Archive for the ‘Stouts’ Category

North Coast Old Rasputin 12th Anniversary Russian Imperial Stout

IMG_4286In an exciting development, I am writing up this beer procured not on a trip to the United States, but rather on a trip two blocks away from my work at a local beer speciality shop. That’s right, a true blue bourbon barrel aged stout has made it across the border and into our stores. I’ve been ranting about the beauty of wood aged beers ever since I lived down in California where such things are not strange oddities but much loved companions. If the recent shipment of this rare beer from North Coast is any indication, we may be able to begin moderate rejoicing here in British Columbia.

Not only is this a proper wood aged stout, it’s an absolutely fantastic one, made using the standard Old Rasputin IRS, an outstanding ’standard’ version of the style, as the base. The Old Rasputin has been available in this market for at least a year, and that was exciting enough in itself for BC beer lovers. The 12th anniversary, however, takes the joy to the next level.

This beer smells like goodness: vanilla, biscuit, nuts – all very clear bourbon notes. However, you can also smell the nice roasty elements of the malt through all this. And, unlike some beers made in this style, the Old Rasputin 12th Anniversary is balanced and does not hide the stout beneath the wood. The palate is out of this world yummy: hazlenuts, candied almonds, vanilla, biscuits, and roasted coffee and dark chocolate from the malts. While this will definitely get better with age, it’s also drinking great right now and is smooth and creamy and hides its 11% booze very well. An impeccably balanced beer and one of the best barrel aged stouts I’ve had the fortune of tasting.

The one downside here is the price of this beer in this market which is more than double what you would pay for this in the U.S. – of course due to the high markups and taxes from our ludicrous liquor distribution and regulation system. However, even at the crazy inflated price, this beer is a must buy for any beer lover in the province. Get it for a christmas gift if you have to, but do yourself a favour and drink this beer. There is a reason I’m giving it my highest rating.

Excellent+
$26 at Viti and Brewery Creek

NB: I have to apologize for all the superlatives, but this is truly both an exciting beer and an exciting moment for the BC craft beer community. I plan to help support this movement by attending tomorrow’s Winter Caskival at DIX in downtown Vancouver. I hope some of you can join me.

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Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout 06-07

IMG_3630I’m not sure that I’ve ever written up what is perhaps not only my favourite go to stout, but also one of the best balanced and most ageable stouts out there. Brooklyn’s Black Chocolate Stout is actually not brewed with chocolate, but rather with copious amounts of chocolate malts. One can certainly taste and smell all levels of dark chocolate in this wonderfully made beer. Further, as part of an ongoing debate on twitter about chocolate and wine, I want to come out on my blog to say that in my opinion no alcohol pairs better with chocolate than stouts. The huge range of stouts is versatile and able to pair with the huge range of chocolate styles, which is precisely what I did with this amazing stout that I aged for 3 years before consuming.

The nose on the stout has vanilla, caramel, loads of chocolate and heavy roasted coffee. The palate is ridiculously smooth after 3 years in the bottle, and tasted like cigar, caramel, sugar, wood, dark roasted coffee and bitter cacao. These high alcohol stouts really only show their full potential when stored away for at least a year, many improving well beyond that. For me, big imperial stouts are the perfect dessert drink, much more so than sweet wines. 10% ABV.

Excellent
$2.75/375ml at BCLDB (for the current release 08-09)

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North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

Stout – isn’t it summer? You wouldn’t know that given the last week of weather here in Vancouver. Hence, I pulled out and revisited an old favourite from California brewer North Coast (maker of other tasty beers such as Brother Thelonious).

Pouring with an awesome thick head, the nose on this was classic toasty caramel and heavy roast coffee. The palate expands on this and is very deep and intense: fresh coffee grounds, ash and cigar punctuate the viscous texture. Each flavour also manages to keep in balance with the others and the alcohol (at 9% abv) is not overly noticeable – a feature that will smooth even more with the proper aging. In the end, this is a very well made Russian Imperial Stout and a perfect standby for cold summer evenings.

Very Good+
$4/333ml at Brewery Creek, Viti, Liberty

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A Vertical mini Epic with Stone

A couple weeks ago I found two vintage bottles of Stone’s Vertical Epic, a beer with a different recipe each year and designed to be age. They started this series in the early 2000’s and mean it to develop up to 2012. I also got my hands on a Stone 12th anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. Stone is a nice older brewery from Southern California that I think has done a lot for the craft beer movement.

