REVIEW#126: Narwhal (Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.)

Well, a new imperial stout from Sierra Nevada, the granddaddy of the US craft brewing scene. I'm more than a little excited/expectant...

Style: Imperial Stout
Appearance: Pours a deep brown but appears black as pitch in the glass. The head is golden brown.
Nose: Pungent! It has a bit of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale pine aroma (although no new world hops in this), sweet and resinous, but there's also charred wood and treacle, and a phenol undertone.  
Taste: This is one decadent beer... there's leather and tar, liquid honeycomb and herbal cough syrup notes. These flavours travel into the finish where things become much drier. Acrid charred wood also found in the nose, comes across very plainly in the finish. Cocoa powder is also apt, both in terms of flavour and bitterness; roast coffee too. There's a hefty 60 bitterness units (IBU) to this beer, but even so, and quite rightly for the style, it acts purely as a backdrop to the vicious malt attack, helping to highlight the malt character rather than compete with it. There's little in the way of alcohol, save for some warmth... Its probably hidden by a sea of gloopy malt!
Mouthfeel: Thick and chewy.
Carbonation: Minimal.
ABV: 10.2%
What's in it?: Magnum and challenger hops (60 IBU)... 2-row pale, chocolate, honey and carafa malts, plus roasted barley (not malted). 

The name for this beer comes from a whale with a giant tusk, found only in the Arctic around Canada and Greenland. It's heavily hunted and sensitive to climate warming unfortunately so not sure how long the species has left! Narwhal the beer is part of Sierra Nevada's 'High Altitude' series, currently made up of three BIG beers: Narwhal, Hoptimum (an imperial IPA) and Bigfoot (a barley wine). 

REVIEW #106: Old Heathen (Weyerbacher Brewery)

Pours inky black with a very short-lived orangey brown head. Chocolate and malt biscuit nose. Caramel, brandy-snap, black coffee and a touch of cinnamon come through in the taste. Old Heathen doesn't have the fullest of body's and has quite a high level of carbonation meaning it doesn't have as much impact as it could. Also the alcohol comes across a little tame, being well hidden. But saying all that its still a decent Imperial Stout and as such is full of rich chocolate flavours and compared to most other styles of beer its like drinking gel(ignite).

Old Heathen, formerly known simply as Imperial Stout, is brewed by Weyerbacher of Pennsylvania. The brewery was founded in 1995 by homebrewers Dan and Sue Weirback. The name Weirback was originally Weyerbacher and of German origin around 2 centuries ago, thus explaining the name of brewery. Their other beers include Double Simcoe IPA, Hops Infusion IPA, Big Ern's IPA, Blithering Idiot (a barley wine), Tiny (a bigger imperial stout at 11.8% !) and Merry Monks (a Belgian ale).

• MALTS: 7 malts

• HOPS: 2 HOPS
• IBU: ?
• ABV: 8%

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

REVIEW #105: Vitesse Noir (Hardknott Brewery)

Pours just about black with an orange tinted brown head. Woody chocolate and phenol aroma. Woody cocoa, some black coffee, rum and peppermint notes and some faint aniseed. The roast barley is more subtle, buried somewhere deep in the huge malt base. The finish is full of alcohol and milky crème de menthe. The body is somehow coarse but not particularly full. The beer is full of deep complex flavours though. Intense, delicious and just what I want from an Imperial Stout.

Hardknott sum this beer up nicely: "It’s a triple imperial stout with lots of stuff in it. It’s full of beans, three different types in fact (coffee, vanilla and cocoa). It’s 11% and black. You wouldn’t neck it very fast, it will be seriously expensive for one thing. Also, you wouldn’t drink much of it because of the intense flavours. It is unlikely to cause major drunken behaviour mainly because it is aimed at beer geeks rather than tramps.". Now that's how to summarise a beer! Vitesse Noir was partly devised and brewed by Steven Pejica of www.aletalk.co.uk.

• MALTS: ?

