De Struise Brouwers Black Albert

Beer: De Struise Brouwers Black Albert
Brewery Location: De Panne, Belgium
Beer Style: Belgian Royal Stout (Russian Imperial Stout)
ABV: 13%




I certainly hear about all of the new beer that is coming to town, and the hype behind this beer was fairly intense among the beer geeks/blogs/beer forums. I try my best not to read anything about a new beer until after I've had it. I've found that inevitably a beer will never live up to the hype that it is given if you really get yourself wrapped around how good a beer may or may not be. De Struise makes some great beer, and one of my favorites is their Old Fisherman's Ale. If you make a great Quad, I will pretty taste anything you make after that.

This beer was brewed especially for the Ebanezer's Pub in Lovell Maine. The beer was actually brewed in Maine under the specifications of De Struise. They call it a new style: a Belgian Royal Stout, but it was brewed in the Russian Imperial stout style and where it is classified.

Appearance: This pours a deep brown color that is very close to black with a thin swirl of brown froth that quickly dissipated. The beer coats the glass extremely well, but left minimal lacing.
Smell: I let this beer warm for 45 minutes outside of the fridge, and the nose was still subtle with scents of chocolate and dark fruits, and it showed its Belgian roots with the unmistakable scent of Belgian style yeast.
Taste: The flavor profile is heavy on the front of the tongue with coffee and dark bitter chocolate. The middle of the beer gives flavors of dark cherries, plums, and figs before being ending on a bitter note.
Mouthfeel: The warming alcohol quickly catches up with you, but for a RIS this beer has a thinner mouthfeel than I would have expected and has the mouthfeel of a good Quad, but not a RIS.
Drinkability: The alcohol is well hidden for a 13% beer, but the price would keep me away from this beer.

I am certainly glad that I got to try this beer, and overall is was a pretty good beer, but not worth a dollar and ounce though is what is equates to. If this beer were in a four pack around 15-20$ I would buy it often, but 12 bucks for a 11.2 oz bottle it needs to either be one of the best RIS's that I've tried or one of the best Quad's that I've tried, and it doesn't make it into either category for me.

Cheers!
Matt

Port Brewing Old Viscocity

Beer: Port Brewing Old Viscosity
Brewery Location: San Marcos, CA
Beer Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 10%


I've had several offerings from Port/Lost Abbey brewing and this is one that I've not been able to get a hold of from them. The good news is that they are now distributing a large selection of their line-up to Chicago now, so if you are in the area their beers are well worth checking out. I just got this one in trade this past week.

The "American Strong Ale" is just a catch all category here and it doesn't really fit into any particular style. The beer used 20% of the blend has been aged in bourbon barrels.

Appearance: This beer pours a very deep and dark brown color with a very small dark brown head on it.
Smell: The nose starts out with plenty of sweet molasses, licorice, chocolate, and smokey charred oak. The aroma is quite sweet and as the beer warmed toffee and caramel are very present.
Taste: The flavor profile starts out with a blast roasted malt and dark cherries. The finish has plenty of bourbon, anise, and even some coffee lingering in the background.
Mouthfeel: It is very thick and chewy with the alcohol very apparent in the mouthfeel, but at 10% that is to be expected.
Drinkability: I wouldn't reach for this very often, but this sipper is nice if you like bourbon barrel aged type beers.

I personally wasn't a big fan of this beer. The alcohol and bourbon overtook most of the other flavors and the complexity of this beer didn't shine through as well as it should have. I am curious if some age on this beer would mellow out those flavors a little bit, and then I think this beer would be a real winner. I tend to vary more on the side of balance when it comes to bourbon barrel aged beers. If that is your thing though you will enjoy this beer a great deal.

Cheers!
Matt

Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout

Beer: Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout
Brewery Location: Boonville, CA
Beer Style: Oatmeal Stout
ABV: 5.7%



It seems I've only been in the mood for dark beer latley, but I haven't been in a mood to polish off a bomber of anything lately so I've been working through some of the 12 oz bottles that I have, and this is one that I got in trade recently. You can find them in every single state that touches us, but for one reason or another we don't get them in Indiana. I didn't realize how much beer they must brew based on how many states they are in. Here is the link to their distribution map. The represent the West coast, Mid West, and East coast quite nicely.

