Cup of Joe Coffee Crème Stout

Cup of Joe Coffee Crème Stout
Short's Brewing Company
7% ABV
20 IBU's

    Winter seasonal (November). Stout with espresso beans and milk sugar. Received as an extra from lurchingbeast. Thanks man! Excited to try my first Short's brew having heard about their out-of-box methods! Poured from a 12 oz. bottle with no freshness date into a big snifter on 03/31/2011.

    Pours dark espresso brown with no head in spite of a very vigorous pour. Few bubbles form on the sides but much stronger and thicker beers pour with better heads. Looks silky and inviting nonetheless.

    This is a coffee stout, no doubt! Smells strongly of well roasted coffee beans and some sweetness at the back. If this beer is 4-5 months old now, I can only imagine how it would smell fresh! Nothing complex about it but exactly what you expect, and loads of it.

    While the aroma reminds of chewing on coffee beans, taste is more diverse: of course there is coffee, and the acidity that comes with it, but there's a good amount of sweetness as well. The overall impression is what I am guessing Shorts was aiming for: coffee with cream.

    Although it is smooth, there is some roast in the mouthfeel, and the perceived bitterness is way higher than 20 IBU's. Yes, they haven't fell short on adding coffee in here ;) The finish is slightly sweet with a long and very very flavorful coffee aftertaste. This belongs in the same league as Founders Breakfast Stout as far as the coffee flavors are concerned and I am sold!

Scores: Appearance 3/5, Aroma 4/5, Taste 4/5, Mouthfeel 4.5/5, Overall 4.5/5

Few reviews: Total Tap Takeover edition

Stone Brewing Co., one of my favorite breweries ever, just started to distribute to Twin Cities! And there are release parties, also called Total Tap Takeovers, all over the Cities this week. I attended the one at Stub & Herb's yesterday that was as big as any of those will get. Here's the beer list (✓ = I drank it last night):

• Arrogant Bastard Ale
• OAKED Arrogant Bastard Ale
• Stone IPA
• Stone Pale Ale
• Stone Smoked Porter
• Stone Levitation Ale

      ✓ Stone Ruination IPA

• Stone Cali-Belgique IPA
• Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale

      ✓ Double Dry Hopped Stone IPA
      ✓ Double Dry Hopped Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale

• Stone Smoked Porter w/ Vanilla Beans
• Stone Smoked Porter w/ Chipotle Peppers
• Double Bastard Ale w/ Chipotle Peppers
• Stone Smoked Porter aged in Bourbon Barrels

      ✓ 2008 Stone Imperial Russian Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels

• Arrogant Bastard Ale aged in Bourbon Barrels

      ✓ 2007 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine

• 2009 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine
• 2010 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine
• 2011 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine

      ✓ 2011 Stone Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine
      ✓ 2010 Stone Imperial Russian Stout

• Stone 14th Anniversary Emperial IPA
• 2010 Double Bastard Ale
• Green Flash/ Pizza Port Carlsbad/ Stone Highway 78 Scotch Ale

I did not review every beer I had, but reviewed a few in the following order:

2011 Stone Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine

12% ABV ; 85 IBU's
Served in a 10 oz. Chalice like glass.

    Hazy and dark amber, this beer was noticeably darker than 2007 Old Guardian. Poor head and poor head retention, but that could be these glasses too. The aroma is very different from what I expected in the sense that bubblegum and fruit notes have completely obliterated any notes of hops and malts. Not bad but not what I would want in a beer of this kind.

    The taste retains the bitterness but has flavorful Belgian twist to it. The resiny character that I associated with many American Barleywines is missing. However, the strong Belgian notes don't seem to gel as well with the sticky and heavy mouthfeel on this one, as they do with the relatively lighter body on Belgian-D/IPA's. I don't see the need to resort to Belgian yeast for a beer of this kind and in that sense it doesn't work.

    Further, the Belgian character is not complex, but rather full of bubblegummy notes. A well done beer for what it is but I am not buying it again!

Scores: Appearance 3/5, Aroma 3/5, Taste 3/5, Mouthfeel 4/5, Overall 4/5

2007 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine

12% ABV; 85 IBU's
Served in a 10 oz. Chalice like glass.

    Hazy and deep tangerine hued with a small off white head. Not big on head retention or lacing. It's amazing that the hops have survived 4 years and are still present in the strongly woody/resiny aroma. Bready and caramel malt notes are present as well.