• HOPS: ?
• IBU: ?
• ABV: 11%
• brewed with vanilla, coffee and chocolate

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

REVIEW #100: Black Tokyo Horizon (BrewDog + Nøgne Ø + Mikkeller)

Pours jet black with a gorgeous iron-oxide, burnt orange head lasting literally seconds before fading to black. Roasted barley and wholemeal bread aroma. A massive sweetness first hits the palate, with overriding blackstrap molasses, demerara sugar and liquorice notes coming with an intensity which I haven't experienced before in a beer. Rye bread, milk chocolate, cocoa, woody notes and related flavours are all mixed in too. As with many of the best imperial stouts, a vanilla creaminess lurks in the background. The alcohol is solvent like and burns, warming oral and nasal passages alike. Its not as severe as I was fearing though considering its 17.2% ABV, and it certainly doesn't detract from the drinking experience. The body is midrange but the fullness of flavour gives the illusion of something much thicker. The liquid is sticky and sappy and this also plays a part in the mouthfeel. No question about it, Black Tokyo Horizon is a monster. It is enormously flavourful and has an alcoholic strength greater than any normal wine. If all imperial stouts are an indulgence then this is something else again.

This collaboration, crafted at BrewDog's Fraserburgh brewery, is probably every beer fan's wet dream... BrewDog, Mikkeller and Nøgne Ø are arguably the world-leaders of experimental, often extreme craft beer production. Black Tokyo Horizon takes inspiration from an imperial stout offered by each brewer; Tokyo*, Black and Dark Horizon respectively. About the individual beers: Tokyo* is BrewDog's jasmine and cranberry infused imperial stout. Black is Mikkeller's imperial stout brewed with cassonade sugar (an unrefined sugar similar to demerara) & fermented with both ale and champagne yeasts. Dark Horizon is Nøgne Ø's imperial stout, of which there has been a few limited versions, the first of which contained demerara sugar & "home-made" coffee extract and was fermented by wine yeast. Japan is the commonality that links all three of these stouts, hence they were candidates ripe for centring a collaborative effort around. In fact Black Tokyo Horizon is all and none of these. Inspiration was taken from each recipe but the outcome is not simply a blend of the three but a separate entity in itself. Little information is available on the specifics so I won't include the usual details below. All I'll say is that drinking this was an experience and, despite being pound-for-pound the most expensive beer I've ever bought, a very worthwhile one. Treat yourself if you get the chance! I guess I need to try the individual beers to see how they compare, but finding Dark Horizon could prove tricky.

REVIEW #98: Lost Dog (BrewDog + The Lost Abbey)

Pours a deep ruby red with a light tan head that quickly fades to a collar. Charred wood and baking chocolate on the nose. Redcurrants, cherries, dried fruit and sweet sherry notes up front, with damson jam rubbing up against salty liquorice. There's a fathomless complexity of flavour. The beer develops buttery honeycomb notes with an oaky vanilla, pears-in-brandy finish. Bags of alcohol. All this flavour is wrapped within a surprisingly slender-bodied frame. Its also a beer simultaneously sweet and dry. Needless to say each sip should be lovingly savoured.

Described as a rum-barrel aged imperial porter on the fancy box, this is for all intents and purposes an Imperial Russian Stout which just happens to be aged for a year in rum barrels. Lost Dog is the first collaborative BrewDog effort I've tried - they do a fair few - and happily, despite the hype, it's not left any trace of disappointment. The brewers from The Lost Abbey, California left the sunshine behind as they flew to BrewDog's Fraserburgh based brewery to help hew Lost Dog from malt, hop, yeast and water. I've not tried any of The Lost Abbey's output prior to this as it seems nigh on impossible to find in the UK, but they have a wide range of mainly Belgian-inspired beers, many of which are critically acclaimed. Spontaneously fermented beers seem to be a particular speciality. Just to let you know, I have an even bigger, meatier collaborative beer lined up for review #100... I'm enjoying this veritable orgy of craft beeriness and hope it continues for as long as possible.

• MALTS: ?
• HOPS: ?
• IBU: ?
• ABV: 11.5%

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

REVIEW #92: Kopikat (Summer Wine Brewery)

Pours completely black with rust coloured head. The aroma is of burnt wood and dark malt, similar to Summer Wine's Teleporter (review #64). Green grassy hops up front presage an increasingly strong caramel and coffee flavour. Its deep and complex with hints of vanilla, cinnamon and sandalwood in the fragrant, boozy finish. The joint hop & coffee bitterness really shines here too. Very full bodied and smooth drinking. A sumptuous imperial stout that becomes more satisfying the further down the glass you get.