Appearance: This beer pours a very dark brown, almost black, color with tremendous head and it left amazing lacing on the walls of my pint glass.
Smell: The smell is rather "soft" and I get scents of chocolate, grassy hops, and roasted grain.
Taste: The flavor starts out with the roasted malt coming in very nicely and was quite pleasant. It was followed with a combination of cocoa, caramel, and there is also an orchard fruitiness to it as well, but that flavor is really hidden nicely, but supports the other flavors quite well.
Mouthfeel: This is the only spot this beer loses points with me. The mouthfeel is quite thin, but leaves a good chocolaty flavor on the back of the palate with medium carbonation.
Drinkability: I would certainly purchase more of this beer, and it will be a new six pack that I will be picking up when I go to Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati.

Overall this is a very nice and quite quaff able stout. I liked that it is a beer that won't get in the way of conversation, and this is a great beer to sit around with friends and relax with. I think this would be an excelling entry stout for people, and a good example of the style. The pricing on this beer is also nice with a six pack running around $8.99.

Cheers!
Matt

Tröegs Dead Reckoning Porter

Beer: Tröegs Dead Reckoning Porter
Brewery Location: Harrisburg, PA
Beer Style: American Porter
ABV: 5.8%


I've enjoyed the beers I've had from Tröegs. It is sad that we don't get it in Indiana as they seem like a really rock solid brewery and brew some great beer across most beer styles. Their Troegenator Doublebock was my favorite a few weeks back when we did a food and beer pairing for Thanksgiving. This is another of their seasonal beers, and it is on its tail end of their most recent run, but you can probably still find it on the shelves if you are in a state that sells them.


Appearance: Pours a very deep brown color with a big two fingers worth of tan head. This beer leaves tremendous lacing and left sheets of it all over my glass until the very end.
Smell: I get loads of caramel and roast grain along with a citrus and piney hop scent that is working well together.
Taste: The sweet caramel rushes to the front of the palate followed quickly by the hop bitterness bite. The hops leave an almost fruity and citrus flavor along with caramel. There is a roasted nut quality as well as the beer warmed. The flavors work well together, and if I hadn't tasted it I wouldn't think that they would.
Mouthfeel: The carbonation is a little high, but it is medium bodied and quite smooth.
Drinkability: This was quite refreshing, and with the ABV I would have another quite easily.

I usually like my porters with the American hop profile left out of them, but this beer combined all the flavors nicely and changed my mind about the American porter if it is brewed like this beer. This is another great beer from Tröegs.

Cheers!
Matt

Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

Beer: Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter
Brewery Location: Denver, CO and Frederick, MD
Beer Style: American Imperial Stout
ABV: 7.8%



I haven't reviewed a single beer from Flying Dog, and until this beer I don't think that I've had a beer from them in about four or five years. They are a very big craft brewer though. I looked through their website and say they are in 46 states. I would imagine that Sierra Nevada and Sam Adams are all fifty states. They must make a ton of beer to open up two brewing locations as well. I picked up a four pack of this recently and this is my first time around with this beer in any vintage.

Appearance: This beer pours an opaque black color with a small mocha colored head that had minimal staying power with no lacing on my glass.
Scent: Black malt and coffee dominate the nose on this beer, but as the beer warmed I also get dark fruit, smoke, and alcohol.
Flavor: The roasted malt comes in full force to start the beer, but is quickly followed by a rather strong hop bitterness. I also get more dark fruit, sugar sweet chocolate, and freeze dried coffee grounds. The flavors seem to be everywhere and nothing is really melding very well for me.
Mouthfeel: The texture is my favorite aspect and is very creamy and full bodied with good carbonation on this offering, but the alcohol was quite present on this offering.
Drinkability: I would most likely only have of these in a sitting, and I wouldn't seek out this beer very often.

I thought the flavors were all over the board and the alcohol twinge on the mouthfeel wasn't very welcomed on this beer. I've read that aging this beer really makes it much better. I hope that it does because I wasn't really that big of a fan of this beer, and I had high hopes for it.

