Tag: Imperial Stout
Founders Brewing Co. Imperial Stout
These days there are moments when I think I’m becoming a beer cliche. Lately, my favorite styles tend towards imperial stouts, IPAs, and the occasional “wild” beer (lambics, etc.). And lately I’ve begun to really enjoy barrel-aged imperial stouts.
Those styles, especially the imperial stouts and IPAs, are easily the hottest beer styles of the moment. You can’t throw a stone without hitting a brewery that is making one (or more) of their beers in an “imperial” version, and all of the hot beers that are making people run to the store on release day are one or the other.
And so I find myself asking whether I’m a cliche, or whether these are just great beers and I’m simply enjoying them for what they are. I’ve gone back and forth over this question, and come to this conclusion: I don’t think I, or anyone else enjoying these beers for that matter, am a cliche. Instead, there are just some amazing beers being made in these few styles today, and they’re getting a lot of attention because more and more brewers are trying their hand at them. There’s definitely a symbiosis of sorts between the beer-buying public and brewers, but the bottom line is that as more brewers try their hand at these styles, more and more fantastic versions of them are hitting the shelves (or taps, as the case may be), and more people are recognizing this, which in turn generates more attention for the beers upon release, and so on the circle goes.
And let’s face it, as I look back over the different posts that I’ve written about IPAs, imperial stouts, and barrel-aged beers, I haven’t been uniformly positive. While there have been some that I’ve loved, there have been just as many that I’ve been disappointed by. Some of the beers that I’ve been underwhelmed by have gotten rave reviews elsewhere, whereas others that I’ve enjoyed haven’t been as warmly received there. I don’t know what that means exactly, but I think it most likely points to the reality that taste is subjective.
Although, while taste is subjective, at a certain point you just can’t ignore it when a brewery consistently hits the nail on the head, and creates great beer after great beer. This Imperial Stout that I’m drinking right now is yet another example of a remarkably stellar beer that Founders Brewing Company has brewed to perfection. I’ve had the good fortune to try a number of their beers now, most everything available out this way, and can honestly say that I haven’t failed to be impressed yet. And so here is one brewery, and one beer, where there’s no question but wholeheartedly agreeing with the rest of the beer drinkers out there in acclaiming that this is one fantastic brew, and one great brewery.
I actually first tried their imperial stout several months ago. I’d picked up a single bottle while buying something else from them. I hadn’t heard of it and wanted to give it a whirl.
Instead, it gave me a whirl. Or floored me, is more like it. I was totally stunned by the layer-upon-layer of flavors, the massive presence, complexity, and depth that it displayed, and the way that the flavors just lingered for what seemed like hours after taking a sip. And here I was, with just the one bottle!
And so when I saw a 4-pack available a little while later I jumped on it (not literally!). Turns out that I didn’t know how lucky I was. One local shop owner that I spoke to received all of 1 case for his whole shop, and it sold in a couple of days. And that was a month or two before I stumbled over this 4-pack.
So here I am, at the tail end of a blisteringly hot day in April, just as it turns from hot to breezy and cool, sipping on this amazing beer while sitting on my back porch and recovering from a long day.
Founders releases this beer quarterly, and allocation is very tight, so it can be hard to find. Their website indicates that it’s made using 10 different varieties of malted barley, and weighs in at 10.5% with 90 IBUs. I poured this straight from the fridge, and found that it really opened up when it hit cellar temperature, at about 50/55 degrees.
The stout pours thick and viscous, like motor oil. A dark cream-colored head builds and slowly dissipates to leave a persistent, thin layer and good lacing. The beer is pitch black without the slightest highlight. The nose has plums, darkly roasted coffee beans, bittersweet chocolate, espresso, roasted grains, with some hops floating around the edges. The palate is thick, creamy, like a rich turkish coffee, accompanied by flavors of molasses, anise, deep chocolate flavors, bitter roasted grains, and a mouth-coating malty sweetness. The texture is incredibly rich and velvety, with a layer of warming alcohol. The incredibly long finish starts off with bitter roasted grains and espresso, giving way to unsweetened bakers chocolate and and chocolate-covered raisins.
