Here is how Great Divide describes this beer:

‘This’ is a new addition to the Yeti clan. A generous infusion of espresso adds yet another layer of complexity to this beer, combining with the vanilla oak character, intense roasty maltiness and bold hop profile to create a whole new breed of mythical creature. It’s official: You can now have Yeti with breakfast.

ABV: 9.5%

Style: Imperial Stout

Availability: Seasonal, Febuary – March

Bottle: 22oz Capped

Appearance:

Dark, dark, dead of night no moon dark. Fitting that it has an espresso colored head to it.  Head came out nice and thick and subsided back into the beer after a minute or so leaving a bit of lacing on the glass.

Aroma:

Wow, wake me up breakfast stout.  I wish my coffee smelled this good… umm, yeah… Tons of espresso on the nose, but if you just stop there you are missing so much more to this beer.  There were 75 IBU’s in the base beer.  And guess what, they are still there.  There is wonderful little candy orange note that sits under the coffee.  Not much oak on the nose bit there is a faint hint of it.

Taste:

As I just tweeted, this is a beat you into loving submission kind of beer.  Tons of espresso right up front, but it isn’t acidic, it is creamy and smooth with chocolate and vanilla matched up with a good lengthy bitterness.  Coffee intensity squared.  I haven’t had a coffee stout like this since the Brooklyn Intensified Coffee Stout.  There is a decent citrus quality that lurks in the middle mouth with this beer, giving it depth and even more character.

Glassware: Goblet

Calories: At 9.5% abv, this beer would have between 285 and 305 calories per 12oz (Calorie Chart)

Overall Impression:

This is what a coffee stout should be, and yes, I interchange coffee and espresso.  I could see aging this beer for another year, but it is fantastic now.

Great Divide Espresso Oak aged Yeti is a post from: Simply Beer

Dragon’s Milk is an Ale. What kind of ale? You got me, New Holland doesn’t actually qualify this beer as any particular type, so neither will we. Here is how New Holland quantifies the Dragon’s Milk:

The beer you hold in your hand, Dragon’s Milk Ale, is a crown jewel of New Holland Brewing Company. It is the unrivaled result of painstaking processes – both creative and scientific.

We could tell you about the centuries-old tradition of the term, Dragon’s Milk, or we could tell you about the history, craftsmanship and challenges of important, the beer inside this bottle.

Expect a complex ale with a soft, rich caramel-malt character intermingled with deep vanilla tones; all dancing in an oak bath. Unmistakably distinctive example of New Holland’s Art in Fermented Form.

Appearance:

Well, it looks like a stout or porter, a very dark beer with ruby highlights.  Think amber head, that stucks around for a long time,  resulting in some serious lacing.  The foam from the lacing was almost pasted the side of my glass.

Aroma:

Ahhh, this smells good! Strong aroma of Oak, Vanilla, Coconut, and also some chocolate under it all.  Really an amazing complex aroma coming from this beer.

Taste:

Saaaa-mooooth!  For a 9%abv beer this is amazingly smooth and lush.  This was like chocolate milk spiked with bourbon.  Strong oak and vanilla flavors add to the intensity of the chocolate and bourbon.  the coconut didn’t really come through in the flavor, I’m not sure why, but I was relieved about that.  This is a delicious complex beer.

Glassware: Goblet or Tulip

Calories: started at 23° plato (gravity) and ended around 7° plato to reach 9% abv, which would give you 325-340 calories per 12oz

Overall Impression:

Loved this beer.  I thought it was well crafted, well balanced with out being namby-pamby about the bourbon or the oak, but still keeping them in check.  I highly recommend going out and trying this beer.

Got Dragon’s Milk is a post from: Simply Beer

Dogfish Head Burton Baton

Appearance:

The Beer was a really gorgeous mahogany crimson color, crystal clear.  A small column of bubbles rises from the middle of the glass like an inverted waterfall.  Thin head of thick foam sits on top.  It was fairly hardy and left nice lacing.

