Widmer Brothers Raspberry Russian Imperial Stout ’12

Probably the coolest shipment of beer ever!

I wondered what the hell was going on when I had to bend at the knees to pick up the box.  Open ‘er up and what do I see?  A wood box, real wood, real cool… the Widmer Brothers logo literally burned into it.  You could almost still smell the faint hint of smoke.

Pulling open the box, I am greeted with two bottles, one glass, and one tag (pictures below and with lid).  The tag, you see, is for taking initial tasting notes and cellaring it for at least a year from now.  I will be doing just that.

On to the tasting.  As you can see from the picture, it pours super dark with a nice tan head.  Just as a nice imperial stout should look… slightly viscous but not too much.  The first notable characteristic of this beer, though is the nose.  If poured cold, you still really get a sense of the chocolate malt and midnight wheat.  As the beer warms up, though, the raspberry starts to kick in.  The nose is absolutely amazing.  I could smell it all day.

The body is nice and chocolaty with raspberry in the front and middle.  The wheat and barley give it a really creamy mouthfeel, though, so it isn’t sharp but soothing.  As the beer warms up, it becomes more pronounced and better… the finish, which is a little short in the cold end gets more complex with the heat.  We really recommend drinking this around 50° F.  You might want to taste it cold, which isn’t bad, but enjoy it on the warmer side.

All in all, a really nice imperial stout.  The fruit is subtle but noticeable, adding a great character.  Drink it warmer and you will be a very happy beer drinker.

BTW… back to the wooden box.  It asks to be sent back but before sending to put my mark on it… see pic below.  I did a little boy scout project to burn my mark into the wood… a little elementary but unique.  The next one will be better…

Get some if you can!

2009 Pike Entire Wood Aged Stout

The 2009 vintage of the Pike Entire Wood Aged Stout looks awesome in the glass, doesn’t it?  Really… that is an amazing head with some dark beer syrup under it… mmm mmm good.  I wish it all were true… I think the wax around the top may have been to try to pull this beer off as a little more than it ended up being.  At 9.5% ABV, wood aged, and looking good, this beer is a bit like some of the women in the Philippines that I tried to hook my good friend Doug up with so many years back… looks good on the outside but when you actually get close, things aren’t what they seem. 

Either way, here is our tasting… thanks to Mr. Dave for bringing this one over and sharing.   The nose starts it by being just a little bit off… a little too mannish, if we keep with the mental picture.  This leads to a definite off-ness in the body, as well.  You can taste the oak and wood aged characteristics, but it is a bit esthery… not going to go there with the mental picture… a potentially too bitter finish brings this one to a close just like your friends telling you she is a dude… so… think of this blog as your friend saving you before things progressed… she is a dude. 

Maybe next year will be better.

JBB6 Rating: Middle of the Road

Midnight Sun Berserker Imperial Stout

It is said the that berserkers fought with wild, unrestrained agression… (Bing)  well, welcome to a wild, unrestrainedly aggressive beer… Midnight Sun Berserker Imperial Stout.  This black-as-night beer  has a sweet, fruity nose (dark fruit like prunes/plums) and pours thick and viscous.  The body is smooth and strong-like-bull (12.7% ABV) with dark roasted malt coming through with authority.  The low IBU keeps it easy at 30. 

All the aggression, none of the stinky Norse ball sweat.

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again

Guinness 250 Anniversary Stout

Had heard this was coming out, was excited, and much to my surprise the other day at Safeway, there it was!  Picked a pack and took ‘er home and popped ‘er open and here you go.  I figure folks that have been making beer for 250 years can’t go too wrong… so dove right in.

In summary, daddy likes… in more detail, it looks nearly identical to regular Guinness from a body color/complexion perspecitve.   The head is not as creamy, but that is fine.  It is still respectable. The nose is slightly bitter and malty and this carries through the rest of the tasting experience.  I will say, though that it is overall more robust from start to finish in a really good way.  Reminds me more of a a black lager than a stout. 

In the end, a great addition to the Guinness offerings and I hope they bring it back as a standard. 

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again

Southern Tier Crème Brûlée Imperial Milk Stout

Ok… been way too long since I posted.  Been busy but that isn’t a good excuse, so will just take my lumps and move on.

In the business of the season and in the spirit of holiday chear, I can’t help but think of Southern Tier’s Crème Brûlée Imperial Milk Stout as a bit of a cold weather, comfort beer.  It just sounds sweet and tasty a bit like a fine dessert after a long summer of heat and fun.  So it was that Mr. Dave, Mrs. Heather, and I popped this one open to enjoy what promised to be liquid dessert… and I have to say it isn’t far off!   WARNING – this is not a session beer… it packs way to much oomph to be anything but a treat, but that shouldn’t hold you back.  Southern Tier has created something rich and full of sweet vanilla and suger and bottled it up nicely for all of us to enjoy.  At 10% ABV it is a belly warmer, as well.  In the end, this really nice, really strong, really vanilla-y brew hit the spot.  We especially liked it paired with a little bit of cheese, which mellowed it out just a tad.  Nice form!