Stone Vertical Epic 07

Pouring with a moderate head, the colour on this beer is a cloudy molten yellow. Made in a belgian strong ale style. With a lot of spice, citrus, pineapple, banana and other tropical fruit on the nose, this smells fantastic and is amazingly layered. The palate was full bodied (I think about 9% abv), and yet smooth and creamy. I tasted the same flavours as on the nose, but think it is worth noting the very long lingering finish. Also, the flavour layering on the palate is really subtley integrated and the beer is exceptionally easy to drink. A fantastic effort.

Excellent
$7/22oz at Ledger’s Liquors

Stone Vertical Epic 08

Perhaps needing more age, this was made in a hoppier more American style than the 07. THe colour is straw-like and much lighter than the 07. The nose has a pleasant combination of floral and herbal hops and Belgian yeast aromas. The palate was quite a bit heftier than the 07, despite the colour difference, but it was also less complex and layered and the finish not as long (but I find this comes with age). While enjoyable, this just lacked the elegance of the 07, although in a year I bet this will be a very different beer.

Very Good to Very Good+
$6.50/22oz at Ledger’s Liquors

Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Oatmeal Stout

With the hops shortage in 2008, Stone was forced to innovate to provide bitterness to its beers. They did that here by adding a lot of bitter chocolate, which as any beer afficionado knows, is the perfect pairing for stout.

The colour on this very high alcohol oatmeal stout (9% again) was very dark brown and pretty much opaque. The nose had plenty of chocolate, with some cherry, fig and coffee as well. There was a detectable note of alcohol lingering behind all those aromas. The palate was creamy and highly roasted. I suspect a lot of chocolate malts were used in this beast. With lots of mocha flavours, this beer does not taste overly alcoholic, despite noticeable traces. Essentially this is a very flavourful beer that does not yet have a lot of complexity but is certainly great for the price. Not to mention that paired with dark chocolate, this is just hedonistically loveable.

Very Good (will improve with age)
$6/22oz at Ledger’s Liquors

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A Pair of Dogs

Brewdog is an extreme brewer from Scotland, specializing in barrel aged stouts. I managed to get my hands on two of their brews, and put them to the test over a few days. It’s nice to see that the craft brewing bug has spread from the US and been embraced by like minded individuals from other countries.

I started with the Brew Dog Paradox Speyside Imperial Stout, which was aged in whisky barrels. Sitting at 10% abv, the nose on this was very chocolatey and inviting with hints of whisky vanilla coming through. The palate was very smooth, with no noticeable alcohol and plenty of bitter chocolate, vanilla and herbs. This almost tasted like a ‘cream soda’ beer and was quite refined in taste, even with the candied elements. I appreciate that the booze was dialed back in the flavour (probably due to the barrel aging), but also how it gave thickness and body to the beer. The barrel aging is quite subtle and far less intense than some of the extreme barrel aged stouts from the US. And, as a bonus, this is a great pairing with chocolate.

Very Good+
$10 USD

The second beer was the Brew Dog Paradox Port Dundas Imperial Stout, aged in port barrels. I found this very soft on the nose and somewhat closed. There were some strange metallic notes coupled with dried dark fruits (probably from the port barrels). The palate was broader with raisin, chocolate, caramel, and plenty of cigar and tobacco. Again, this was very smooth for a 10% beer, but I found it a bit one dimensional and less interesting than the Speyside. I also didn’t get a lot of port characteristics on the palate. Maybe these would expand with age, but as of now this was a bit simple. However, as with the Speyside this paired amazingly with chocolate.

Very Good
$10 USD

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De Dolle Brouwers Special Extra Export Stout

Speaking of beer, I’m in the mood to write a beer review, and this fascinating Belgian style stout, brewed at the behest of the Shelton Brothers Importers, is a great beer to write about. Strictly speaking this isn’t a traditional Belgian style of beer, but was invented for the English market and re-invented for the US market. It’s a remarkable combination of styles and De Dolle does a fantastic job here.

At 9% ABV this did not give off any overly alcoholic aromas or flavours. Rather this was metallic, herbal, and yeasty at the same time as having qualities similar to an oatmeal stout: roastedness and bitter chocolate and malts. The Belgian yeast strain used for this beer is clearly very good as the yeast elements are deep and complex. I also got candied fruits and raisins, but the bitter chocolate provided a great balance to those Belgian-like components. This is nicely carbonated and drinks great from around 54 degrees to 64 degrees. This is a wonderful and unique melding of styles and definitely the best Belgian style stout I’ve yet had.

Very Good+ to Excellent
$9/12oz at Healthy Spirits

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Mikkeller Black Hole

I suppose one should call this a stout, but Mikkeller does not do much by the books. Apparently this is their attempt at reproducing Alesmith’s famed Speedway Stout, which I have not been fortunate enough to try yet (although there is some hope). Nonetheless, this is an awesome super flavourful chocolate and coffee bean mash up. The malts are deep and complex, and the palate is thick and viscous. A subtle tinge of caramel or toffee glides through the dessert like palate. This beer has an incredible robustness, depth and balance. And it is the best I’ve had from Mikkeller. Pair this with rich meats and you will be in heaven, or at least lost in a gravitational abyss.

