sounds less like the firm is outright denying any of their executive members would ever disparage their base and more like they’re trying to draw attention away from the name-calling by questioning why tapes from 20 years ago still matter. An interesting strategy, though, probably not a good one.

(Via NPR)

Alec Benjamin first started out in music by teaching himself how to play guitar in his bedroom. Fast-forward several years and the “Let Me Down Slowly” singer boasts more than 5 billion global streams and several platinum-certified singles. But his path to success wasn’t always linear. In Uproxx’s latest How I Blew Up segment, Benjamin walks his fans through his triumphs and setbacks during his rise to fame.

Benjamin began making music in high school after a brief identity crisis led him to pick up a guitar. When Benjamin signed his first record deal in the early 2010s, he thought it was his big break. But it ended up being a turbulent time for new artists, as music streaming services weren’t yet popular.

After being dropped from the label, Benjamin found his passion for his career ignited and he decided to start from the ground up. “It was a good gut check for how much I actually wanted to do music,” he told Uproxx. Benjamin’s plan was to play as many shows as he could. “I did a lot of open mics and then I also released a lot of music online,” he said. “I started putting out a song every week.”

Eventually, Benjamin was able to build up a massive following. He signed a new record deal and his 2018 track “Let Me Down Slowly” acted as his breakout hit. But the singer says the moment he really knew he “made it” was when his friends started to text him and say they heard his music on TV or the radio. “That was tight,” he recalled.

Watch Benjamin detail his rise to fame in his episode of Uproxx’s How I Blew Up above and check out more artist interviews in the series here.

Alec Benjamin is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.