    Lots of palate bruising bitterness but worth the flavor - earthy, resiny, and woody notes, strong caramel and dried fruit. I am glad that I got to try a brewer certified aged American Barleywine. Mouthfeel is thick and sticky with appropriate carbonation. The finish is clean and a little astringent without any alcohol burn. A very good beer!

Scores: Appearance 3/5, Aroma 4/5, Taste 4/5, Mouthfeel 4.5/5, Overall 4.5/5

2008 Stone Imperial Russian Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels

11.5% ABV
Served in a 10 oz. Chalice like glass.

    Darkest of burnt browns upon close inspection, -bal IRS looks every bit a top notch American Imperial Stout. Came with a surprisingly good thick and creamy dark tan head that left a good amount of lacing as it dissipated, when it did.

    Smells decadent, full of chocolate and cream and hints of vanilla. No booze and no acidity. Very different from the base beer in many respects.

    Bitter chocolate and bourbon dominate the taste; in fact this is one of the most chocolaty beers ever and a worthy contender to BCBS 08. The roast has completely mellowed out and makes for a staggeringly smooth drink that gracefully goes towards a bitter heavy bittersweet finish.
    The finish is very clean, perhaps because the beer is excessively carbonated? Really, the bubbles are irritating after a point and the body seems thin as well. Even then I was digging this beer until it came to room temperature and got very very boozy. A very good beer that could have been exceptional had it been lower on carbonation, a little bigger on body, but most importantly less boozy.

Scores: Appearance 5/5, Aroma 4.5/5, Taste 4/5, Mouthfeel 3/5, Overall 4/5

2010 Stone Imperial Russian Stout

10.8% ABV; 90 IBU's
Served in a 10 oz. tulip.

    Signature RIS, this beer looks black, opaque, and shiny; boasting a one finger creamy dark tan head. The head retention is good and some lacing is seen on the glass as it gets empty. When the head subsides completely, very dark brown highlights reveal its true color.

    I still have to have an RIS whose aroma will wow me, and Stone IRS is not that beer. Generic roast and sweet malts, pretty much. But the taste is a lot to my liking -- coffee, roast and acidity are alive here unlike the -bal version. A big beer that has notes of dark fruit and charred beans and a roasty, bittering and warming finish.
    Great mouthfeel on this one, with very present but not overwhelming carbonation and good body. Just as good as any other RIS that I have had, and one of the most balanced ones: not too roasty, not too  acidic, not too sweet, just right!

Scores: Appearance 5/5, Aroma 3/5, Taste 4/5, Mouthfeel 4.5/5, Overall 5/5

    The Ruination that I had wasn't as good as I remembered it to be but it could be the plate fatigue after all the heavy hitters I drank. The Double Dry-Hopped IPA was full of aweosme and the Double Dry Hopped SSRA, was a very unique and tasty beer too, full of notes of guava. Overall it was a great night. Later I ran into the Stone crew when they were coming in and got this DVD signed by Greg Koch!

Brewhouse Coffee Stout

Brewhouse Coffee Stout
Coffee Imperial Stout
Central Waters Brewing Co.
8.2% ABV

12 oz bottled 10/2010 poured into a snifter. Reddish brown with a light tan colored head, this stout pours quite clear and looks good -- medium head retention and good lacing. However, it's just not dark enough.

Smells peppery with some notes of coffee, coconut, and cream. Still not a whole lot going on here! Bittersweet and yucky, second rate coffee comes to mind upon first sip. I don't have a great taste in coffee, I admit, but this still seems weird. The mouthfeel is not bad... carbonation is okay and the body is actually quite decent compared to how thin this stout looked. But overall this was a disappointment and a drainpour.

Score: Appearance 3.5/5; Aroma 3/5; Taste 2/5; Mouthfeel 3/5; Overall 2/5

Aprihop

Aprihop
American IPA brewed with real apricots
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
7% ABV
50 IBUs
12 oz. longneck, bottled in "2011 3C" poured into a Surly pint glass.

    Deep and hazy orange peel colored, Aprihop poured with a nice light tan head, that took a few minutes to fall to a cap and left excellent lacing all over the pint glass. The fruity hop and fruit aroma was noticeable while pouring, but I couldn't find much of it later. There are some spicier hops  notes too lingering in the background.

