The pursuit of worthiness

    Anyone who has bought Stone's bottles should be familiar with their mockery of mass manufactured beer and its drinkers. And they kick the mockery up a notch with their Bastards lineup, "This is an aggressive ale. You probably won’t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth."
    While it is should be clear that this is good natured banter, one would expect a lot of substance in these beers, to be deserving of such strong words, even as a joke. For folks like me, one of the methods to determine the quality of a beer is to compare it against the best examples; the other method being personal liking. On the two biggest beer websites, Stone's Bastards are listed under the umbrella of "American Strong Ale." Stone claims, and rightfully so, that the very origin of this style is the Arrogant Bastard Ale, and that there's none alike, "As the progenitor of its style, Arrogant Bastard Ale has reveled in its unprecedented and uncompromising celebration of intensity. There have been many nods to Arrogant Bastard Ale…even outright attempts to copy it… but only one can ever embody the true nature of liquid Arrogance!"
    The Arrogant Bastard ale came out 13 years ago and many styles have been invented since so one would expect that American Strong Ale would be a well defined style by now and ask the question, "What are the guidelines for an American Strong Ale?" Since my primary source for all things related to beer styles BJCP doesn't have any such category, I turned to Google: click on the link or just see the results in the picture below:

    The definitions from these websites are copied here for your convenience, with the exception of Wikipedia definition that draws from these:

• Beeradvocate "Catch all style category for beers from 7.0 percent alcohol by volume and above. Some may even be as high as 25% abv. Characteristics will greatly vary; some have similarities to Barley-wines and Old Ales. Barrel aging is certainly not out of the question."
• ratebeer "Not a style, per se, but the only logical category to incorporate the plethora of strong, stylistically vague beers coming from American micros these days. Some are related to English Strong Ales, but with more hop, while others are ultra-strong variants on the IPA or red ale themes. But no matter how varied their origins or characters might be, all are intense, potent, with generous quantities of hops and malt."
• Home Brewing Wiki "American Strong Ale is a catch-all term used to describe a diverse group of beers brewed by American craft brewers."

    Vague, right? I know. So I turned to Great American Beer Festival (GABF) that directed me to CraftBeer.com but there's no such style there either.
    Finally I turned to Stone's BeerU and got this:

    My conclusion: There's no such thing as a single quintessential American Strong Ale. I'll add that in my opinion, Stone's Bastards could also be called American Old/Stock Ales, if you need to call them something. Reason being that they taste a lot like aggressively hopped versions of strong, malty, beers. Much like traditional Old ales/Stock ales/Barleywines, only much much hoppier.
    In any case, they're a class apart and Stone did invent them!

    Now that it's understood (or not) what to expect, let me describe the setting of this tasting. As this page, titled The Evolution of Arrogance, would reveal, Arrogant Bastard Ale was released in 1997, Double Bastard Ale in 1998, Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale in 2004, and to celebrate 13 years of "liquid arrogance", Stone released Lukcy 13asartd (Lucky Bastard) a few weeks ago.

Beer	ABV	Year of release	Other
Arrogant Bastard	7.2%	1997	The first American Strong Ale. A strongly hoppy ale with a big malt character too, unlike D/IPAs in which malts are lighter in character.
Oaked Arrogant Bastard	7.2%	2004	Oaked Arrogant Bastard, just like the name says.
Lukcy 13asartd	8.5%	2010	A dry hopped blend of AB, OAB, and Double Bastard.
Double Bastard	11.2%	1998	Arrogant Bastard, doubled. Literally.