This is easily one of the best beers I have had in a long time. To be honest, this is one of those beers that tasting notes can’t really begin to describe. You can only fully understand how good it is by drinking it yourself. All that the tasting notes and description can do is convince you that you need to find it.
I continue to be astounded by the consistently great quality of Founders Brewing Company’s beers. Most often we experience breweries that turn out a number of beers, of which a subset is reliably great. But in the case of Founders, I have yet to find a beer that underwhelms me.
The rumor is that we may be making a cross-country trip this summer, and if so, I can guarantee that a stop at their brewery in Grand Rapids, MI is in order. In fact, I was so jealous the other day! One of my favorite bands, El Ten Eleven, was playing at the Founders brewery! Can you imagine, listening to some of your favorite music being played live while having the chance to try several different incredible Founders beers?! Sounds too good to be true. Anyhow, I can’t think of a better reason to find a route that goes through Grand Rapids.
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Stone Brewing Co. Imperial Russian Stout
Stone Brewing makes the first beer that I ever got really excited about, the Stone Ruination IPA. When I first drank Ruination it was early in my beer experiences and it completely amazed me. The flavors that hit your palate and the sheer massive hoppiness of the beer was astounding, and it quickly became my measuring stick for other beers. Each time I tasted a new beer, and not just IPAs but any beer, I consciously or unconsciously measured it against the Ruination.
As a result, I went through the process of trying a number of other beers from Stone, including their Smoked Porter, Arrogant Bastard, IPA, Pale Ale, and Imperial Russian Stout. The problem was that on some level I was comparing them to the Ruination, which ultimately made no real sense given how unique a beer Ruination is relative to their other beers. Add to that the fact that part of the reason that the Ruination awed me so much is because my beer tastes were so undefined and it is such an extreme beer. When it came right down to it, I hadn’t tasted enough beers to fully appreciate the whole line of Stone Brewing’s offerings.
In hind sight, I think of this as the Islay-Scotch phenomena. For many people new to scotch, Islay scotches quickly become their favorites. My theory is that this is due to the extreme nature of Islay scotches, most of which are pungently smoky with oily palates combined with a panoply of other flavors depending on the distillery. The Islay scotches are easily accessible in the sense that you can get so much out of them without knowing anything about scotch or having ever tasted another scotch in your life. Thus, many scotch novices initially gravitate towards them, only later branching out to explore the scotches of other regions and distilleries.
Now, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this approach, it is simply one avenue towards a greater appreciation of the full range of scotch whisky. Similarly, ultra hoppy beers are one route towards gaining a greater knowledge of the beer world, one born of the sheer accessibility of this style of beers. If you develop a palate for imperial IPAs, then eventually making the transition to regular IPAs, then to bitters and pale ales, etc., is a logical road to follow. As long as you don’t become mired in the one style that first grabs your attention, then it is fair to look upon imperial IPAs or Islay scotches as valid starting points, perfect for drawing someone in to the world of beer or scotch.
Thus, while I was looking up to Ruination as my ideal beer, and tasting other beers whose style bore little or no resemblance whatsoever to an imperial IPA, it was difficult at best for me to fully appreciate these other beers for what they were. Realistically it is only now, a few years later, that I can say with any degree of confidence that my palate is familiar enough with other beer styles and that my mind is open to what they have to offer to truly give me the chance to appreciate just how good a beer can be, no matter what its style.
So it is with this in the back of my mind that I decided to pick up a bottle of Stone Brewing’s Imperial Russian Stout the other day. I wanted to revisit a beer that I’d tried back in the day, to give myself the chance to taste what is reputedly a great beer now that I’m more knowledgeable about the kind of beer to expect and now that I better know my own likes, dislikes. Basically, now that I have a real frame of reference to rely upon I think it’s time to revisit beers I may have written off in the past.
