As I mentioned previously, I interviewed the Bruery a while back.  When I went to interview them, I brought a bottle of Dark Lord and an extreme beer that I brewed.  We tried both of those and a ton of other beers in the Bruery's line-up before I tried Black Tuesday and knew that it was good but I didn't have the chance to really get a good feel for it.  So, when my thirtieth birthday hit, Dan, who went to Black Tuesday release with me, brought the bottle he had gotten.  It was very gracious of him and I'm glad to have such a sharing friend.  Anyway, we tried it first so that there would be no mistaking what it tasted like.  After the much anticipated waiting time and not so great experience in the waiting line for the beer, I tasted it and here is what I thought. The Pour: I felt like I was sitting underneath the car changing my long overdue oil.  This baby is black, really black.  A nice dark tan head comes to the surface of this viscous bubbling caldron of a beer.  The beer likes to stick to the glass and could be said ...

My brother recently visited Pasadena and we had a chance to hang out, catch-up, and drink beer.  He had all my newest homebrew creations during the week, but we bought some beers for the Colts game on Sunday.  It was not intentional, but it ended up that we had three barrel aged beers.  We had, in this order, Olde Suffolk, Samuel Smith's Yorkshire Stingo, and Older Viscosity.  It was a fun day of football and barrel aged beers.  My account of these beers is as follows: Olde Suffolk: This particular beer is aged for two years in oak barrels.  Greene King is the brewery that also makes Strong Suffolk, a 12% ABV monster that is aged for two years (minimum).  This one, however, is a somewhat moderate beer in that it is half the ABV of the Strong.  Of course, this is not moderate by typical English Ale standards.  I've seen complaints on other sites about this beer being $4 dollars for a single imperial pint.  All I can say is this:  What can you expect a beer that has been aged 2 years in oak to cost? Furthermore, one has to consider that a 6% ABV beer in England is ...

With all the hubub this past weekend over the resignation of one of the White House Czars, it seem fitting that one of our Sip With Us Saturday Beer was a beer originally  crafted for a czar, in the most historical sense of the word.  Since we  picked this beer on Friday, and Van Jones announced his resignation Satuday evening, we here at Thank Heaven for Beer are beginning to wonder if our articles posses some supernatural oracular power! All kidding aside, the Imperial Stout, authentically a Russian Imperial Stout, is not Russian, but was brewed to woo the imperial court of Catherine of Russia by Thales brewery.  Thales was bought out by Courage Brewery, and the beer, originally called "Imperial Russian Stout," was renamed "Courage Russian Imperial Russian Stout."  When Courage shut down, the Imperial Stout's production was transferred to Sam Smith's brewery in Tadcaster.  The beer, which in its prime boasted a 10 percent ABV, didn't last long.  However Sam Smith's began producing the beer again as interest in bolder brews began to revive in more recent years in the UK and abroad. So in a sense, while the current version is only 7% ABV, one could argue that Sam ...

Sometimes a unique spin on a beer is refreshing.  Few people would call Podge Belgian Imperial Stout a classic rendition of the style.  Normally, I expect a heavy, thick, sweeter or darker version when I hear the words Imperial Stout.  But it's not a necessary quality.  Let's not confuse things; Podge is certainly some of those things but not to the degree that others are.  It also has some unique factors that are firmly Belgian. The bottle I drank was 6 years-old at the time, so it had obviously changed during its aging.  That being said, I would love if someone would give back some input about a fresh bottle.  Here goes. The Pour: Podge was in a thick, stubby Belgian style bottle.  It really is a little strange to see an Imperial Stout in a Belgian bottle.  Anyway, the pour was dark but still fairly light for an Imperial Stout.  At this point in the beer's six year life, the carbonation was not (I'm sure) what it once was, so it had a small amount of head to show. The Nose: Wine-like notes and sweet Belgian candy sugar tones were in the front of this beer.  It had a very juicy and ...