    I am from MN and Stone doesn't have distribution here. However, many of their offerings are available 30 minutes away in Hudson, WI, although this won't be the case anymore since they're pulling out of WI too, but might start distributing to MN. We'll see. Anyway, Arrogant Bastard and Oaked AB are easy to find in Hudson but I had to request a friend to get me Double Bastard and Lucky from Chicago and he was kind enough to bring some even though he took the bus. Once I had all the bastards chilling in the fridge, it was time for a tasting. Keep in mind that these ales are palate wreckers, and the order in which we had them was very important! Although, we saved some to try side by side as well. Here are the notes and comments, in the order the beers were sampled:

Arrogant Bastard

You're Not Worthy

Poured into a New Belgium snifter. Rust brown colored and clear; dark tan head with good retention and lacing; massive hops in the nose with notes of pine, citrus, herb and grass. Subdued malts, with notes of caramel and brown sugar in the aroma. Medium bodied with firm bitterness and caramel notes without any sweetness. Very very bitter! More bitter than most IPAs and DIPAs, with sticky character of caramel in body but not in taste. While Stone recommends an enjoy by date, this should be enjoyed at all ages. Finishes clean and bitter. Old review here.

Oaked Arrogant Bastard

You're Still Not Worthy

Poured into a New Belgium snifter. I have had and reviewed this beer before, but when it was within the freshness date and I strongly recommend having it after that date, to let the Oak emerge from the massive shadow of hops. The one in the tasting was past its freshness date and I am glad it was. Looks like Arrogant Bastard, but with a slightly lighter hue and haziness, that is not chill haze. Hops in the aroma had muted and aroma had strong notes of Oak (wood, vanilla) along with the brown sugar and caramel character. Taste had a similar profile and was still massively bitter: I think it'll take years for the bastards to get any less bitter!

Lukcy 13asartd

A Slef Trbitue to 13 Yaers of Arorgnace

Poured into a Lucifer snifter.
Appearance 5/5

Dark ruby, rust brown colored, and slightly hazy with a big and creamy brown head with good head retention and kickass lacing.

Aroma 4.5/5

This one sure is aggressively dry hopped, to the extent that other Bastards that are no short of hops seem pale against this one. The aroma has the most intense herbal and leafy character from dry hopping. Very fresh smelling, and un-bastardly to be frank. My only complaint is the complete dominance of hops on caramel and oak.

Taste 4/5

Strangely light and fruity taste, perhaps because the palate is conditioned to hop assault by now, but most likely because of the freshness introduced by intense dry hopping combined with the dark caramel sweetness. Yes, the sweetness of malts finally shows up among the group and it's not surprising that it's coming from Double Bastard. However, oak still seems absent.
Mouthfeel 5/5

Body is certainly bigger than AB and OAB. Low carbonation, or perceived so because of higher temperature. Clean finish with a long lasting bitterness and hop flavor.
Drinkability 5/5

Very good.
Other

This is Bastard & a half if you ask me! I can't tell if I'd like to age this one because the hop character will fade, but it's a shame that oakiness is completely shadowed in this version.

Double Bastard

Ye Shall Know the Bastard, and the Bastard Shall Set You Free

Poured into a Duvel tulip.
Appearance 5/5

Dark ruby and rusty, with the clarity and depth of molten lava. Big brown head, great retention and lacing.
Aroma 4/5

Pine, citrus and caramel rule. Strangely, not as strong smelling as I thought it would be.

Taste 4/5

Strongly bittersweet. Very sweet compared to other bastards but more bitter as well. Seems like an American Barleywine except that it's much more close to AB than any other beer. Caramel notes are present but it's mostly the hop flavor that dominates. Finish is quite clean given the amount of malts in this ale.
Mouthfeel 5/5

Viscous, thick, coating and overwhelming with low carbonation. Spot on.
Drinkability 5/5

Very good, given the ABV. Can't have it too fast and can't have too much, but whatever you can have will go down damn smooth.
Other

This ale is recommended for aging and I sure as hell will if I can get another bottle.

    After we were done sampling these at least once, someone asked that how do these differ from AIPAs and DIPAs, which makes sense to ask because hops rule these beers. So we cracked open a Bell's Two Hearted. Holy shit! It tasted like a lightly sweet beverage, like a mango-banana smoothie. I kid you not, no bitterness and no hop flavor at all could be perceived. Although the IBUs on the bastards are classified, I have no doubt that they easily exceed 100. On top of that the caramel character is HUGE, like a double, if not triple, ESB, if any such thing were to exist.