The beer is opaque, pitch black with ruby highlights at the rim. The nose contains roasted coffee, anise, bittersweet chocolate and a very slight hint of rumminess. The palate is thick-bodied and viscous with just a hint of carbonation in place to liven the flavors up. Flavors of roasted coffee, molasses, and dark-roasted malts dominate the palate. A just noticeable thread of hops can be picked up at the tail end and carrying through to the finish where it is more pronounced. The finish is fairly long and is accentuated by bitter roasted malts along with the mild hop flavor. In general, I don’t think the palate is quite as dynamic as the nose, but in this case that’s not really a bad thing. The nose is a mix of several elements while the palate reduces these to straight-forward and well-balanced flavors of malt, molasses, and a bit of hops.
The Imperial Russian Stout is age-dated, and Stone encourages you to age this beer. I do think it would be quite interesting to see how the flavors developed over the course of a year or two, as the hops that are so pronounced at the back end of the palate and throughout the finish mellowed and gave way to the coffee and malt flavors that are so dominant throughout the rest of the beer. My suspicion is that the beer would be even better than it is right now.
And that’s saying something, because I think this beer is really quite good. Of all the imperial stouts that I’ve had this is easily one of my favorites. The flavors are pretty well balanaced at this point, and I think the balance would improve with a little bit of time. I’m not usually much keen on aging beers, but I’d give it a shot with this one. In fact, along with the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine, this is one of the two beers that I’d be interested in cellaring for a period of time to see what happened.
So perhaps this is the first step in reevaluating some of the beers that I tried a few years ago as I was just getting to know beer in general. I’m very aware that there are a number of beers that I’m sure I’d enjoy much more now with the benefit of having become more familiar with the many styles (and variants on those styles) out there. Hopefully, they’ll all be as enjoyable as I found this beer from Stone to be.
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Brasserie Ellezelloise Hercule Stout
Belgian Stout is one of those styles that has seen increasing popularity of late as more brewers, particularly American brewers, have turned their attention to brewing this style. Which is interesting, because it is a “style” that has little-to-no lineage in Belgium itself. Until recently only a small handful were brewed, and all by very small artisanal brewers. Up until the past year, I’d only heard of a couple of them actually, this Hercule Stout from Brasserie Ellezellois and Stouterik from Brasserie de la Senne. More recently, Allagash came out with their take on the style, named appropriately “Black”, and Brookyn Brewing recently came out with their “Black Ops”.
What is to be expected with this style is that, much like the also recently arisen style “Belgian IPA”, the latitude for what the final beer can be like is very broad. Stouterik weighs in at only 4.5% whereas the other three that I mentioned all come in at 9% and above. What is more, as is typical with Belgian yeast strains, the actual flavors and aromas that they produce in the final beer can be really variable brewer to brewer. So the style becomes a bit of a grab bag, sufficiently loosely defined that the brewer can take it and turn it into something all their own. Which, I think, is the real spirit of Belgian brewing in the first place.
So what about Brasserie Ellezelloise? They’re one of those Belgian brewers that I can’t help but fall for. They brew about 1000 hectoliters per year (about 26,000 gallons), which is a fair amount but still not too large. And they do that while only brewing three different styles, a golden ale, amber ale, and stout. This beer is named after the Agatha Christie character, Detective Hercule Poirot, who (fictionally of course) hailed from Ellezelloise. The head brewer is named Philippe Gerard, whom Michael Jackson quotes as saying, “brewing is my job, my hobby, my passion…my own brewery, my own beer, that was my dream.” For anyone who has homebrewed and dreamed of either working in or owning their own brewery, this quote will definitely ring home. The brewery is outfitted with second-hand copper equipment that Gerard sourced over the course of the 8 years that he spent getting the brewery built up. The brewery has a small cafe attached to it where they serve the beers along with a cheese that is flavored with it, and from Michael Jackson’s description you really come away with the opinion that this would be a great place to spend an afternoon while traveling around Belgium.
But then, how does the beer itself stack up? It pours a deep black with ruby highlights. The nose has typical Belgian spicy phenolics, along with hints of malt, caramel, and liquorice. The palate is velvety while not being too heavy with flavors of liquorice, sweet raisins, bittersweet chocolate, and a hint of smoke. The finish is mildly sweet with chocolate and liquorice carrying through. On the whole the beer is, start to finish, sweet without being cloying, and slightly smoky without being acrid. Pleasantly mild to drink, you wouldn’t no it was 9.0%.
