Samuel Smith Imperial Stout

Something went dreadfully wrong with this beer.  Because of this, I am giving it a middle of the road vs. a Not Even for Free and I will pick up another bottle at some point in the future and update the blog. 

I think it was likely a fluke, but you never know… interested to know if others have had the same experience:

I was happily drinking my Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale when I decided to switch directions and head into the fridge for anther beer.  This one was front and center on the top shelf, so I picked it.  I washed my glass, dried it out, and poured some Samuel Smith Imperial Stout.  Good head, nice dark color.  Things were looking up.  Then the taste… for some reason, it went down smooth enough with a medium-light body… but the finish left me with a very metallic taste… almost like when you get a stainless steel spoon that has had the outer coating chipped or rubbed off.  Just not good at all.  So I only had about 1/4 of the bottle and poured the rest down the drain.

Again, not sure if this was a bad bottle or not… any other similar experiences?

10/01/08 UPDATE: So… I picked up another bottle of this.  This time, I wanted to make sure I was being fair so I enlisted the help of the cul-de-sac.  We had a tasting of sorts and… I wish I could say the results were better, but someone actually spit it out.  I had a similar reaction to my initial.  Just not a good beer.  I appreciate those that may like it, but I am sad to say I can’t be one of them.

JBB6 Rating: Middle of the Road

Oskar Blues Ten FIDY Imperial Stout

I learned something today.  I learned a good deal, in fact, thanks to the folks at Oskar Blues Brewery.  They have an outstanding thing going and I am psyched I went to Malt and Vine again today to pick up some new beer.

So, we headed down this afternoon (my neighbor and I) since I had been talking so much about my visit last weekend.  Dave is a fan of beer and I took him a bottle of the Snoqualmie Spring Fever and he liked that, so I thought it was time to get some more of the good stuff.  When we got there, we each bought a round of their tap beers (check their website for their selection) and tasted as we wandered around.  Let me tell you that it has to be one of the best and smartest things they could have done… tasting beer and shopping for it at the same time is an amazingly wonderful experience.   Anyhow, one of their tapbeers is Oskar Blues Ten FIDY Imperial Stout.  We both really liked it (more on that later), so I picked up a can (wtf?) and we headed home.

As we were getting ready for dinner, I figured I would test out the canned beer that I had so enjoyed on tap, pouring it into my new Duvel glass (only $5!).  Let me tell you, this has to be one of the darkest beers I have ever seen… and coming out of a can was a trip and a half.  The dark brown (almost black) liquid on the aluminum made it seem just a touch above molasses.  Good sandy brown head, dark and about 1/2 an inch thick in the glass.  The taste… the taste was nearly identical to the tap… it may have even been identical.  Dark, roasted barley, hints of subtle smoke, and chocolate oatmeal graced my tastebuds.  As I was drinking it, though, one word kept coming to mind… soft.  If beer can be soft, Ten FIDY is that beer.  Soft on the tongue and throat… easy to drink.  A great stout, probably one of the best.  I thank Malt and Vine for introducing me and Oskar Blues for showing me that canned beer can compete and exceed.  Check out their video for more on that… it is good stuff.

JBB6 Rating: For the Win