90 Minute IPA

90 Minute IPA

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

Double IPA

9% ABV

90 IBUs

OG?

12 oz bottled 11/02/2010 poured into a New Belgium snifter on 11/26/2010

Appearance 4.5/5

A very “deep” looking beer: so smooth and viscous that it doesn’t splash or foam much even when poured vigorously. Burnt orange hued, slightly hazy with a very creamy and very dense off white head. Good head retention and lacing, signature DIPA looks on this one.

Aroma 3.5/5

Earthy and grassy hop aroma, like green leaves in mud but meant in a good way. Very different from other D/IPAs but not strong enough. Sweet malts are present too.

Taste 3.5/5

Bitter and flavorful with hops but overly malty. Fruitiness is present but seems clashing. Some booze. Taste is better than average but nowhere close to the best. Gets cloying after a while.

Mouthfeel 4/5

Silkier and heavier bodied than most examples of the style with decent carbonation but not biting or crisp.

Drinkability 4/5

Drinkability is alright for a 9% ABV beer but it doesn’t seem like a DIPA.

Unplugged Apple Ale

Unplugged Apple Ale

New Glarus Brewing Company

Fruit/Vegetable Beer

4% ABV

IBUs?
OG?

12 oz. bottle from 2010 release poured into an Ommegang balloon glass on 11/25/2010.

Appearance 3.5/5

Brilliantly clear, amber-orange, with a white creamy head. Average head retention and some lacing.

Aroma 3.5/5

Weak spice and some apple.

Taste 4/5

Light, but bright, tartness and apple notes with a refreshing sweet spiciness. Medium finish with a good after-apple aftertaste.

Mouthfeel 4/5

Medium-light body and good carbonation.

Drinkability 4.5/5

Easy drinking yet flavorful.

Kaliber (non-alcoholic)

Kaliber

Guinness Ltd.

Non-alcoholic beer (<0.5% ABV)

Poured into a beer mug.

Brilliantly clear, dark golden colored with some white head, poor head retention, but some lacing. Looks like a beer and better than many real beers.

Sweet toasty bready aroma with ugly sulfur notes and the exact same taste with plenty of sweetness, zero hops, sulfur notes and a sweetish finish. Body is very decent, and better than many other regular beers, but manages to stay crisp with carbonation. If you're willing to ignore the sulfur and drink cold and fast enough such that the sweet finish fails to bother, it's a decent drink.

Overall a "not horrible" non-alcohol alternative but I'd rather drink Coke etc.

Scores (out of 5): Appearance 3.5; Aroma 2.5; Taste 2.5; Mouthfeel 4; Drinkability 4

Northern Hemisphere Harvest ale

Northern Hemisphere Harvest ale
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
American Pale Ale
6.7% ABV
60-65 IBUs
OG 16.5 Plato, FG 4.0 Plato
24 oz bottle from 2010 batch, bottled on the 266th day of the year (September 23, 2010 I suppose), poured into a wine glass on November 27, 2010.

Appearance 5/5
Slight hazy, amber-red hued with a big, dense head; excellent head retention and lacing. Got clearer with rising temperature.

Aroma 3/5
My apologies for not being in a room devoid of all other smell (pizza, flowers, carpet...) but it's hard to pick any aroma from it. A weak smelling beer! There are bready sweet malts and the hop aroma becomes a little assertive with rising temperature but that's about it. Smells like "beer" was the second opinion I sought. Damn SN, first Celebration and then this! Great tasting beer, as I have written later, but lackluster aroma.

Taste 4.5/5
Riding on a simple, lightly sweet malt base is a solid hop presence that would put many AIPAs to shame! Very flavorful and massively bitter, this beer is a good example of how IBUs could be deceptive, as far as the perceived bitterness goes: as an example, KBS is 70 IBUs and is certainly bitter, among other things, but bitterness would never be central to that beer; while in the case of Northern Hemisphere Harvest, flavorful bitterness reigns supreme with earthy and spicy hop character, and some citrus. The hop profile is reminiscent of Surly Furious to some extent, although this beer precedes Furious by years.

