Review 183: Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout

Review 183

11/15/13

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout: 10.5% abv

Background: Oskar Blues, a Colorado brewery started in 1997, has just released their seasonal imperial stout for this season, and it is making an impact (on my wallet). Oskar Blues is a cool brewery, because they were the first American brewery to can their beers, and they’re still doing it. Ten Fidy, is a stout made with two-row malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, flaked oat and hops, and it is rated at 98 IBUs (International Bitterness Units). Oskar Blues even says that the amount of malt is ENORMOUS. Well now, this sounds like my kind of beer already.

Nose: Immediately, a chocolaty maltiness comes through the nose prominently. The nose actually has some fudge in it, along with a good amount of frothy cream right on the top of the glass. There is actually a heavy whipped cream-like smell right in the glass, with a slight yeast complementing the dark, smooth notes. The nose here isn’t horribly complex, but does resemble a classic stout, offering up a pleasant balance in the flavors. There is a bit of vanilla ice cream smell coming through, with dried fruits and slight anise becoming noticeable as the beer warms up. There is a definite sweetness to the nose, but neither the sweetness nor the richness over-dominates the meek aroma of the beer.

Arrival: The arrival of this beer lets you know you’re dealing with a blast of malt without hesitation. The malt tastes roasty and nutty, but it’s almost like a light roast. There is a subtle earthy, raw barley grain note that sits in the background of the arrival as well. The arrival is still characteristically creamy and smooth, with a strong presence of chocolate and vanilla bean. With a little bit of agitation, the arrival shows off some vanilla-dominant root beer flavors.  After the beer warms up, there is a slight bit of hops that starts to play into the beer, but it isn’t very overbearing. There is a slight presence of apple and berries that comes through in the arrival, but it is a soft, implied note.

Body: The body is where a hoppiness in the beer starts to peak. The absolutely fantastic thing about this beer is that, even at the peak of the hops, the balance of malt and hops is so harmonically coordinated, it doesn’t stand out at all in the medley of flavors. The vanilla is big here, but with the texture and creaminess, this can most accurately be described as a root beer float. The fruit from before bleeds into the body and trickles off as the beer progresses on the palate.

Finish: The finish, contributing a huge amount of flavor, is such a pleasurable experience. This is a truly quality crafted beer. Besides the balance, the chocolate flavor doesn’t just taste like Hershey’s chocolate. It tastes like high quality authentic German chocolate straight out of the chocolate factory. The maltiness, creaminess, and vanilla are balanced near perfectly with the gentle, controlled, perfectly implemented hops. The malt in the finish is artfully crafted as well. There is a dry yeastiness that finishes off the beer.

Final Comments:  Oskar Blues, as far as I’m concerned, just started coming out of the woodwork here in Michigan this year. The first product of theirs that drew my attention was Dale’s Pale Ale. I actually drink the Old Chub Scotch Ale on a regular basis. When this beer came out, I was very interested in seeing what it had to bring to the extremely crowded stout table, while many others have just criticized it for its steep price ($17/4). Ten Fidy, besides its admittedly embarrassing name, is one of the most delicious, traditional style American stouts I’ve had thus far. It is not what one would call unique, and it is definitely malt heavy in comparison to other stouts. Regardless of the price, I would recommend this one to anybody, although it is not the most complex beer on the shelves by any stretch of the imagination. Still, Oskar Blues is doing something right in my mind, and I am convinced they’re here to stay.

Why you’d buy it: You want a malt monster stout with incredible balance.

Why you wouldn’t: You can’t afford a beer that costs $17 for four 12 ounce cans.

Score: 9.25/10

Review 161: Stone Imperial Russian Stout

Review 161

5/20/13

Stone Imperial Russian Stout: 10.6% abv

Background: We have done a number of Stone beers in our time. Stone is a big California brewery which produces hugely bitter and dry beers. It is an embodiment of the West Coast style of brewing. Stone is pretty highly revered, but it doesn’t mean all of their beers are good. This is a Russian Imperial Stout that is not a mainstay in their lineup, and we were quite interested by this offering.  Russian stouts, initially designed to impress the Czar, were high in alcohol and had very malty character to them. They can tend to be dry and low to moderate in carbonation. What we are more interested in is this particular Russian. With the bitter nature of Stone beers, we’re wondering how much like a stout is

Nose: Well you might expect to smell some chocolate, coffee, and vanilla in the beer. And you won’t be surprised to find you smell that. There is a crisp apple-like smell coming through, making the aroma pleasant and not overly rich. You can sense a sort of molasses and raison-esque sweetness coming to the forefront as the beer opens up as well. You will eventually settle upon some dry maltiness, coupled with the fruitiness. Besides apples and raisons, one can start to get a slightly tart smell coming through, which is slightly reminiscent to a tangerine. There is a strong note of black licorice that comes through, and starts to over-dominate the smell. At the end of the nose, you will get a short, acidic tartness which we felt was close to dark cherries. Overall, this is a light, but surprisingly interesting nose.