Described on the bottle as an 'Imperial Vanilla Coffee Stout'. Kopikat is no normal stout being brewed with the famous Kopi Luak coffee which is eaten by Indonesian civets. Digestive enzymes work on the coffee beans as they pass through the civet's gut undigested, creating a creamy and smooth flavoured coffee. In addition to Kopi Luak the beer also contains the equally expensive Jamaican Blue Mountain, Old Brown Java and Jamaican Peaberry coffees all added at the end of the boil. Plus Madagascan vanilla pods... How extravagant is that! I'm surprised the bottle makes no mention of this as its some selling point. Summer Wine continue to impress as a craft brewer of distinction.

• MALTS: 8 malts
• HOPS: UK & AMERICAN
• IBU: HIGH
• ABV: 7.4%
• UNFILTERED & UNPASTEURISED. BREWED WITH 4 COFFEE VARIETIES + MUSCOVADO SUGAR

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

REVIEW #88: Yeti (Great Divide Brewing Co.)

Pours out a dense black with a decent sized golden brown head. Woodsmoke and tar aroma. Wow, Its been a while since I've had an imperial stout, I'd forgotten how plain tasty they are! Loads of rich and bitter cocoa, wood, charred wood, smoked wood, more wood and then a dash of Jamaican coffee in the taste. Intensely bitter, burning finish with hints of vanilla cream. Its a beer so full-bodied you feel it as much as taste as it leaves a near-permanent layer of goo on your tongue. A great example of an Imperial Stout!

Great Divide Brewing Co. were established in Colorado in 1994, a state with no shortage of world class breweries. Yeti has won awards every year from 2003 to 2009. Great Divide is currently ranked 14th best brewer in the world on RateBeer. I'm especially interested in trying their Smoked Baltic Porter.

• MALTS: ?
• HOPS: ALL AMERICAN
• IBU: 75
• ABV: 9.5%

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

REVIEW #66: Saint Petersburg (Thornbridge Brewery)

Pours oily black with decent dark tan head. Bubblegum fruit nose with herbal and biscuit notes. Sweet peach and apricot esters up front with a cream soda thing going on. The toffee/biscuit malts are subdued a little by pungent hops but lend a surprising amount of sweetness. Vanilla comes out in the bitter-hop finish, as does warming alcohol. For me this beer feels a little lightweight for an Imperial Russian Stout. Having sampled some mindbending ones in the recent past (see review #s 26, 49, 57, 63), this one seems more prosaic and certainly more hop-accented than most. Its plenty firm in body but doesn't feature much fusel-oil fueled craziness or burnt barley acridity. Still, it is lighter in strength than many beers bearing the imperial stout title plus you get more of it than most, at 500ml.

Bakewell based brewers Thornbridge name this stout after the city in which the Romanov rulers of Russia resided from the 1600s to the Bolshevik uprising in the early 1900s. The House of Romanov, particularly Catherine the Great, loved a bit of strong stout and England duly delivered the stuff to her. We must have been friends back then. Thornbridge only came onto the scene in 2005; a collaboration between Martin Dickie (who left to form BrewDog) and Stefano Cossi. Aside from Saint Petersburg, they do a whole range of interesting craft beers worth checking out.

• MALTS: ?

• HOPS: ?
• IBU: mid-high
• ABV: 7.7%`

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

REVIEW #49: Rasputin (Brouwerij de Molen)

Pours deep black with faint red tints when held to the light. It has a caramel coloured head which seems to be permanent (a de Molen trademark) and leaves very nice lacing up the glass. Very pungent nose with cocoa and rich blackstrap mollasses. Wow, this is possibly the most full-bodied imperial Russian stout I've tried (and I've tried a few!). Richly aromatic tobacco, cocoa and roast coffee beans in the mouth; full of woody esters. Its a surprisingly refined blend of powerful malts that's held in check by strongly bitter hops. Many imperial stouts can be quite crude but this one is on the smooth side. The finish lingers on... and on... and on. It is dominated by sticky malts that paint the palate in combination with strong alcohol vapours. First class!