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again

Stone Imperial Russian Stout

Yet another brew from our good friends at Stone, Stone Imperial Russian Stout.  This will be review number 10 for the brewery… I figure that is quite a few.   Average for them is Will Buy Again with only one Middle of the Road and this isn’t going to buck that trend…   Nose is chocolate for sure and as they say on the bottle, you can smell the  roastiness, as well.   The body is hard and dark… bitter chocolate, like the dark chocolate you can buy special in the store… not 80% cocoa, but probably 65% or so.  Finish is nice and clean and short… this doesn’t come across like a 10.8% ABV at all.  Nice work yet again.

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again

Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch (Weasel)

Mikkeller’s Beer Geek Brunch (Weasel) is quite the brew to get a conversation going… especially if you just ask someone to try it and then tell them later that it is made from coffee that came out of a civet’s colon…  WTF?!? is likely the first response and then you can get into what is actually some pretty interesting information about the most expensive coffee in the world.  Check it out on wikepedia for more info. 

From Mikkeller’s site:

“This imperial oatmeal stout is brewed with one of the world’s most expensive coffees. Made from droppings of weasel-like civet cats. The fussy Southeast Asian animals only eat the best and ripest coffee berries. Enzymes in their digestive system help to break down the bean. Workers collect the bean-contaiing droppings for Civet or Weasel Coffee. The exceedingly rare Civet Coffee has a strong taste and an even stronger aroma.”

Once folks are past shock and denial, you generally make it into smart-ass-land.  Observe:

• “Holy *shit* this is good beer…
• This beer is the *shit*…
• This *shit* is tasty…

And so on and so forth… if this brew were all hype, though, I wouldn’t be that jazzed… but at 10.9% ABV and combining nice roasted malt, chocolate, and coffee, this bad boy has the right to brew with poop.  It pours a nice, jet black pour with a monster brown head.  As you look into the glass, you can see small chunks of sediment floating… but I aint mad… adds to the mystery.  The aroma hits you hard and actually filled the room I was in.  Nice and strong… but not bitter or overpowering.  Really solid well after the bottle has been poured out, as well.  The body doesn’t hold back on the coffee flavor either, giving you a good go from front to back with a really solid coffee linger after the swallow. 

Overall a really nice beer… probably one of the strangest I have ever tasted, but well worth the price both for the experience and the taste.

JBB6 Rating: For The Win

Samuel Adams Imperial Stout

Picked up a 4-pack of Samuel Adams Imperial Stout at Fred Meyer the other day.  I like me some 9%+ ABV dark beers, usually, and Sam Adams can have some tasty brews.  So there was the decision making process…

As far as the tasting goes, this brew pours dar, is thick, and overall meh… at 9.2% this is a thick and syrupy brew.  No doubt about it.  My main problem, though, was in the metallic taste/finish.  It was pretty prominent and hard to get past.  Once past it, though, there was a bit of a sweet front and heavy finish… overall, Mrs Heather called the finish with a hint of coffee.  Not my favorite…

JBB6 Rating: Middle of the Road

Full Sail Black Gold Imperial Stout

Full Sail Black Gold Imperial Stout… this is one of the brews i actually ordered from http://www.liquidgratitude.com/, along with my Mirror Mirror… felt like cracking a new bottle tonight, so here you go…

Tasted with Mr. Dave, this one comes at you with a pretty nice nose… possibly the most distiguished feature of the brew… vanilla and oak just as the bottle notes. you can smell the bourbon bottle aging, which is very nice. At first taste, I think this is going to be one for the record books… but it loses its ‘wow’ fast and by the time i was half way through the glass, it had lost a lot of its pizzaz. Still a really nice beer but for the price, I expected it to last a bit longer.

JBB6 Rating: Middle of the Road

P.S. I am so ashamed… I accidentally deleted my pics of this one… so sad.  You get the standard pic instead…

Southern Tier jah*va Imperial Coffee Stout

Southern Tier jah*va Imperial Coffee Stout is my second coffee beer of the night although this one is a stout vs. the porter from Midnight Sun. Oh… and this beer is twice the beer of the other, as well, at 11% Imperial ABV vs 5%.

Right off the bat it pours a dark, viscous glass with a dark tan head that is thick and slow forming. the head recedes relatively fast but leaves some legs up the side of the glass.  The nose isn’t very strong in the java department… more ABV and fermentation than the actual Jamaican Coffee it is touted to have infused. on to the taste… light and smooth, this one comes at you with some of the ABV on the tip, but it isn’t balanced… it has a clinical taste to it, causing me to do a bit of a check 1, check 2… actually I am going to let it warm up a bit and come back to it…

Started at 43.5… suggested at 49… and that is where I drank it the second time around. This time… not much better, to be honest.  Still a very light brew with little that brings out the coffee or even the chocolate or black malts… fairly dissapointing.  The ABV is the only redeaming value.

JBB6 Rating: Middle of the Road