Arrival: The arrival, if you know Stone beers, might be deceiving. This ends up being a fairly sweet and modestly tart arrival. The beginning is sharp and sour. The sour note is interesting and very much not what we expected. This sourness actually lasts through the arrival and into the body. This can be related to apples and lime citrus, followed by some dry fruits like cherry and raisons. You will find in the spiciness some black pepper and just a ting of rye grain as well.

Body: The body brings out a huge amount of maltiness, with coupled notes of molasses and raisons, crisp fruits, and the residual tartness lingering from the arrival. As it gets to the end of the body, there is some slight spiciness. Here, you start to get some creaminess and milk chocolate flavors cropping up.

Finish: The finish, holding some espresso and grapefruit bitterness in the flavor, ends in complete contrast to the rest of the beer. There is some crisp apple tartness, coupled with some moderate spice and followed by gingerbread and creaminess. This beer has a medium long finish with a prominent coffee aftertaste. It still contains the tartness from before, only it takes on a different light now. There is also a subtle taste of anise in the finish to go along with what we smelled in the beginning.

Final Comments:  This is an interesting beer. This lacks the power of a traditional imperial stout, as well as the richness. It seems like there should have been a little more backbone to this beer. This is a very crisp, refreshing stout. There was a defined transition between the arrival, body and finish which makes for an interesting and engaging experience. At KCM, we seem savor the moments where we find a beer that changes in flavor over time. This is a lot different than what we expected from a Stone beer. It is not nearly as overbearing as we thought it would be in the bitter character, which is a welcoming contrast to the full range of beers they offer.

Why you’d buy it: You want to try a less fruity, rich stout with plenty of flavor.

Why you wouldn’t: You are afraid of a little bitterness, or you like the bourbon-seasoned richness of a bourbon barrel aged stout.

Score: 8.75/10

Review 140: Epic Brewing Big Bad Baptist Stout

Review 140

2/11/13

Epic Brewing Company Exponential Series Big Bad Baptist Stout: 11.4%

Background: It’s easy to forget how young the microbrewery boom is, and man is it a boom. We wanted to look outside of Michigan, where a lot of the strong microbreweries are cropping up and jump all the way to Utah. What’s in Utah? Epic Brewing Company. They aren’t the only ones who go by this name, but the other brewing scene is in New Zealand so let’s avoid that for the sake of simplicity. This group is from 2008, and as of 2010 they have 9 fermenters and that means more capacity. This would be exciting for any business. I wouldn’t mind having a few fermenters myself! So a little more about the beer, you might want to hear. Sounds like Epic’s Exponential Series is a little more experimental, sitting alongside the Classic Series and Elevated Series. Sure enough, this particular stout is not just an off the line stout. It is brewed with cocoa nibs and coffee beans. It also sits in the Imperial region with the longest title ever and a whopping 11% abv. 

Nose: Cocoa, coffee, vanilla, dry wood, sawdust, malt, dark, rich, apple, raisons, brown sugar, earthy, light tobacco, chocolate, nutmeg

Arrival: Creamy, light, easy, modest crispness, mellow, vanilla, caramel, coffee, apple

Body: Coffee, frothy mouthfeel, oak, chocolate, crisp apple, vanilla, wheat, slight berry notes

Finish: Cherry sweetness, chocolate, mocha coffee, slight hops, heavy cream, wheat

Final Comments: So with a slight earthiness and a huge, frothy creaminess to it, this is an interesting stout, but what comes across as an interesting experiment turns into an over-powering amount of coffee and cocoa influence. This is a complex enough beer, but it is robbed by the domination of the coffee flavors. The gentle character of this stout does fool you into forgetting that you’re dealing with an Imperial bad boy here, and if that’s the kind of thing you like, here’s your winner.

Why you’d buy it: You’re a coffee drinker who likes soft stouts

Why you wouldn’t: You want to get more out of your beer than coffee.