Mouthfeel 5/5
Sticky and resiny hop presence on this medium bodied beer, with medium carbonation and a semi-dry bittering finish.

Drinkability 4.5/5
Very good drinkability but when it comes to throwing back a few, I'd prefer Daisy Cutter because of 1.5% less ABV. Otherwise flawless!

Other
A great beer that celebrates simplicity and balance without any hype or overpricing. This is a wet hop ale I really like even though the wet hop character seemed muted after 2 months of bottling. Seeing as this beer was brewed with Centennial hops, I was looking for a character similar to all Centennial Bell's Two Hearted and Founders Centennial but the fruitiness was missing and this one was very clean with only the bitterness shining. Highly recommended. Did I mention it's less than $5 for a 24 oz. bottle?!

J.W.Lees Vintage Harvest Ale (1999)

J.W.Lees Vintage Harvest Ale
J.W.Lees
English Barleywine (perhaps the best!)
11.5% ABV
OG?
IBUs?

11.2 oz bottle (1999 vintage) poured into a 25 oz snifter on November 23, 2010 at room temperature.

    Opened with a hiss! Pours clear and deep ruby-garnet, with a big bubbly light tan head with good head retention and some lacing. Even after 11 years in the bottle, it looks just fine. That's something considering many (other) beers from 2005 or later have the been reported to have the most gross looking sediment at this point. I have had this beer and its other versions before and have seen some floating chunks but this particular bottle had none. Regardless, looks wise it's a 5/5.

    The aroma of this beer is like none other in terms of strength. The most prominent notes are of figs, dates and raisins, and of dark caramel, toffee and brown sugar, with some alcohol in the background. This is a familiar aroma, or at least the notes are if not their exact combination, but it is the strength of this intense malty and dried, dark fruity aroma that makes this ale exceptional! The dark sweetness practically jumps out of the glass and keeps inviting to take a sip.

    The taste has notes identical to smell, just stronger. Although there were no hops whatsoever in the aroma, there's a nice cleansing bitterness that comes from hops but feels similar to the slight bitterness and slight astringency of dates and figs. Starts quite sweet followed by the said bitterness and some vinous character in the middle and finishes exceptionally clean for its sweetness. The finish is long with an excellent dried fruit flavor. Overall very well rounded and complex. The body is medium with low carbonation and excellent drinkability! This ale offers a great flavor experience and its taste meets and exceeds the expectations set by aroma.

    One of my favorites and one of the best I ever had, this ale was an eye opener for me that showed me the level of complexity and deliciousness a malt forward beer could achieve without losing its balance.

Scores: Appearance, Aroma, Taste, Mouthfeel, Drinkability 5/5 on all!

Ola Dubh Special Reserve 12

Ola Dubh Special Reserve 12
Harviestoun Brewery Ltd.
8.00% ABV

11.2 oz 1997 Vintage (September) poured into a 25 oz snifter.

A very impressive bottle, with foil around the neck, two signatures, and a tiny booklet on the neck describing the similarity between the soul of this ale and Highland Park whisky, and describing the different expressions of Highland Park. Classy looks and presentation! I am intrigued! Pours in a clear, very dark brown stream and looks pitch black with a brown bubbly head that stays around and leaves some lacing. A good looking beer for sure. I am even more intrigued at this point, and even before I stick my nose in it, a rich malty aroma is filling the surroundings: massive on figs, rum raisins, dark to burnt caramel, chocolate, and some other things that I'd collectively call Speyside Scotch; and yes, there is soft alcohol present. The aroma is reminiscent of J.W.Lees Harvest Ale to some extent, and I am thinking to myself that I have found another gem from the British Isles.

Cautiously happy with my purchase ($9/11.2 fl oz.), I bring the snifter to my lips and my tastebuds scream WHAT THE FUCK! This can't be! This beer, keeping in mind its aroma and looks, tastes like nothing. Nada. Complex? No. Malts? No. Roast? No. Hops? No. Esters? No. Anything? I don't know. Long after I have let it warm from room temperature to slightly above room temperature, there's some roast in the finish etc. etc. This is such a big fucking letdown that I do not want to waste words. But for the sake of the review, I will: some sweetness that leads towards some astringent roast and leaves a fruit-and-nut chocolate aftertaste riding on a sweet finish.