That was a mouth-full to write.  Was this beer a mouth-full, too.  I'm dying to try the chocolate version. Great Divide is one of those breweries, at least for me, that I tend to really like or really dislike their stuff. Let's see about this one. The Aroma: Yeti had a fat, black body with a rich, dark brown but quickly dissipating head.  It looked daunting sitting in the glass, like a Yeti looking for a chance to eat your camping family. The Nose: Uh, oh!  I smelled quite a bunch of citrusy hops that I'm starting to loathe.  It's not that aroma hops are inappropriate for an imperial stout, but why the same old citrusy hops?  Okay!  Let's move on. Vanilla, coffee roast, dry oak and a tinge of sweetness floated up to my nostrils.  Those were redeeming. The Taste: The dry oakiness and a big alcohol warmth came through pretty readily in Yeti.  Honestly, by the look of the beer, I expected a much fuller and bigger body than I got.  I suppose it seemed thin to me...at least in comparison with its visual aspects.  Coffee and hops, coffee and hops, coffee and hops. Those were the two qualities that dominated. ...

I’ve always found more traditional Imperial Stouts intriguing. For instance, I simply love Samuel Smith’s version. Don’t get me wrong, I still love an Imperial Stout that is 13-18% ABV and a beast of a beer. But some of my favorite varieties are the tamer versions (Bert Grant’s version is another example). Nils Oscar is of the more traditional stripe. It still weighs in at 7% ABV, which is still not to be meddled with. At any rate, I think it’s not too shabby a version of Imperial Stout. The Pour: The color of this beer was more like a robust porter than a stout. Of course, one could make the argument that a robust porter is, in fact, a stout anyway. I say this partly because porter is a notoriously hard style to really define. I also say it because Stout is simply a “stout” porter, so the line can be a little blurry at times. Anyway, I’m content to call this a robust porter/light stout colored beer. In addition to the light color, there was very little head retention to this beer, which many stout drinkers prefer. The Nose: Many Imperial Stouts tend to have a heavier hop quality ...

Any time you have a beer that is 13%ABV, it is a big beer with which you’ve come face to face. How that 13% tastes depends on the drinker. I believe that I paid somewhere between $12-15 dollars for this 11.2 oz bottle (sometimes it’s hard to keep track, but I know that it was salty). Let me start by telling you that I wouldn’t pay to drink this beer again, but what a beer is worth is, once again, in the mouth of the beholder. Here is what I have to offer about Black Albert. The Pour: A creamy, brown, and finely carbonated head sat atop this very dark, black bodied beer. This beer looked like the beer yard bully…it was intimidating in the glass. The Nose: Black Albert had a smoky nose that was touched by the 13% alcohol. There was a sourish aroma that cropped up. Plenty of roast, a soy quality, and some hints of fruit were also very much present. I personally thought that apple cider was the fruit note that I caught. The Taste: Like the nose, there was plenty of roast Black Albert's flavors. The fruit and soy qualities were also a big part of ...

My favorite thing by Dark Horse thus far--that is what I can say about this beer. We've already reviewed quite a few of their brews. Of course, I'm a sucker for Imperial Stouts. At 12%ABV, this beer is a pretty heavy hitter. Being that I shared this with my wife and brother, it wasn't too much at all (especially when it feels like a night to have a couple of beers). There was a very much shared consensus that it was very good. Here is my review of the beer. The Pour-This was a very dark beer, to say the least. A dark brown head was left atop this veiled night sky blackness of a beer. The Nose-Dark grain aromas were prevalent on the nose of this brew. Alcohol could certainly be smelled alongside coffee and some fruity (berryish) qualities. Caramel and chocolate also made a very pleasant impression. The Taste-As I sipped on the beer, it clung to the side of the glass because of its very thick and substantial body. Alcohol warmth and an acidic bite took hold of us all as we drank Plead the 5th. The chocolate and ...

Once a year.  Why, oh, why? Having gone to the festival, I think I can understand why Dark Lord is only released once a year. If I were one of the brewers, I would love to have something special like this happening only once a year. What an event, what a time! Now that I've settled down from the fun of the festival, I think I want to go ahead and review the beer. Let me start by saying that I went thinking, "I'm determined to get through the hype and really see if this beer is as good as people say." It is hard to divide the event from the beer, but here is an honest rendering of what I think about the product. The Pour: Pouring this beer from the bottle is like draining oil from a car. It pours thick, it pours dark, and it pours beautifully. Needless to say, this beer is darker than dark. Blacker than black. There was not much left of the very dark brown head when I poured the beer, but I let that slide...just this once. I knew Dark Lord was thick when I ...