Cheers!
Matt

Ølfabrikken Porter

Beer: Ølfabrikken Porter
Brewery Location: Denmark
Beer Style: Baltic Porter
ABV: 8.0%


I was looking for something a little different to hopefully watch my Ball State Cardinals go undefeated last night, and I reach for this beer that I've had in the cellar for several months.

I really like the Baltic porter style. It is stronger than a regular porter, but not quite a robust as a Russian Imperial Stout. It is a good go-between those styles. We just started getting this beer in Indiana in 22 oz bombers, but this bottle is from Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati. I haven't seen this sized bottle in Indiana yet, but perhaps we will get two sizes of it eventually. I've been looking forward to trying this beer after hearing a great deal of hype over it.
Appearance: Pours an obsidian black color with a decent sized light tan colored head with very good staying power for the entire beer.
Smell: Impressive scents of roasted grain, coffee, caramel, milk chocolate, and a hint of vanilla in the nose.
Taste: The flavor profile is the perfect continuation of the nose with base flavors of milk chocolate, coffee, caramel, licorice, and plums. The flavors combine brilliantly with no harsh alcohol burn as well.
Mouthfeel: This beer is full bodied and very smooth with the warming alcohol coming in at the back of the palate with moderate carbonation.
Drinkability: This was an awesome Baltic porter, I will be stocking the cellar with a few bottles of this tasty beer.

As you can tell I was quite impressed with this beer. I loved everything about this beer, and wished I had another bottled of it after I was through with this one. If you are a fan of big stouts and porters you should grab a bottle of this and give it a try. This was my first beer from Ølfabrikken, and they knocked it out of the park on this beer.

Cheers!
Matt

B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher Oatmeal-Imperial Stout

Beer: Hoppin' Frog B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher Oatmeal-Imperial Stout
Brewery Location: Akron, OH
Beer Style: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.4%


Bodacious Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout is what the B.O.R.I.S. stands for if you were wondering. Hoppin' Frog is a really nice regional brewer from Ohio. I've tried about five of their offerings and have only one on this site for review. As far as I know I think they only send out their beer in bombers, and their brewery does sell direct to the public, but they do not have any type of brewpub/bar at the brewery. I really liked their DIPA, Black and Tan, Silk Porter, and the Gulden Fraug from what I remember.

Appearance: BORIS pours a very dark black with brown highlights around the edges, and it is capped off with a very thin head that dissipated quite quickly and left minimal lacing.
Smell: The nose starts off with plenty of roasted grain, coffee, bitter chocolate, and some oat flakes coming in nicely as well.
Taste: The flavor profile is much more pronounced than the smell with big flavors of roasted malt, espresso, bitter chocolate, oats, and a thick dark fruit quality as well.
Mouthfeel: The oats make this RIS one of the smoothest stouts with this much alcohol that you will find. The warming alcohol kicks in after only a few drinks in this thick and chewy sipper.
Drinkability: This beer is delicious and very easy to drink.


This is an excellent and well priced Russian Imperial Stout. The addition of the oats really makes the mouthfeel my favorite aspect of the beer. The flavor profile is complex with the alcohol well hidden that you don't find often in many big stouts. This is certainly one of my new favorite imperial stouts.

Cheers!
Matt

Weihenstephaner Vitus

Beer: Weihenstephaner Vitus
Brewery Location: Freising, Germany
Beer Style: Weizenbock
ABV: 7.7%



Weizenbock is a more powerful and stronger weizen style wheat beer. They tend to be higher in alcohol and will tend to be darker in color than their other wheat beer brethren. Weihenstephaner makes some amazing beer across board, and they prove what a mega brewer can pump out to the public. I may not like a certain style of beer from them, but the underlying beer has been a great example of the style in every case that I've had a beer from them.

Vitus pours a hazy straw yellow color with a very large bright white head that had good retention for most of the beer. I expected for this beer to a bit darker. The nose smells of a good hefe with plenty of banana, cloves, and apples and pears. The flavor follows the nose to perfection, but it also adds in some bubblegum, lemons, and the classic wheat flavor comes in very nice as well. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with some gentle alcohol warming on the backend of things. This is very drinkable and drinks like their regular hefe with more alcohol and plenty of flavor.