I don’t think this is an incredible beer and not one that I’d go out of my way to track down. But it’s very enjoyable and well worth trying if you get the chance. I’d very much like to try their amber at some point though, and will be keeping my eyes open for that. At the least, how can you not want to support a brewery (and a brewer) like this?
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Southern Tier Imperial Choklat Stout
We first encountered Southern Tier’s Imperial Choklat Stout last winter when we happened upon it in a shop. Erin couldn’t resist the concept of a chocolate stout and so we grabbed a bottle. Our interest was heightened while checking out, when the clerk looked at the bottle and said, “This. Beer. Is. Freaking. Amazing.” (periods included to indicate the dramatic emphasis he used). And sure enough, the beer was pretty amazing. It was the most chocolatey tasting beer I’d ever drunk before, with both the nose and the palate just absolutely packed full of chocolate flavor. I later had it on tap a couple of times and was just as amazed by it both times.
But the beer is seasonal, part of Southern Tier’s Blackwater Series of big, unique imperial stouts. Other beers in the series have included an imperial coffee stout (very good), a creme brulee imperial milk stout (very strange, very sweet), and an oat imperial stout. On the whole I’ve found Southern Tier’s beers across the board to be ok. They’re inventive and unique and I give them credit for that. And as the imperial choklat stout and imperial coffee stout show, they really strike gold sometimes. But most of the beers I’ve had have been a bit too far in left field for my palate, or simply not that interesting. Either way, both Erin and I were highly anticipating the re-release of this beer. And so it was with some excitement that we headed to the shop once we’d heard that it had been re-released this past month.
I have to admit that I do like Southern Tier’s packaging of their special series beers, where they include info about the malts, hops, and other ingredients used, the original gravity, and even the color rating. Great stuff for an anorak such as myself. The Imperial Choklat Stout is brewed to an original gravity of 27-degrees Plato, roughly 1.115 in gravity units. Seriously high starting gravity, can you imagine how much yeast they have to pitch?! The chocolate used is bittersweet belgian chocolate. Chinook and Willamette hops are used, and the malts are to be expected: 2-row, caramel 60, and chocolate malt. But what really grabbed me was that original gravity. Coupled with the 11% ABV, this promised a beer that would offer some great viscosity on the palate.
So with some excitement we popped open the bottle tonight. Does the beer live up to expectations born of last year’s batch?
The beer is jet black, with very slight ruby highlights at the rim. The nose is intensely chocolate. In fact, after pouring it and leaving it sitting on my desk next to me for about 5 minutes, the scent of chocolate has filled the room. The chocolate smell is of the cocoa variety as opposed to the smell of bittersweet chocolate. And the nose is all chocolate, all the time, not much else comes through – not that I’m complaining. The first flavor that comes through on the palate is the bittersweet chocolate. That is quickly replaced by the distinct bitterness of roasted malts, almost as though someone was making hot chocolate on the stove and burned a little bit. This flavor sort of flashes on the palate, dulling the bittersweet chocolate somewhat and altering it to more of a cocoa-powder flavor. Slowly, the palate gives way to a finish that is at once both chocolate and bitter roast. The beer is not as voluptuously chocolaty as I remember being last year, but still quite good.
In fact, I find the finish to be quite similar to the flavor left in your mouth after eating a chocolate that has a very high percentage of cocoa, say 80% or more. While some chocolate sweetness remains, it is always countered by a degree of bitterness that can be quite high. It is a combination that doesn’t so much taint the experience, but illuminates another facet of the chocolate flavor. Because let’s face it, chocolate is produced through first roasting the cocoa beans. And following that, the chocolate maker’s determination of how much sugar and cocoa-butter to add to the finished product. The higher the cocoa percentage, the greater the sense of bitterness that you will experience. This beer works very similarly.
Whether that is a flaw or not is debatable. It would be nice if the finish trailed off into sweetly chocolate notes, but in some way I think this finish is more true to the ingredients used.