Score: 8.25/10

Review 137: New Holland Night Tripper

Review 137

2/1/13

New Holland Night Tripper: 10.8% abv

Background: We’ve talked a little bit about New Holland. In fact, when we started doing reviews, we started with New Holland as a brewery, so there has been some discussion. Just recently we visited their quaint brewing operation and saw what could only be described as breath-taking: a room full of barrels aging Dragon’s Milk. That brings up a good point. Dragon’s Milk is now New Holland’s highest selling beer, having surpassed Mad Hatter as number one. One could say New Holland knows how to make a dark beer, and we couldn’t agree more. That’s why we were skeptical about Night Tripper, an imperial stout aged in oak that comes out once a year. Could this beer really be worth waiting for, when Dragon’s Milk is always available? They do sound very similar when you chart them next to each other. Both aged in oak, both black as night, and 10% compared to 11%. So you might think this is a gimmick. It isn’t.

Nose: Chocolate, brown sugar, coffee, caramel, apple, malty, pear, vanilla, light butterscotch, raisons, slightly dry, dark, crisp, smooth, balanced

Arrival: Coffee, chocolate-covered strawberries, slight citrus, toffee, apple, vanilla, caramel, butterscotch, refreshing, fruit, blackberry

Body: Coffee, brownies, rich fudge, cherry, sweet, slight tartness, toffee, crisp apple, butterscotch, oatmeal

Finish: Roasted coffee, malt, chocolate, slightly bitter grapefruit and hops, vanilla, pecans, boozy, raisony, wheat, apple

Final Comments: What can we say about this? This is quite a killer stout. It’s complex, but unlike other stouts out there, it balances between different flavor profiles without overwhelming you with the dark notes generally associated with a stout. So it is sort of an oxymoron, but you can find out for yourself. Is it like Dragon’s Milk? It isn’t nearly as creamy, and it is a different kind of stout all together. Better or worse? We’d like to say better, but you will have to find out for yourself.

Why you’d buy it: Find a reason why you can’t. I can’t think of one.

Why you wouldn’t: Read the above comment

Score: 9.75/10

Review 102: Goose Island Bourbon County

Review 102

10/28/12

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout: 15% abv

Breaking the record for the strongest alcohol content in a beer that we’ve ever reviewed, Bourbon County takes the idea of barrel aged stouts to a new level of intensity. And that’s not just because of the alcohol content. You might ask yourself, can you really tell the difference? Yes. The intensity of this beer is unmatched, not only in how it will make you feel, but also in how it will fill you up. I’m inclined to say it is probably wise to drink this beer with another backup on hand. That’s all I’ve got to say regarding the warning labels. Now, about the beer itself. Is this something new? Not necessary. Is it something that you’ll never see again? Again, that’s not really the case. Bourbon County is just a yearly special, which kicks you between the legs if you’re not careful. From this point on,  we will go into the land of tasting notes.

The nose on this beer will start off pretty powerful. You might have guessed this, but there are some pretty obvious notes to this one, starting with chocolate, vanilla, cocoa, oak, coffee and grain. The graininess comes from some wheat and rye character. If you look beyond these huge flavors though, you start to see some raspberry and strawberry open up. This obviously isn’t hugely complex, partially because the over-balance of dark flavors. This is consistent throughout the beer, so for sake of time, I won’t repeat myself. The arrival is very strong when you go to try the beer. There is strong notes of vanilla, caramel, butterscotch, but also contain a sprite-like citrus note that couples with the carbonation. 

Into the body, there is a huge fudgy chocolate taste, with tons of coffee, heavy whipping cream, vanilla, toffee, and butterscotch. There is also a strong fruitiness in the form of sweet, dark berries like raspberry, blackberry, strawberry and cherry. There is even a slight nuttiness at the end of the beer. The finish contains caramel, oak, cream, chocolate, nuttiness, and some strawberry. Overall, this beer is a statement to the uniqueness of bourbon barrel aging, but certainly doesn’t do much for the complexity and balance that we enjoy in our stouts. It was concluded that besides the fact that this could be mistaken for liquid coal, or chocolate syrup you might put on your ice cream, this is a very select beer that should only be enjoyed by those who can handle it. It’s good, but without a good balance, and super sweetness, it lacks the practicality and enjoyability of other beers. Maybe the other Bourbon County’s will be even better. 

Score: 8.5/10