    Bitter and flavorful, this one doesn't taste one bit sweet on the palate in spite of a good malt backbone. The hop flavors meld so well with the fruit that it's hard to say what's from hops and what's from apricots. Nice! The bitterness is not over the top but shines really well. One of the very few well done non-wild fruit beers, and perhaps the most subtle.

    There's an odd astringent character at the finish that seems like ground seeds. Otherwise the finish is good -- medium dry and slightly bittering with fruity notes. The carbonation is good and the rather strong body doesn't get heavy; in fact, I find it quite enjoyable.

    Aprihop is a very good introductory IPA that can also satisfy hopheads. It's too bad that Dogfish Head doesn't distribute to MN and is getting out of WI. This is not a beer I would trade for on its own but if it were easily accessible, I would consume more of it.

Scores: Appearance 4.5/5; Aroma 3/5; Taste 4/5; Mouthfeel 4.5/5; Overall 4.5/5

Dreadnaught

Dreadnaught
Double IPA
Three Floyds Brewing LLC
9.5% ABV
99 IBUs

    22 oz bomber with no freshness date poured into a snifter. However, this bottle is most likely very fresh because the store just got it in.

    Dreadnaught pours in a straw golden stream and forms a big and unwavering creamy off-white head atop the amber-peach hued beer. Very good head retention and good lacing. Very very DIPA.

    Aroma is a mix of pungent hoppy notes and fruity notes (lemon, mango), and smooth malts at the back. Taste is lush and juicy fruit -- tons of citrus and mango with a solid and pleasant sweetness. The bitterness, however, doesn't seem nearly close to the 99 IBU's tag. Right body, right carbonation and an amazingly clean finish.

    The overall regard for Dreadnaught might be because of the regard for Three Floyds but it's a very good DIPA too.

Scores: Appearance 4.5/5; Aroma 3.5/5; Taste 4/5; Mouthfeel 5/5; Overall 4/5

It was a good week for beer hauls!

    Picked up something very special to start (last picture of the post), then went to The Nova in Hudson, picked up a guaranteed uber fresh FFF Dreadnaught (date your bottles, please!), New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red, New Glarus Raspberry Tart, had a very good day, got to UPS next morning and picked up a package from my trading buddy.

Hit a bunch of my personal Wants and Beeradvocate Top-100. Here's some pr0n:

Left to right: Lukcy 13asartd; Hoppin' Frog's BORIS, Barrel Aged BORIS, DORIS; Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout; Girardin Gueuze 1882; Bourbon County Brand Stout 2010; Flossmoor Station's Bourbon Barrel Aged Hi-Fi Rye, Hi-Fi Rye; Ballast Point Sculpin; Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale. Larger image. Thanks Dan!

Completed the current link of my small vertical of Bourbon County Brand Stout,

Left to right: Bourbon County Brand Stout 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010

Another package that I got in today,

Left to right: Short's Wizard, Cup A Joe; Pannepot Reserva; Hoppy Feet; Parabola 2010; Dark Lord 2010; Daisy Cutter x 4. Thanks Frank!

And this is the very special thingy that started the haul!

Yes, that's exactly what it looks like. A case of 2011 KBS!

Sculpin

Sculpin
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits
American IPA
7% ABV
70 IBUs

22 oz. bomber with no freshness date poured into a New Belgium globe. Thanks Dan!

Appearance 5/5

Golden-tangerine with the appropriate haze of a dry hopped IPA, Sculpin poured with a big off white head that took its time to settle and left kickass lacing. Signature American IPA looks. Perfect.

Aroma 4/5

Lots of fruity hops in the aroma: most notably apricot and then some mango. Just a hint of the herbal character that comes with dry hopping. Very good, but not up there in my opinion.

Taste 3/5

Smoothly bitter but hugely lacking flavor, and rather one dimensional. Is it not fresh? No one will know because Ballast Point doesn't date the bottles. Leaves a bitter aftertaste even though it's not all that bitter that brings us to the next item, mouthfeel.

Mouthfeel 2.5/5

Even though it says right on the bottle that this is a light bodied ale, I don't deem that a good excuse for an almost entirely missing malt backbone. Thin, and very thin when warm. Finishes dry but what's the point? I firmly believe that there should be a stronger body and more malts in a 7% ABV beer.

Overall 2/5

Sculpin was underwhelming, big time. There was no malt backbone whatsoever and the hop flavor was entirely missing in the taste in spite of the great aroma. Scupin is not the most bitter IPA but that's not my beef -- fresh Two Hearted is a great example of a fruity IPA that's not a bitterness bomb, and yet is amazing.