Rasputin has had a few names in the past including 'Cease & Desist' and 'Disputin'. The latter only in America due to a trademark dispute over the name 'Rasputin' with California's North Coast Brewing, who brew a beer called 'Old Rasputin'. The beer's name comes from the the mystic/prophet Grigori Rasputin (1869-1916), a mysterious character who was advisor to the Romanov court in Russia. He is thought to have exerted influence over tsar Nicholas II and tsarina Alexandra. He may even have had a hand in convincing them to try their first Imperial Stout! This one is brewed by de Molen as a limited edition once or twice a year.

• MALTS: pale, chocolate, cara

• HOPS: PREMIENT, SAAZ (BOTH FOR BITTERING ONLY)
• IBU: 46
• ABV: 10.4%`
• BOTTLE-CONDITIONED

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

REVIEW #32: Emelisse Imperial Russian Stout (Bierbrouwerij Emelisse)

Pours jet black with honeycomb head. Rich, tar-like chocolate and pungent cocoa and blackstrap molasses on the nose. Initial chocolate cream, orange and honey notes blend with a digestive biscuit, woody, oaken taste. Curiously this beer seems lighter in body than many others of the style, perhaps due to a lack of unmalted barley in the mix. For what it lacks in body it makes up for in taste; with an intensely drying, hazelnut finish. The finish is something special in its potency; the alcohol and phenolic notes almost makes one gasp for breath!

Bierbrouwerij Emelisse is a brewery in the heart of Zealand, the western most province of Holland. However they use little in the way of Dutch produce in their beers; for example they use Belgian water, foreign hops (often New World) and proclaim Dutch barley unsuitable for their heavier beers. The use of the Amarillo hop variety in their Imperial Russian Stout is interesting as it has a distinct orange citrus flavour whilst being of intermediate bitterness. Its well known that chocolate and orange complement each other wonderfully so perhaps this is an angle the brewer's were going for.

• MALTS: PALE, CARAMEL, OAT MALT, biscuit malt, roasted malt, 

• HOPS: AMARILLO
• IBU: ?
• ABV: 11%`
• aLSO CONTAINS HONEY

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

REVIEW #30: Bearded Lady Imperial Brown Stout (Magic Rock Brewing)

Pours matte black with a tawny head which has fair retention. Strong chocolate/cocoa and leathery notes sit comfortably with eucalyptus hop in the aroma. The beer has a very firm body without being gloopy in consistency. Initial pine hop and burnt barley flavours sit in exquisite poise. The acrid, tannic finish is as dry as the proverbial old boots without being cloying (although I'm sure it would be for some with a palate unattuned to imperial stouts... Tread carefully!). Alcohol is present in the taste but not overly so. Another deliciously satisfying imperial stout!

Magic Rock Brewing of Huddersfield is one of the newest brewers in the UK, starting up in 2011. Incredibly they already have a huge reputation and big UK fan base. Their self-confessed inspiration is the US craft brewing scene, hence it is no surprise that archetypically American pine-hop aromas are very evident in Bearded Lady. I'd wager that some classic American hops went into this beer. But being an Imperial Stout its all about the unfermentable, ungerminated roast barley; this adds weight, body and flavour in the spadeful.

• MALTS: ?

• HOPS: ?
• IBU: ?
• ABV: 10.5%`

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

REVIEW #26: Imperial Stout (Nøgne Ø)

Pours jet black with a motor-oil consistency. This is seriously the thickest looking beer I've come across. The burnt orange head looks very impressive, whilst not hanging around too long. A milk chocolate, sandalwood fragrance is apparent on the nose. Burnt toast, charred wood and leather on the palate. The beer is so viscous and full bodied it gives the sensation of eating a chocolate mousse. Hugely dry, caustic, espresso-like finish. As if that wasn't enough the beer is perfectly balanced, with a whopping 75 IBU somehow holding its own against the fiery malt. This is an exceptional Imperial Russian Stout.

Well, having sampled Nøgne Ø's excellent porter and now this, one of the finest Imperial Russian Stout's I've had the pleasure of tasting, I can really see what all the fuss is about. They do seem to produce uncompromising dark ales which provide a real punch to the palate. Now I'm looking forward to seeing how their lighter, hop-led offerings fare. The beer has won gold and bronze respectively at the 2010 and 2011 Australian International Beer Awards.

• MALTS: maris otter, munich, black, chocolate, roasted barley, oat malt

• HOPS: COLUMBUS, CRYSTAL
• IBU: 75
• O.G.: ~1.092 (23 DEGREES PLATO)
• ABV: 9%`

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------