Aroma:

Has a strong hoppy oak aroma, the two aromas have almost melded together.  Hints of Vanilla from the oak were also present along with a touch of citrus.

Taste:

A heavy hand of oak dominates the first sip of the flavor profile.  After a couple of sips you can start pulling a number of different  flavors out.  It really taste like an IPA in oak.  The first part of the sip is a vanilla orange flavor, which transitions to an oaky sweetness of caramel.  While the caramel dissipates in the flavor replaced by a bit of heat from the high ABV, the oak sticks around for a  bit to play with the finishing hops.

Overall Impression:

Not a beer for the weak, this is a fully bodied high octane explosion of IPA and Oak.  The flavors are extremely well balanced for such a complicated beer.  Oak can be a finicky beast, along with the 10% abv which can really mess with the flavors, but I have to hand it to the folk at Dogfish Head.  This is a kick ass beer.

Glassware: Tulip

Calories: 10% abv, will give you about 300-325 cal per 12oz

Simply Beer Rating: 96

Dogfish Head Burton Baton Imperial IPA is a post from: Simply Beer

The Russian Imperial Stouts were created for the Russian czar in the early 1800’s, who had a real passion for good stouts.  This lead to the creation of this style as brewers keep making bigger and maltier stouts to impress the Czar.   The American Imperial Stout is an offspring of the Russian Imperial Style, the American version tends to be bigger, hoppier, and sweeter.  All the Stouts for this Beer Brawl were aged in some sort of Bourbon or Whiskey Cask, imparting additional flavors and age to the beer.

With me on this Beer Brawl was Mark Jackson, Corey Greenberg, and Kevin Malavarc.  The only prerequisite I have for these Beer Brawls is a love of beer.  You don’t need to know anything about the beers we are drinking only a willingness to try them and voice an opinion.

Unfortunately, this weeks podcast was corrupted.  My apologies for those of you looking forward to this podcast.  But here is a summary of what happened.

On Tap Tonight:

• Schlafly Imperial Stout 2007 (pronouced shlaff-lee)
• Schlafly Imperial Stout 2008
• Brooklyn Black Ops
• Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout
• BrewDog Paradox Stout
• 2008 Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

As I said above, this week were on the road, in Boonton NJ.  Here we meet up with Kevin Malavarc, the Beer Manager from one of NJ largest beer stores, the Liquor Outlet Wine Cellars.  Aside from the 2007 Schlafly and 1 bottle of the Goose Island, Kevin brought all the beer from his store to this Beer Brawl.

After a couple failed attempts to get the AC working in the room we were in, we decided suffer on in 90° heat, in the name of good beer.  Our first beer of the night was the 2007 Schlafly Bourbon barrel aged Russian Imperial Stout.  With an ABV of 10.5% this was one of the lighter beers of the night.  We all thought the ‘07 Schalfly was a excellent beer with a good balance of Bourbon, Chocolate, Vanilla, and Caramel.  The Bourbon flavor had mellow quite nicely which was well balanced with the malt.

Since we were lucky enough to have the 2007 Schalafly, Kevin brought the 2008 so we could compare the two together.  After letting the 2008 come up to about 55°, it was amazing how close the 2008 was to the 2007.  I’d say the only difference, the bourbon was a bit sharper, but in a year, I think the 2008 will taste pretty close to what the 2007 taste like now.

Brooklyn Black Ops

The 2008 Brooklyn Black Ops Russian Imperial Stout was next up.  I had previously had this beer about 2 months ago at a Brooklyn Brewery tasting event. I really liked the beer then but thought it was a bit over oaked.  I was wondering how this bottle would be, Kevin said he’d been holding onto it for several months, what will power!  This beer poured the most amazing think head, it was perfectly balanced, the bourbon, oak, chocolate, and malt all worked in harmony with this beer.  It was a Delicious beer.  Kevin and Mark called it “Amazing”.