Bitter American

Bitter American
21st Amendment Brewery
Extra Pale Ale
4.4% ABV
OG?
42 IBUs

12 oz can, about a month old, poured into a Saison Dupont stange.

Appearance 5/5

Brightly clear, deep golden-amber colored, with a good off white head, good head retention and lacing.

Aroma 4.5/5

Tropical fruit dominates -- mangoes and pineapples, but there's the minty freshness of sharper smelling hops too lurking somewhere. Sweet malts come up eventually, and hint at a present malt base.

Taste 3.5/5

Some esters and malt sweetness that play well with the fruity hop flavors. Easy drinking, and the bitterness is really not all that high. The finish is dry, which is fine, but the aftertaste has some inexplicable astringency to it that is unexpected and not welcome!

Mouthfeel 4/5

The body and carbonation are okay at first but the body seems a tad thin as the beer warms up.

Overall 4.5/5

A good tasting beer, and great for its ABV. One of the best lower alcohol options, but I doubt if it will hold up for 2 months after its canning date.

New Glarus Fruit twins

Wisconsin Belgian Red
New Glarus Brewing Company
Wisconsin Cherry Ale
4% ABV

    Poured into a wine glass. Brilliantly clear, bright scarlet colored with a medium sized creamy pink hued head. Average head retention and little lacing, but very beautiful looking beer, especially when help up to light.

    Aroma is very sweet, loaded with cherries and some softer floral notes. The taste is similar, but stronger: very sweet but in a light and tart way, with a bare hint of hops at the end. Lip smacking good. Medium bodied with good carbonation, but not enough to scrub the sweetness off the palate, or it could be the temperature of the beer, which has gotten warmer. Overall a very good and unique beer.

Scores: Appearance 4.5/5; Aroma 4/5; Taste 4/5; Mouthfeel 4.5/5; Overall 4/5

---

Raspberry Tart
New Glarus Brewing Company
Wisconsin Framboise Ale
4% ABV

    Poured into a wine glass. Deep, but clear, ruby colored with a moderate light pink head. Average retention and lacing. Very very good looking and inviting.

    Fruity and floral perfume, strong raspberry and soft oak constitute the smell. The taste is sweet and tart, full of excellent raspberry flavor and stays on lips even after the beer is gone. Oak is certainly felt and complements the fruit well. Very good and very unique if bit of a novelty. Not the most drinkable beer in terms of quantity but very impressive in smaller servings.

Scores: Appearance 4.5/5; Aroma 4/5; Taste 4/5; Mouthfeel 4.5/5; Overall 4/5

Trappistes Rochefort 8

Trappistes Rochefort 8
Brasserie de Rochefort (Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy)
Quadrupel
9.2% ABV

11.2 oz bottle (fresh) poured into a big snifter. Clear, unsaturated brown with a creamy medium light brown head. The head retention is good for the glass and lacing is poor as expected (the glass, again). Very dark chunky sediment is carefully avoided.

The aroma was very very potent to begin. It could be called saturating, or even numbing if you go too close... sniff at a safe Scotch like distance! Fresh baked fruit dessert, specifically pear, contained sweetness, and spice (especially apparent after knowing that there is some coriander in it). Slightly sweet on palate with plenty of freshly caramelized sweetness in the aftertaste. Signature Rochefort. Medium body, ample carbonation, clean and dry finish, long aftertaste, dangerous drinkability. Slight bitterness noted at the end. Floral notes at times, very very delicate. Dark fruit emerges with warmth. What a yeast!

Rochefort should be an adjective in beer vocabulary. Very similar in character to 10, but less tannic and certainly thinner. On the up side, alcohol is less interfering too.

Scores -- Appearance: 4, Aroma: 4, Taste: 4, Mouthfeel: 4.5, Overall: 4.5

Homebrew # 3

    After an exciting first attempt and a not so encouraging second (undocumented), we decided to innovate on an existing kit to brew an Islay Whisky Porter. The base kit was Northern Brewer's Bourbon Barrel Porter, and we replaced the bourbon by Laphroaig 10, and added an extra pound of specialty malt (~8 oz Peated malt, the rest Crystal malt) to achieve a peaty scotch character and a more robust body. While the result is not the ass kicker we wished it would be, it's still a worthy beer that continues to improve with conditioning. I'll say that it's good enough for my review ;)
    12 oz poured into a big snifter. ~6.5% ABV. Pours clear and very dark brown and looks opaque in the snifter. Huge mocha colored head is formed as a result of a vigorous pour with very good retention and some lacing. I must add that this snifter is very tough to lace, and our beer does a better job than many others!