Excellent to Excellent+
$13/375ml at City Beer

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Ballast Point Seamonster Stout

One of the myriad of top notch San Diego craft brewer, Ballast Point has built a reputation for this little Imperial Stout. High carbonation for a stout, with roasted chocolate malts, coffee, and a bitter creamyness. This is also a fairly sweet sout – sort of like a chocolate sunday with bitter coffee beans crumbled on top. Enjoyable, but for me, a bit unbalanced between sweetness and bitterness. I would prefer either a rich heavy roasted dark style or a sweeter style buoyed by some oak aging.

Very Good to Very Good+
$8/650ml Bottle at City Beer

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Lost Abbey Serpents Stout

I don’t blog about beer too often, mostly due to the fact I used to consume a lot more wine than beer. Being in the US, however, has provided me with access to an incredible array of microbrews and so I’ve been tasting through quite a bit of fantastic stuff. This often happens at some great beer joints in town, which I have blogged about before. A few choice selections made it home, however, with high hopes.

Lost Abbey is a pretty fantastic California brewery that specializes in Belgian ales. Their sister brewery, Port brewing, focuses on american styles. This particular beer, however, is billed as a Belgian style stout. I love Belgians and I love stout – so I had to pick this up. This is their first release of the beer as a winter seasonal.

Sitting at a heavy 11% abv, this is rich and malty, with a sweetness more in the Belgian style than in a traditional sweet stout like Guiness. The roasted malts give this a hint of bitterness and make it fairly robust. The carbonation is taken up a notch – likely due to the Belgian influence – and this adds a good crispness and layers the flavours well. In the end this is very solid, and one of the better stouts out there, even if I was expecting something a little more interesting.

Very Good to Very Good+
$11/650ml at City Beer

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A Pacific Northwest Beer Sampler

So I’ve finally had a chance to consume the four pacific northwest beers I picked up at Brewery Creek on Main St. and it is time for the final report. The Pacific Northwest is a beer maven’s dream with its dozens of craft breweries and its natural abundance of a wide variety of hops for these crafters to work with. Today I’ll be looking at two breweries from two states, four beers, 2 porters, 2 stouts, and a bunch of empty bottles.

Rogue Brewery hails from Oregon and is widely distributed across the US, but not so much in Canada. Elysian Brewery is based in Seattle and is far more of a local micro-brew, rarely seeing the light of day outside of the Pacific Northwest.

Beer #1 – Elysian Perseus Porter

This is one hell of a beer. Balanced and subtle with low alcohol levels for a porter (5.4% abv), this porter has an abundance of robust dark beer malty flavours without being over the top, unbalanced, or overly bitter. It’s texture is fantastic and every sip suggests the next. This is hands down one of the best porters I’ve ever had.

Excellent+
$7/bottle at Brewery Creek

Beer #2 – Elysian Dragonstooth Stout

This heady stout is dark and broody, creamy and delicious. It has great depth and concentration but wicked balance. This comes in around 7% abv, but you don’t feel the alcohol as this is quite an easy drinking stout. Rarely do I taste stout of this level. Good job Elysian!

Excellent
$7/bottle at Brewery Creek

Beer #3 – Rogue Chocolate Stout

I’ve reviewed this beer before, and it certainly is tasty. However, next to the Elysians it doesn’t quite hold up as well as it used to. Yet, this is still chocolate malty goodness in a glass with a beautiful silky texture. So, while not as subtle and well integrated as the Elysian, it’s still a very tasty brew.

Very Good+
$8/bottle at Brewery Creek

Beer #4 – Rogue Mocha Porter

The mocha porter is slightly bitter, but still reasonably balanced. It is fairly roasty and toasty with the malts, and has a nice length on the finish. The texture is creamy, but overall this beer lacks the complexity of the Elysian Perseus Porter and the sheer smooth chocolatey intensity of its brother the Chocolate Stout. So, while still a decent beer, this is my least favourite of the four.

Very Good
$8/bottle at Brewery Creek

So what has this tasting shown? The Pacific Northwest is the place to be for a good micro-brew. Plus, Elysian is a fantastic brewer that deserves more exposure – I highly recomment you seek out whatever you can from them. I’ll be going to a beer tasting in Seattle in the summer, and if these four beers are indicative of the selection and quality I’ll be a party to there, I am really looking forward to it.


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