In sum, this beer is a must try. I think everyone should go out and grab a bottle of this and open it on a cold winter evening. The chocolate experience in this beer remains the most astounding to me of any chocolate beers I’ve yet tried.
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Brasserie Dieu De Ciel Peche Mortel
Peche Mortel translates to mortal sin in French and is, in a certain respect, an apt name for this beer. These days, imperial stouts are a dime-a-dozen. Crafting a stout that takes roastiness, alcohol, etc., over the top is not difficult in and of itself. But well-executed imperial stouts are another thing entirely, and much more rare. In response to the ubiquity of imperial stouts that are little more than ramped-up versions of regular stouts, a number of breweries have upped the ante by producing imperial stouts that prominently feature unique ingredients, such as barrel-finishes, coffee, chocolate, etc. Examples include Founders’ Breakfast Stout and Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Southern Tier’s Choklat Stout, and Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout.
These beers succeed in creating a beer that not only features the depth and presence of a well-done imperial stout, but seamlessly incorporate the impact of a second significant ingredient. For those with a sweet tooth, the Southern Tier Choklat Stout is remarkable in how prominent, and well-integrated the chocolate flavors are. For those seeking a massive coffee-laced stout, the Founders Breakfast Stout is spot on, giving lots of room for the coffee flavors to play out along with an ehanced smoothness imparted by the oats that are part of the beer’s makeup.
This is not to say that traditional imperial stouts cannot succeed in their own right. Brooklyn’s Black Chocolate Stout, while not featuring much of a chocolate presence, is very good. The same can be said for Rogue’s Chocolate Stout. And Smuttynose’s Imperial Stout is a prime example of the style, deftly taking a great stout recipe and kicking it up to a whole ‘nother level. Each of these beers does a great job of mastering a deceptively simple recipe. Again, these are not just stouts times two, but beers that achieve a whole different level of impact from their non-imperial peers.
Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel’s Peche Mortel, an imperial coffee stout, easily fits right in with these other examples of great imperial stouts. Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel is a Montreal brewery whose beers are, in general, anything but strict style adherents. Yes, they produce a Belgian-style wit, and a “blond ale”, but after that all style guidelines get thrown out the window. Their other beers include a maple scotch ale, a hemp beer, a hibiscus flower wit, and a couple of beers incorporating peppercorns, alongside the Peche Mortel. While the reviews of most of these beers are somewhat varied, you have to give them credit for ingenuity, and, at least in the case of the Peche Mortel, pulling it off.
I guess that I’m a tough sell when it comes to imperial stouts. As the above indicates, I’m not interested in something that is basically a “big” stout. When it comes to imperial stouts I’m interested in a beer that has a character and personality that makes it distinct from a regular stout. The Peche Mortel amply accomplishes this.
The beer starts out absolutely, positively opaque, pitch black. No ruby highlights or anything, just simply, jet-black. The nose smells like freshly dark-roasted coffee beans, in the vein of a great Italian roast, accompanied by a hint of bittersweet chocolate and roasted malt. The palate features the pleasantly bitter of flavor of espresso, dark chocolate, very strong notes of black malt. There is a slight layer of sweetness, but the complex of bitter flavors (pleasantly bitter, not negatively) really predominates. All of these flavors are carried along on a deep foundation of velvet maltiness. The finish trails off into espresso bitterness and malt sweetness, dominated by the espresso.
In all, the one area where the beer does not overwhelm is with the finish. The nose and palate are really quite exciting. I find this beer to be a real experience, one of the better imperial coffee stouts that I’ve drunk, a step above the Founders Breakfast Stout which I thought was quite good. This beer maximizes the impact of the coffee in much the way that the Southern Tier Choklat Stout does so with the massive presence it gives to the chocolate. And then, along with the coffee nose and flavor, the beer has excellent depth and mouthfeel. Add to that the presentation, which is really quite stunning. Visually, this beer is the equivalent of a black hole, all color and light is swallowed up.
A good beer for a cold winter day, just like the one the during which I’m writing this.
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