If you are a fan of their Hefe you will be a big fan of this beer. This wasn't quite what I was expecting out of this beer, but I ended up really enjoying this beer. I can't remember what I paid for this beer, but for some reason 2.89$ sounds about right at the Crown on 31 and Shelby in Indianapolis. You can't trust stock picks right now, but I am going to put a heavy buy call on this beer. This is another great beer from one of the world's best brewers.

Cheers!
Matt

Great Lakes Blackout Stout

Beer: Great Lakes Blackout Stout
Brewery Location: Cleveland, OH
Beer Style: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 9%



Can you tell from my reviews recently that it is getting colder outside? I truly love this time of year for beer. Don't get me wrong I love a good APA or IPA in the summer, but even more I enjoy a fine stout or porter during the colder months of the year. I've got a few bottles of this beer and this is my first one in a very long time for review. I am enjoying this beer while watching my Alma Mater Ball State keep their win streak alive against Miami of Ohio.

This stout poured a dark opaque black color with pecan brown highlights around the edges. It was capped off by a small dark brown head that left some incredible lacing for the entire beer. The smell is a combination of roasted malt, bitter chocolate, currants, and a certain nutty quality to is as well. The flavor profile follows the nice very nicely with upfront flavors of dark roasted grain, bitter chocolate, dark fruits, coffee, and anise. There is a hint of sweetness and smoke lingering on the back of the palate as well. I don't get any alchohol burn either from the 9%. The mouthfeel is very thick and chewy, but it still manages to render itself very smooth. Someone needs to tell this beer it has 9% ABV in it, because the way it drank I would have had many more of these.

This is another great beer from Great Lakes. If I could get this locally I would certainly stock up on this beer, and it would be a staple for me through the winter. My bottle was just under a year old and tasted great, and I would like to taste this one fresh and see how I enjoy it, because I think there is a hop prescense that I am not really picking up on this one when has a bit of age on it. Once again, well done Great Lakes for making another fantastic beer.

Cheers!
Matt

Barley Island Beastie Barrel Stout

Beer: Barley Island Beastie Barrel Stout
Brewery Location: Noblesville, IN
Beer Style: Oatmeal Stout
ABV: 6%

The Great American Beer Fest was last month and Indianapolis brewers swept the category for wood and barrel-aged beers. Here is the breakdown:


Gold: Old Jack, Ram Restaurant & Brewery, Indianapolis, IN
Silver: Buffalo Bock, Ram Restaurant & Brewery, Indianapolis, IN
Bronze: Beastie Barrel Stout, Barley Island Brewing Co., Noblesville, IN

That is a pretty awesome job sweeping the category, and as far as I know, this beer is the only one available outside of the respective bar, and I don't know what kind of availability the other offerings have from the Ram. You can probably still find this in four packs around town, and according to Barley Island's website you can get it on tap at the brewpub.

This beer pours a dark black color with a decent sized two fingers worth of creamy tan head. The nose is quite balanced with scents of roasted malt, bitter chocolate, some wood, and a touch of vanilla. The flavor profile is loaded full of roasted grain, chocolate, wood, and some bourbon on the backend of my palate. The flavors work really well here and a really nice balance without being overpowering. The mouthfeel though is a bit thin for my liking, but overall is silky smooth with moderate carbonation. At 6% I think the drinkability is fantastic on this beer and this is a well balanced stout when you are not looking for something really heavy in body or ABV.

This is a nice oatmeal stout from Barley Island. The low ABV on this stout was actually a welcome change for me and this is one of the better drinking stouts I've had in a while. I would like to make it up to Noblesville and try this one on tap while they still have it.

Cheers!
Matt

Founders Backwoods Bastard

Beer: Founders Backwoods Bastard
Brewery Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Beer Style: Wee Heavy Scotch Ale
ABV: 10.2%




Founders is just relentless in the amount of new beer coming out from them right now, and it is hard to keep up with everything, and then in the next few months four or five more offerings are coming out as well. I know Kentucky Breakfast Stout will be coming out in February, and I am not sure on the exact dates, but they will be releasing their porter for the first time in a very long time, imperial stout, and I am sure there is something more that I am missing. This beer just hit Indiana a few weeks ago and I just have not had time to review it recently.