    Aroma is sweet malts, smoke, and leather - uniquely Laphroaig, and yet the booziness coefficient is fortunately 0. Opens fruity but gets roasty bitter quickly and finishes with some astringency, slightly bitter taste and some warmth. Faintly smoky notes are present in the bittersweet aftertaste. Warmth enhances the aroma and the fruity nature of the beer.

    The body is medium and the carbonation is low. Silky but not as thick as I would like, and  yet the finish is a little sweet for my taste and the estimated abv. If I finish the beer before finishing my notes, it generally means that the beer is very drinkable. Still the fact remains that this is not the beast we hoped for.

    Scores: Appearance 4.5/5; Aroma 4.5/5; Taste 3.5/5; Mouthfeel 4/5; Drinkability 4/5. Numbers aside, I think this a beer I would pay for at a bar and that makes me happy!

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout
Foreign Extra Stout
Guinness
7.5% ABV

    Fuck you Guinness for putting a freshness "code" and making your website so damn tough to access. Fuck you again for making Guinness Draught. Now on to review.

    11.2 oz. bottle with a strange code under Best Before poured into a Lion mug. Dark brown and clear with a big mocha colored creamy head with excellent retention and excellent lacing. Perfect looks for a stout of its strength.

    Dark and sweet malts and molasses would be pretty good descriptors for the aroma on this stout. The taste begins on fruity notes that transform into molasses and some acidic notes, and finishes very harsh, charred, and bitter. Didn't expect this from Guinness! Some molasses like flavors linger along with hints of sweetness but overall very dry and deeply bittering.

    The body is medium and the carbonation high that works (?) in this case because FES is not a silky smooth stout by any means. Alcohol is never noticed but more than a couple of these won't be too enjoyable.

Scores: Appearance 5/5; Aroma 3.5/5; Taste 3.5/5; Mouthfeel 2/5; Drinkability 3.5/5

Unplugged Abt

Unplugged Abt
Quadrupel
New Glarus Brewing Co.
9.75% ABV
OG 20° Plato

12 oz. bottle poured into a 3 Philosophers glass.

    Poured caramel brown, fairly bright and clear, with a dull colored medium sized head that dissipated fast with a soda like fizzing sound. None of the glorious looks that come with the style. No lacing either. Smells of caramel, candy with some vinously tart notes. Aroma is certainly not this ale's strength.

    One suggestion: the warmer the better. The taste of Unplugged Abt went from being thoroughly unimpressive to good over the course of the hour. Bitter caramel dominated the taste, with chocolaty, yeasty, and vinous notes complementing it.Medium bodied, bursting with carbonation, with a crisp, tannic, and dry finish that left a slightly bitter aftertaste and plenty of warmth. The alcohol is well concealed. Not the best of the style by any means but certainly not bad.

Scores: Appearance 3/5; Aroma 3/5; Taste 4/5; Mouthfeel 4/5; Drinkability 4/5

Tank 7

Tank 7
Saison
Boulevard Brewing Company
8% ABV
38 IBUs
Color 12 (EBC)
OG 17.3 Plato, FG 2.5 Plato
12 oz. bottle, best by 07/29/11 poured into a Duvel tulip on 03/10/11.

    Poured a golden-tangerine hue with a lush haziness and an out of bounds crown formed of bubbles of varying character. The head didn't seem to budge for a while but it still couldn't contain the strongly bready aroma. When the cap of foam fell off after a few minutes, it had left sticky lacing all over the glass and a big chunk still floated on the surface. Nice!

    The aroma, as expected, was big on fruit with clear bready notes. Pear, apricot and spice dominated, and reminded of relatively fresh Orval. Nice!

    Fresh, bitter, citrusy and fruity tasting with a dry finish and a flavorful, bitter aftertaste. Crisp and refreshing. However, not spicy enough and alcohol is noticeable at warmer temperature. The bitterness seems discordant at times too and it all affects the drinkability. Still a very nice beer that I will buy again.

Scores: Appearance 4.5/5; Aroma 4/5; Taste 3.5/5; Mouthfeel 4/5; Drinkability 4/5

Zoe

Zoe
"Our Happy, Hoppy, Amber" Ale
Maine Beer Company
7.2% ABV
IBUs?
OG?