A very thin body with low carbonation that is entirely against the hopes of strength this beer aroused. Is it a horrible beer? Perhaps not. Is it a beer worth buying and drinking? NO. For the price I paid, I could almost get a four pack of Breakfast Stout for instance, and that would be money well spent. I would rather drink Four Loko than this cloying, yet thin, late term abortion!

Appearance: 5/5
Aroma: 4/5
Taste: 2/5
Mouthfeel: 1/5
Drinkability: 1/5

Schneider Aventinus (Tap 6)

Schneider Aventinus (Tap 6)
Private Weissbierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH
Weizenbock
8.2% ABV
OG?
IBUs?
Undecipherable date code, poured into a Sam Adams perfect pint.

Appearance 4/5
Surprisingly clear, brilliantly burnt brown colored, with a light tan colored huge, dense head that dissipated with soda like fizzing into a rather modest one and, surprisingly, didn't leave any lacing. At first I thought that this was going to be a great looking beer, but as it turned out, not quite.

Aroma 4.5/5
Aroma is, simply put, magnificent: very sweet with dark caramely sweetness and fruity banana sweetness. It does remind of a doppelbock and a hefeweizen at the same time and has all the toasty-caramel notes with the banana-clove-tart hints. Brilliant.

Taste 3/5
Although not as strong as aroma, the taste is equally complex: dominated by banana-caramel flavor, with slightly tannic and slightly bitter finish. Very good until the finish that is excruciatingly sweet and cloying, making it hard to take another sip. Some alcohol helps, but still, the overly sweet aftertaste kills almost all the pleasure derived from drinking this one.

Mouthfeel 2/5
Thin body, but still somehow manages to stay around on the palate as if I drank LME. I don't get it!

Drinkability 2/5
If you chugged it you won't know but as it is, very tough to drink.

Hennepin

Hennepin
Brewery Ommegang
Saison
7.7% ABV
OG?
IBUs?
750 ml bottle with a best by date of May 2012 poured into a Duvel tulip on 11/17/2010.

Appearance: 4.5 | Aroma: 4 | Taste: 4 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Drinkability: 4

Poured hazy, pale orange colored, with a big "Belgian" head, and good retention and lacing.

Smelled lightly sweet, perfumy, with some esters and phenols and perhaps a touch of hops.

Tasted fruity with cleansing effervescence and bitterness at the back of the tongue. Light bodied with a crisp finish and momentary soft sweetness of alcohol along with some dark fruit like malts at the end. Slightly warming. Good drinkability.

Trappist Achel 8° Bruin

Trappist Achel 8° Bruin
Brouwerij der St. Benedictusabdij de Achelse
Belgian Dubbel
8% ABV
OG?
IBUs?
11.2 oz bottle with a best by date of March 17, 2012 poured into an Ommegang balloon on 11/16/2010.

Appearance 5/5
Clear, but not brilliantly so, with a rich and deep dark caramel color, and a big, dense, rocky light tan head. Good retention and excellent lacing. Very beautiful.

Aroma 3.5/5
Brown sugar and caramel notes upfront, with perfumy phenols and some lightly tart, lemony notes, that could've been because of escaping CO2. Yeasty. Weak smelling overall.

Taste 3.5/5
Brown sugar and caramel for the most part with no elements of dried fruits; very slightly bitter towards the end with a medium, long-ish finish that had hints of hops and residual sugars. Mellowing. Slightly tannic right before the finish, after it warmed up.

Mouthfeel 4/5
Medium to thin body; quite effervescent: the glass seemed too small at times to contain the huge carbonation!

Drinkability 4/5
I can throw back a few (and then get in trouble) but seemed like some mildly bittersweet tannic concoction to me, akin to a lightly sweetened black tea.

Two Hearted Ale FTW!