I also like that Founder has not gone to bombers, and they continue to make their beer in 12 oz bottles. Many brewers are putting all of their high gravity beer in nothing but bombers. The 12 oz bottle is just a little more convenient for me. That is more of an observation than anything else.

This beer pours a dark rustic hue with a thin tan head. The nose is loaded with vanilla, wood, bourbon, cherry, and a slight hint of peat. The flavor profile is pretty intense with initial flavors of vanilla, oak, and dark cherries. The alcohol burn from the bourbon though really took away from this beer for me. It does not meld with the beer and overtook from most of the flavors that I was tasting. I let the beer warm for about thirty minutes and the flavor profile did sweeten a little bit, but the alcohol burn was still quite harsh I think. I really enjoy dirty bastard (the non-barrel aged version) because of the rich caramel malt base, but I never found that in this beer. The mouthfeel is full bodied with plenty of alcohol on the mouthfeel. The drinkabilility wasn't really there for me. I hope with some age on this beer it will settle down a bit.

I was really looking forward to this beer, but the alcohol and vanilla was just overwhelming and made this beer a miss for me. I am going to age my remaining bottles for a while and see if the flavor backs off a bit. Has anyone aged one of these before?

Cheers!
Matt

Alesmith Yulesmith Holiday Ale (Summer)

Beer: Yulesmith Summer Holiday Ale
Brewery Location: San Diego, CA
Beer Style: American DIPA
ABV: 8.8%


My best friend Kevin got married a few weeks ago, and he gave me about as awesome a groomsman gift as I could have hoped for. He gave a bottle two bottles of Yulesmith (one summer and one winter) and a limited edition bottle of Brewer's Ale from Rogue. Since we can't get Alesmith here in Indiana I was very impressed at the very thoughtful gift. Kevin knows that Alesmith is one of my favorite brewers and that Yulesmith (winter) ranks as one of my very favorite individual beers. This is the first time I've had the summer offering. I've never found this when I've been down to Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati, but usually have found the winter version. I don't know if they brew the same amount of each for distribution.

This beer pours a nice golden hue with a thick cap of fluffy head on it. I could begin smelling all of the hop goodness as soon as I popped the cap on this beer. The hop smell is very pungent with plenty of grapefruit, sticky pine, candied oranges, peaches, apricots, tangerines, and a very soft caramel malt coming at the tail end of all of those citrus fruit scents. Wow, this is a tremendous nose on this beer. Hops are the showcase on the initial flavors with plenty of citrus flavors ranging from tangerines, oranges, and grapefruit, and sticky pine on the back end of those. The slightly sweet caramel base does its best to balance out the hops flavors and after the beer warmed a bit the malt takes on an almost graham cracker type flavor as well. Even with a few months of age on this the hop profile is still tremendous, and if it has diminished at all a fresh bottle of this beer must be quite the hop heads dream. The mouthfeel is very smooth and creamy, and there is a good dose of warming alcohol in this offering as well. The drinkability is very good and I felt like I could have kept drinking this beer.

If you are a hop head you should seek this beer out. I would gladly take the winter version or the summer version any time I had the chance to have either of them. I said it in my post about Alesmith Speedway stout, but if Alesmith came to Indiana I am pretty sure I would buy enough of it to justify them coming to Indiana.

Cheers!
Matt

Southern Tier Creme Brulee

Beer: Southern Tier Creme Brulee
Brewery Location: Lakewood, NY
Beer Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 10%




This is another stout that I've had quietly aging for a little while. I knew I would need someone else to drink this beer with me as I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to polish off a bomber by myself. I am not really a fan of Creme Brulee as a regular dessert, but put that flavor in a beer and I will at least try it. I found this bottle when I was in Chicago a few months back. I would think that Southern Tier would come to Indiana in the future because they already have distribution to the west of us, but perhaps Indiana isn't on their radar (or any of Indiana's distributors radar).