500 ml bottle with no freshness date poured into a Duvel tulip. Thanks Ipatsfans!

    More brown than amber, this ale poured a dark shade of burnt caramel with a beautiful light brown head. The suds formed in cascade, like a thick stout - dense and creamy, and held promise of good retention and lacing. Not exactly what I expected but good looking nonetheless.

    Delicate hop aroma with the freshness of a pine forest and some caramel notes underneath. The hop aroma is reminiscent of West Coast stuff, and Daisy Cutter. Go figure. Taste is fairly amicable, with a decent amount of light bitterness and a good malt backbone. The hop flavor is fresh, and is rind like at times: always welcome. Again unexpected but there's a fair (for the style description) amount of roast  induced, I believe, tannic character. Drinks more like a hoppy porter or black IPA, but that's just nitpicking. Finish is rather sweet for my liking and the alcohol is high as well. The body and the mouthfeel are spot on if you ask me, and overall the beer is quite pleasant for a brewery with merely 2 beers on its portfolio. Thanks again, Ipatsfans! A good drink.

Scores: Appearance 4.5, Aroma 4, Taste 4, Mouthfeel 4, Drinkability 4

Mephistopheles

Mephistopheles' Stout
Imperial Stout
Avery Brewing Company
16% ABV
107 IBUs
OG 1.134

12 oz. bottle of 2007 vintage, bottled 11/2007, shared with 3 other people, poured into small snifters.

    I had been eying Mephistopheles for a long time, but never bought it because of its price until I found a cellared 2007 vintage at the regular retail price. Super excited to try it because I have heard only good things about aged Mephistopheles. Poured dark brown, but not as nearly dark as most bigger stouts, with a medium dark head that dissipated into a thin collar rather fast. No lacing on the glass.

    Decent aroma but fairly generic if you ask me, roast and sweet malts, dried fruit... Not much of what I would expect from a 1.134 malt forward beer with 3+ years on it. Tastes rich with roast, dried fruit, prunes, and acidic (without coffee) and has a roasty astringent finish. Good.

    Very thin and carbonated for its ABV, and not silky enough. A good stout yeah, but equally satisfying examples exist for half that ABV and price.
Scores: Appearance 3.5, Aroma 3.5, Taste 4, Mouthfeel 2, Drinkability 2

Yetis

Great Divide, out of Denver CO, brews a very well known, still "under the radar", Russian Imperial Stout, Yeti, and a few versions of Yeti: oak aged, barrel aged, espresso oak aged, and chocolate oak aged Yeti, to the best of my knowledge. Yeti is known for its strong hop character and robust bitterness among RIS's, and these are all big, bold, in your face beers: All versions, except the barrel aged of which I know nothing, boast 9.5% ABV and ~75 IBUs, that is higher than many well regarded IPAs, like Bell's Two Hearted and HopSlam! And the intense roast makes these stouts even more bitter.

    I had had and reviewed Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti a few months ago and wasn't impressed to the extent of dropping ten bucks for this tasting, and the barrel aged Yeti is out of my league (332 Wants, 40 Gots on Beeradvoctae) at the moment. In an attempt to clear my pseudo-cellar and hang out with friends, I set up a tasting of Yeti, Oak Aged Yeti, and Espresso Oak Aged Yeti.

Badfellas?

All three of them were an year to 15 months old: Yeti (22 oz. bottled 11.23.2009) poured into a 25 oz. snifter, Oak Aged Yeti (22 oz. bottled 10.30.2009) poured into a Duvel tulip, and Espresso Oak Aged Yeti (22 oz. bottled 02.12.2010) poured into a Chimay chalice. All of them poured very very dark - even the stream was opaque! The color of their huge heads can put the color of some feebler stouts to shame! As the heads subsided, some lacing stuck around on the glasses and upon sipping or swirling, distinct legs were seen. Very good looking stouts!

    Another observation had to do with the glasses themselves: the head retention was par excellence in the Duvel tulip while not as stellar in the Chimay chalice, and somewhere in between in the snifter. I doubt that this had anything to do with the beers themselves but more to do with the excellent nucleation properties of the Duvel tulip and the wide mouth of the Chimay chalice.

    The Yeti smelled of sweet malts, strong roast with some vanilla-cream undertones, and hops! Almost after year and a freakin' half, it still retained some of its hop character! The Oak Aged version was even creamier and rounded but the difference were subtle at best. Espresso version had all that Yeti brought to table and then some heightened coffee & cream notes.