Two Hearted Ale
Bell's Brewery Inc.
American IPA
7.1% ABV
OG 1.064
IBUs?
Batch # 10064 poured into a Bell's tulip on 11/18/2010.

This review is special because this beer is special. This is one of the few top-notch beers that are never hard to find and never fail to delight. Strangely Bell's batch finder is returning an error for the batch number entered but I am positive that it was bottled within a month, because the previous batch of this ale is about that old.

Appearance 5/5
Slightly hazy, amber orange colored with a moderate dull white head with medium retention and excellent lacing.

Aroma 4/5
Smells of tropical fruit, specifically mango, along with massive citrus and some dry hopping induced grassy notes. Perhaps some malty sweetness is present too. A very good aroma but not strong enough.

Taste 4.5/5
Bitter, and flavorfully so, with some sweetness that combined with hops gives an impression of tropical fruit and lemon peel. Nothing too complex, but very good! The finish is not bone dry, but is still very clean with some residual bitterness and citrus flavor. Slightly warming.

Mouthfeel 5/5
Medium body because of a good malt backbone, with perfect carbonation and crispness.

Drinkability 4/5
Alcohol is a little on the high side; otherwise I could keep drinking this without getting bored.

Celebration Ale

Picture from SN's website.

Celebration fresh hop ale
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
American IPA
6.8% ABV
65 IBUs
OG 16.0 Plato, FG 4.0 Plato

Scores: Appearance: 4.5 | Aroma: 2 | Taste: 4 | Mouthfeel: 4.5 | Drinkability: 4.5

On tap at Sally's. Got this one in 2-for-1!

The bar I had this at is very dark, so it's hard to describe the color exactly; the beer seemed reddish copper with brilliant clarity and a dense off white head with good retention and nice, sticky lacing.

The nose was very disappointing. I thought I smelled some pine but cannot be sure, and that's about it. The taste was better, however: There was a decent malt backbone that manifested itself in the body but added little flavor and taste-wise hops ruled. Earthy, but with a citrusy zing to it, that seemed to get enhanced with rising temperature of the beer.

The finish wasn't the driest but was still very clean and massively bittering. A very well done combination of malts and *dominating* hops but not as good smelling as it tastes. Not the most refreshing beer but with the the right body and carbonation for an AIPA. Very drinkable.

Big beer tasting

Most of the traditional beer styles can be traced to The British Isles, Germany, Belgium and Czech Republic, among other regions/countries of the "beer belt". Czech Republic is probably known best for Bohemian Pilseners that are generally moderate to low in alcohol; and The British Isles, Germany, and Belgium have, arguably, brewed the strongest beer, traditionally.

At the same time, there's a lot of adaptation and innovation going on in the US and Canada, with traditional styles being blurred, merged, and further developed.

The primary source of alcohol in beer is malt and the stronger beers are naturally malt forward, among other characteristics like esters and phenols in European beers, massive hop presence in Double IPAs, American Barleywines etc. However, any style that more often than not exceeds 10% ABV has strong to dominant malt character.

Since the last tasting was a lot of fun, I planned another tasting of the strongest beer styles that represented the boldest the world had to offer, keeping the uniqueness in mind. As argued above, the regions selected were The British Isles, Belgium, Germany and North America, and after a little thinking I zeroed down to the following styles and examples. I am providing brief descriptions and links to the sources:

Left to right: Bourbon County Stout 2009, J.W.Lees Harvest Ale 2002, Rochefort 10 bottled 2010, Aventinus Weizen-eisbock bottled 2010

English Barleywine (from The British Isles)

Usually the strongest ale offered by a brewery and normally aged significantly prior to release. Very rich and strongly malty; intense and complex; strong notes of dry fruit, dark caramel, toast, toffee, molasses, soft alcohol, and perhaps vinous notes because of oxidation during aging. Big bodied and generously hopped to balance the malts, that still dominate the hops, especially with age. Martyn Cornell writes that Barleywine was never a style per se, or for that matter there were no rigid styles and some brewer happened to call their old ale Barleywine (the adjective "old" might have come because of aging potential/practice). Beer sampled at the tasting: J.W.Lees harvest ale (bottled 2002)