Beer Brawl 16 - Kevin pouring the black ops

The Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout was the next beer up for review.  This too also poured a pitch black with a tan head.  The head was not as dramatic as the Black Ops, but still looked good.  This breakfast stout brewed with coffee and vanilla, then aged in oak bourbon barrels for over a year.  At 11.2% ABV this was our biggest beer yet, but the alcohol is not what we tasted, it was the coffee.  If you don’t like coffee, you will not like this beer.  But even as a coffee lover,  the coffee in this beer was almost overwhelming.  To us, the beer was like a gritty bourbon spiked coffee.  That may be the best sounding description, but these flavors were extremely strong.

Beer Brawl 16 - Peter tasting the Kentucky Breakfast Stout

Next up was an American Imperial Stout from Scotland.  The young brewers at BrewDog have really come on strong to the beer scene with some extreme beer and the Paradox stout was no exception.  This 10% ABV stout was aged for 6 months in Scotch whiskey casks giving this beer a very strong peat and brine flavor with roasted coffee.  Mark and I didn’t feel it was well balance, but Kevin liked it a bit more then us.

Finally, the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout was the beer both Kevin and I were looking forward to the most since we’ve heard so many good this about this beer.   Boy, this beer caused a heated discussion between Mark and myself.  I personally will only server a stout at a slightly chilled temp, around 55°, but the label on this bottle says to server it a 40° which is what Mark thought we should be doing because that is what the brew master must have wanted.  We argued this point for about five minutes with neither of us conceding our point.  Before the discussion of the temperature, both Kevin and I were  disappointing in this beer,  While I felt this beer had well blended flavors,  the alcohol (13%abv) was very dominating in the flavor profile.  Kevin had some other descriptive words for the beer… without down that road, he didn’t like the beer at all.

Beer Brawl 16 - Mark making his point about the temperature

After all was said and drunk, the Brooklyn Black Ops was the clear cut favorite of the group, with the rest of the field finishing close behind.  For the most part,  a very good selection of beer that held up well to our scrutiny.

The next Beer Brawl will be Porters.  I have a great lineup of a bunch of different porters.  Check the Simply Beer Calander to see what is coming up.

Beer Brawl 16 – Bourbon/Whiskey/Scotch Aged Imperial Stout is a post from: Simply Beer

Dogfish Head Immort Ale

Pour:

As with all beer I pour, started off standard 45° pour, but found there wasn’t much head forming. So I turned the glass just shy of vertical and the beer opened up nicely

Appearance:

Has a beautiful mahogany cherry color, ruby hues shine through when held to the light.  When poured the beer had about an inch of head, and retained about 30% after several minutes, very impressive.  With a steady stream of bubbles rising from the bottom, I anticipate it will retain a good portion of what is left while drinking the beer.

Aroma:

The dominant aroma is sweet and smoky, but there are hints of vanilla hiding behind the smoke. The smoky oak aroma is bordering on the heavy side.

Taste:

The taste pretty much marries up with the aroma. The intense oak smoke really sucker punches you followed by a head warming alcohol heat, interlaced with maple sweetness and hints of vanilla that come and goes throughout the mouth.   This beer reminds me of a coffee I drink occasionally, Café Du Monde Coffee and Chicory.  I think it is the chicory flavor that I taste in this beer, which is why it reminds me of that coffee.

Drinkability:

I think this beer is a love it or hate it type of beer, because of the intense oak, alcohol, smoke, and sweetness.  I enjoyed the complex flavors and the intensity of them, but the oak was bordering on over-the-top.  At 11% ABV, I think I would limit the number of these I drank.

Food Pairing:

Need a food that matches up with the smoke in this beer, I would love this with some smoked brisket with a sweet/tangy BBQ sauce.

Dietary Information:

The Immort Ale at 11% ABV would have a range of about 315-340 calories (per 12oz).  Because of the sweetness of the beer, I would error on the high side.

Glassware: Pint or Stein (I used a Modified Pint)

Tasting Method: 12 oz bottle

Simply Beer Rating: 90

Beer Review: Dogfish Head Immort Ale is a post from: Simply Beer