    Fruity and bittersweet tasting, with distinct dark chocolate notes and intense roast, Yeti finished pleasantly clean for its size. The bitterness of roasted coffee beans stayed on palate and alcohol warmth was felt as it went down. The fruit and acidic character kept getting enhanced with temperature. The Oak Aged version was somewhat less fruity, less coating, and more tannic with an even cleaner finish. Long wood and coffee aftertaste but the differences were again subtle at best. The Espresso version stood out in terms of a present coffee soul to its acidity and was easily the favorite. As far as I know, the coffee flavors fade over time so I am going to buy this one again as soon as I get paid, because this is the season!

    Yeti and Oak Aged Yeti were both smooth but not to the extent of velvety, perhaps because of the strong astringency of roast. The carbonation was spot on, and while the body seemed a little thin at times, it was still quite "meaty". The Espresso version was more mellow in taste and felt silkier than others. Overall these are excellent stouts with great drinkability for their alcohol and size.

Scores (tasted on 03/04/2011)

	Yeti	Oak Aged	Espresso Oak Aged
Bottled	11.23.2009	10.30.2009	02.12.2010
Other details	9.5% ABV, ~75 IBUs	9.5% ABV, ~75 IBUs	9.5% ABV, ~75 IBUs
Glassware	25 oz. brandy snifter	Duvel tulip	Chimay chalice
Appearance	5	5	5
Aroma	4	4	4
Taste	4	4	4.5
Mouthfeel	4.5	4.5	4.5
Drinkability	4.5	4.5	4.5

Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Aged beers

Bourbon Barrel Barleywine

American Barleywine
Central Waters Brewing Co.
11.5% ABV

    12 oz bottle of 2010 vintage poured into a wine glass after an year of aging. Poured dark amber-brown with oddly brilliant clarity for a beer of it's kind. The head was small and did not last too long, and left some lacing on the glass as it receded.

    Smelled rich and sweet: dried fruits (mostly dates), residual sugars, and ample amount of oak-bourbon. Nothing too surprising but complex and more importantly, very good. The taste, however, was a a let down - slightly sweet and very bitter on a thin body with not enough malts/sugars to balance out the hops. The excellent aroma elements show up very briefly only in the aftertaste, which is a shame in my opinion.

    Too much bitterness, to the point of clashing. Thin, overcarbonated, and hot with fusel alcohols. Seems like it has everything I hate about cheap liquor and very less of what I like about barleywines.

Scores: Appearance 4/5; Aroma 4.5/5; Taste 3/5; Mouthfeel 2; Drinkability 2/5

Brewer's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout

Imperial Stout

Central Waters Brewing Co.

9.5% ABV

    12 oz bottle of 2010 vintage poured into a wine glass after an year of aging. Dark, but not dark enough looks with good clarity and a small head. Poor head retention. Aroma is creamy with oak-bourbon, chocolate and vanilla. Tastes dark, smooth, slightly bitter and deliciously sweet, with chocolate-vanilla notes and some acidity, but none of the coffee flavor that I usually associate with the said acidity.

    The bourbon barrel flavors abound and would have worked even better with a creamier and thicker body, and lower carbonation. Still a very good beer.

Scores: Appearance 3/5; Aroma 4/5; Taste 4.5/5; Mouthfeel 3; Drinkability 4/5

Nugget Nectar

Nugget Nectar

Troegs Brewing Co.

Imperial Amber Ale

7.5% ABV

93ish IBUs

    12 oz bottled within a month poured into a Surly pint glass. Poured oily looking and very clear dark copper-amber with a good head, retention and lacing. Smell was big on tropical fruit, especially pineapple, with some citrus undertones. The fruitiness was accentuated by sweet smelling malts but plenty of fresh mint like character was present to balance it in a nice way.

    The fruity character of aroma was present in the taste as well: smoothly bitter blending well with the sweet malts, the puckering sensation was absent in this one. Sweet oranges and pineapple! Clean flavors of light fruit and a medium finish with lingering bitterness. As it warmed, a spicier character emerged that is not to the best of my liking. Warming to some degree, but very clean finishing with the right body and right amount of cleansing carbonation. Drinks like a killer!

Scores: Appearance 4.5/5; Aroma 4/5; Taste 4/5; Mouthfeel 4.5/5; Drinkability 4.5/5