Belgian Quadrupel (from Belgium)

Very complex with malty sweetness and caramel/toast/bready character, esters, high alcohol and optional spiciness, that are derived from Belgian yeast strains. Notes of dried fruit, peppery spice and soft, perfumy alcohol are present. Another notable character of these ales is relatively light body that is achieved by using Belgian sugars in the wort: these adjuncts ferment out more than malts would resulting in lower residuals and hence lighter body, especially in the Trappist versions. However, in absolute terms the body is not light by any means. Beer sampled at the tasting: Trappistes Rochefort 10 (bottled 2010)

Weizen-Eisbock (from Germany)

This is not one style but a combination of two styles: Weizenbock (ales) & Eisbock (lagers). Eis- refers to freeze distillation of the base beer to achieve higher alcohol and concentrated, stronger flavors, followed by extended lagering to smooth the beer out. The beer we tried at the tasting was Schneider Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock (bottled 2010) that is closely related to Schneider Aventinus Weizenbock, so it makes more sense to discuss the latter kind and think of the former as a concentrated, stronger version.

Weizenbocks are darker and stronger Hefe/Dunkel-weizens with bock-like melanoidins, and therefore combine the classic banana-clove, and optional bubblegum character of wiezens with melanoidin, bready malt and dark fruit (plums, prunes, raisins or grapes) character of Doppelbocks.

The beer that we tasted is a recreation of an accidental freezing of Aventinus (the Weizenbock from the same brewery) during transport in 1930's.

American Imperial Stout (from North America)

The American Double Stout gets some of it inspiration from the Russian Imperial Stout. Many of these are barrel aged, mostly in bourbon / whiskey barrels, while some are infused with coffee or chocolate. Alcohol ranges vary, but tend to be quite big, and bigger than traditional Russian Imperial Stouts. Most tend to have cleaner alcohol flavors, higher hop levels, and more residual sweetness. Very full-bodied with rich roasted flavors far surpassing normal stouts. Beer sample at the tasting: Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout (bottled 2009)

Here’s a summary of the beers tasted, followed by comments:

Beer(brewery)	Country	Style	ABV etc.	Beeradvocate
Harvest Ale (J.W.Lees)	U.K.	English Barleywine	11.5%	A; #58/top-100
Trappistes Rochefort 10 (Brasserie de Rochefort)	Belgium	Quadrupel	11.3%	A; #6/top-100
Aventinus Weizen -Eisbock (G. Schneider & Sohn)	Germany	Weizen-eisbock	12%	A-
Bourbon County Brand Stout (Goose Island)	USA	American Imperial Stout	13%, 60 IBUs	A; #23/top-100

Comments:

All of us liked all of the beers and it’s hard to compare them objectively because they were different styles: dark dry fruit and caramel character was common to the English Barleywine, Quadrupel, and the Weizen-eisbock in the decreasing order of strength. Alcohol was also noticeable in all three but was soft, never harsh. There were still many many differences but the most striking were the apple and clove spice character of the Weizen-eisbock, which was the lightest bodied among the three; the dark vinous and effervescent character of the Quadrupel; and the intense dried fruit and dark caramel character, and strong body of the Barleywine, which was relatively bitter too among the three.

The American Imperial Stout was a wholly different beer that had strong notes of bourbon, chocolate, coffee and roast, and was described by one of us as “almost chocolate milkshake”. Overall it was quite fun and the brief comments above do not suffice as a review but serve to point out the most apparent differences.

I have reviewed all of the above, with Harvest Ale being my favorite. Here are the links to my reviews:

• Trappistes Rochefort 10
• Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock
• Bourbon County Stout
• J.W.Lees Vintage Harvest Ale

Great Divide Fresh Hop

Fresh Hop
Great Divide Brewing
American Pale Ale
6.2% ABV
OG?
IBUs?
On tap at Stub & Herb's

Appearance 4.5/5
Clear deep copper with a creamy off white head; decent head retention and good lacing.