Creme Brulee pours a very dark brown color with minimal highlights around the edges, and it is capped off by a light brown head that only left some spotty lacing on my glass. I could smell the sweetness coming from this beer as I poured it. It smells like a concentrated creme brulee dessert. There is tons of vanilla, butterscotch, caramel, hazelnut coffee creamer, and a touch of cocoa. I am amazed how they were able to make this really smell like creme brulee. The taste that follows the smell with heavy tastes of vanilla, custard, cocoa, hazelnut cream, butter, and roasted grain to finish it off. The vanilla is the heaviest flavor, but isn't overpowering compared to the other flavors. This is a very sweet beer, but I don't really find it cloyingly sweet. The mouthfeel is full bodied, thick, and creamy going down. The drinkability is up in the air for me. I wouldn't make this a staple by any means, but I would like to have some around when I would be in the mood for something like this beer.

I think Southern Tier did a damn good job with this beer. I guess I thought this was going to be a little "gimmicky" and it is to some extent, but it really isn't a bad beer and should be enjoyed at the right time and place. This is a good beer for the end of the meal with dessert or just by itself if you don't mind the sweetness of it.

Cheers!
Matt

Alesmith Speedway Stout

Beer: Alesmith Speedway Stout
Brewery Location: San Diego, CA
Beer Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 12%



I've had this beer aging quietly for several months and my buddy from work stopped by last night and we enjoyed this offering. I've only ever had a sample of this beer, and this was my first time really getting into it and enjoying it. Alesmith is one of my very favorite brewers and they produce a line up of beer that quite impressive, and I have to say that Winter Yulesmith is probably my favorite beer from them, and probably one of my overall favorite beers. It is hard to rank your favorite beers isn't it? You can get Alesmith in Illinois and in Ohio, but haven't seen them in Indiana as of yet. I would probably drink enough beer from them to justify coming into Indiana. So, if anyone from Alesmith is reading this....hint hint....

Speedway stout pours a deep and dark black with just a touch of murky brown accents around the edges. It is capped off by a small mocha colored head that didn't have much staying power. I could smell all of that delicious stout coming out of the bottle into my glass. I get strong scents of dark roasted malt, espresso, coffee, molasses, and dark cherries. I'm amazed that I don't get much alcohol in the nose at 12% ABV. The flavor profile is a nice melding of coffee, caramel, cocoa, espresso, and roasted grain. I am surprised at how non-dominant the coffee flavor is in this beer. I thought it was going to the main focus point in this beer. The mouthfeel is fairly thick and chewy with moderate carbonation. I still don't really detect any alcohol on this behemoth of a beer. I think the drinkability would hold up nicely for another glass, but I wouldn't push it to much with the ABV.

This is another delicious beer from Alesmith, and one of the best imperial stouts I've had the pleasure of drinking. They make this in a barrel aged version as well, and I would love to get my hands on a bottle of that, but I would be just as happy with another bottle of this well above average stout.

Cheers!
Matt

Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

Beer: Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
Brewery Location: Cleveland, OH
Beer Style: American Porter
ABV: 5.8%



Are you thinking about Gordon Lightfoot when hear the name Edmund Fitzgerald? I have to say that I think of that song before I think of the ship that went down in Lake Superior in the 1970's.

I've reviewed several offerings from Great Lakes, and I have to say that they must be included in any discussion about great Mid-Western breweries, and really around the US for that matter, and every time I review a beer from them I say the same thing: "I wish we got them in Indianapolis." Their beers are set a good price point, the beer is tasty and consistent, and I like they use a bit of history in the name of all of their beer.

This beer pours a very dark brown color with slight ruby highlights around the edges with an inch of creamy head on it. The lacing on this beer is impressive and stayed for the entire beer. The first scents are of coffee, chocolate, and roasted grain. The smell is comforting on this cool evening. The flavor profile is spot on when I think of a porter. I get loads of dark roasted grain, caramel, coffee, and a slight chocolate taste, and a touch of hop bitterness as well. The mouthfeel though I think has a bit much carbonation, and could be toned down a bit. I am not really bothered by it, but I think it could be toned down a bit. The drinkability is very nice and would be a great session porter.

This is an outstanding example of a porter. I've had plenty of porters, but this beer melds the smell and taste together wonderfully. This was just about as perfect a porter as I've had recently.

Cheers!
Matt