So many stouts, so little time.....part 2

Okay, now for the rest of the stouts.  As this is quite a lot of beer for one post, I will try to condense my notes as much as possible. I should note that when I individually review beers at home, it’s not uncommon for a single beer to get as long a review as all of the following mini-reviews combined, so obviously and unfortunately a few of these will not get the full review they deserve.

Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Stout 2011 and 2012

These two were easily the best stouts I had this winter.  I tried the 2011 for the first time last year shortly after it came out in late 2011, and I was immediately impressed by how smooth it was, especially compared to how harsh the older batches of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout were when fresh (I hadn’t had the newer, longer-aged batches at that time).  Chocolate, vanilla, some coffee, plenty of middle-shelf whiskey, a bit of ash but not too much, with just a bit too much warming to be perfect but otherwise amazing.  The 2012 is even better fresh; it was aged twice as long (12 months versus 6) and has even more vanilla goodness.

But the 2011 I had at the start of this past holiday season, when it a year old, was totally awesome.  It was so good and relatively mild when fresh I wasn’t sure it would get any better with a year on it, and many people don’t think bourbon-barreled beers age well anyway.   I was, and they are, spectacularly wrong.  The year-old bottle tasted like chocolate vanilla fudge.  Everybody likes chocolate vanilla fudge.  The 2012 was barrel-aged twice as long, so it may not hold up as well, but I am confident enough to put three away.

Two of the most impressive beers I had last year.

Dark Horse Holiday Stouts (Too Cream, Tres Blueberry, Fore Smoked)

Last year I had the Tres and the Fore stouts, this is the first year I’ve tried the Too.  It’s also the first I’ve tried One Oatmeal, but that was so dull I can’t even write a review of it.  Actually, the Too is pretty tame too.  It smells a bit like coffee with creamer, which is appropriate since it is a cream stout (brewed with dairy sugar).  Unfortunately, it had a slight chalky flavor on top of the coffee and creamer, and the finish is dry and still has too much chalk (WHY!!?!?!). Dairy sugar doesn’t ferment with brewer’s yeast, so it should all stay in the beer.  In other words, this shouldn’t be a dry beer.  This is pretty unremarkable and mediocre.

Oh, but Tres and Fore are both still great, although I think the previous batch of Tres had more blueberry.  Tres tastes like blueberries powdered with coco and then liberally drenched with coffee, and no it doesn’t taste as weird as it sounds.    Fore is brewed with peat-smoked malt like an Islay Scotch, and it is almost as weird as that sounds.  It isn’t the smokiest smoked beer I’ve had, but it’s unmistakable. 

Founders Imperial Stout

This brewery likes their stouts.  In addition to this, they have Founders Breakfast Stout (FBS), Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS), and Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS).

This is a hoppy stout.  I can like hoppy stouts in principle.  I have enjoyed a few bottles of Great Divide Yeti, North Coast Old Rasputin, and Goose Island Night Stalker, to name a few.  But this one is just too damn much, and for someone who loved fresh 2010 Night Stalker that’s saying a lot.  Unlike that beer, this beer has some boozy cayenne flavors that don’t mix well with the hops, and even more irksome is the almost unnecessary amount of roasted barley that was used.  Roasted barley is extremely acrid, more so than black coffee---I like it, but a little goes a long way, especially when it’s competing with hops for bitterness.  My single bottle also wasn’t carbonated enough.

Great Lakes Blackout Stout

This was a perplexing beer.  To give an idea of its mystifying quality, allow me to quote my handwritten notes for how this beer smells:

              “reminds me of something…their porter?”

              “almost lager-esque, but also vaguely fruity”

              “slight roast”

              “reminds me of a fabric (?)”

              “Hershey’s chocolate syrup, charcoal”

              “aroma reminds me of their Dortmunder a bit”

Any beer (let alone a stout) that simultaneously brings to mind a German lager, charcoal, and an uncomfortable couch must be doing something wrong.  On the plus side, the texture was perfectly luscious, so perhaps it was just an off bottle.

Perhaps it would have tasted better if I had sprayed some Febreze™ on it?

Sierra Nevada Narwhal

This one reminded me a bit of what fresh Bell’s Expedition Stout tastes like, except smoother, hoppier and generally more interesting.  It doesn’t even really have any standout flavors, but it is fairly easy-drinking and I expect it might transform into something better with age.  Flavors and aromas include notes of coco, plums, and very earthy hops.  The carbonation and mouthfeel were both great.  This gets a solid “B” score for sure.

So that’s the rundown on the holiday stouts.  I think I’ll do barleywines next, and then my share of Stone’s Vertical Epic tasting.  After that I’m mostly caught up.