Aroma 4/5
Very fruity in the nose with tropical fruit notes shining, mango & papaya, and some herbal aroma.

Taste 4/5
Flavorful bitterness riding on a good, but nondescript, malt base with a bitter, medium-dry finish.

Mouthfeel 3.5/5
Medium bodied with low-ish carbonation. I'd like it crispier, but it could be the serving temperature too.

Drinkability 4/5
Good but nothing exceptional given the flavor/ABV ratio.

Victory Storm King

Storm King
Victory Brewing Company
Russian Imperial Stout
9.1% ABV
12 oz. bottle with a best by date of Jan 2015 poured into a Duvel tulip on 11/11/2010.

Appearance 4.5/5
Clear and the darkest of brown; looks jet black in the glass sporting a dark mocha colored head. Decent retention and lacing.

Aroma 4/5
Dark molasses, dark fruit, roast, chocolate.

Taste 4/5
There's some sweetness in this beer, yes, but it is mightily crushed by the huge roast and hoppiness that is the USP of this beer. Tastes like heartily roasted coffee beans covered in the darkest of chocolates; so dark a roast that there's no acidity perceived! Finish is medium with subtle alcohol warming.

Mouthfeel 4.5/5
Silky with low carbonation which might be because of the warm serving temperature too. Could use some more body, seeing as the bottle I had is quite fresh.

Drinkability 4/5
Good. The overall impression is of a one-dimensional beer that is well done, but nothing exceptional.

Aventinus Weizen Eisbock

Aventinus Weizen Eisbock
Private Weissbierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH
Weizen-Eisbock
12% ABV
OG?
IBUs?
11.2 oz bottle (2008/08641) poured into a snifter on November 11, 2010. The bottle mentions that it is a recreation of an accidental freezing of Aventinus during transport in 1930's. Also, according to the label, this is an ale.

Appearance 5/5
Clear dark brown with a muddy off white creamy head didn't stay in its full glory for too long and subsided into a thin film on the beer, and left no lacing on its way.

Aroma 4.5/5
Aroma is a lot of good things: Toffee, caramel, toast, dried plums, raisins, perfume, and understandably, sweet, soft alcohol, approximately in increasing order. Reminiscent of Belgian Quadrupels and English Barleywines. A very rich and superb malt character that is complex, yet clean. Either the aroma is not long lasting, or the alcohol has numbed my sense of smell, but it's getting hard to pinpoint the different elements, especially because it's so well rounded and smooth.

Taste 4/5
Taste is like a flavorful concoction of dried fruits and alcohol, and the impression of this ale(?) is very close to a better wine. Starts rich and fruity and finishes quite bitter, and dry, with no particular aftertaste. In many respects it's like a fine Belgian ale but still very different. For instance, it achieves an amazingly dry finish, but with low carbonation, and no astringency at all. Very well done! However, I am left desiring more strength.

Mouthfeel 3/5
Mouthfeel of this beer is probably responsible for the lower taste score too, and it is very disappointing. Thin and watery! Especially for an aroma so enticing and a taste so magnificent, the mouthfeel is a complete let down!

Drinkability 4/5
Alcohol is felt, and felt again. Had it not been for the thin feel, the drinkability would have been spot on.

Other
Had it again, two days later, side by side with J.W.Lee's Harvest Ale (2002) and Trappistes Rochefort 10 (fresh). This bottle was fresher (2010/012840) and the looks of the beer were significantly better with a big creamy, rocky head and excellent retention and lacing that caused me to bump the score from 4.5 to 5/5.

Massive clove and green apple notes, that were either absent or passed undetected last time, were present, both in taste and aroma while the malt character seemed smaller against the other beers. It was interesting to see that how a beer that seemed very malt forward by itself had other elements (fruit, spice) that came out beautifully when contrasted against others. It was easy to detect the base German beer character too, that seemed lost in the previous bottle.

This beer is best drank slightly cold (55°F) compared to the beers it was had with (J.W.Lee's, Rochefort 10 ~ 65-70°F)