REVIEW: Stone Espresso Imperial Russian Stout

I hinted the other day that If you knew how Stone handled their odd year limited releases that you might have an idea of what I was going to be taking a look at today. Well, here it is Stone's Imperial Russian Stout again! But this time brewed with copious amounts of espresso. On odd years. Stone tweaks the recipe for their IRS and their Old Guardian Barleywine. For example, this year's Old Guardian was made with smoked malt and oak aged, and in 2011 we had the Belgo Anise IRS (which I remember being pretty tasty!). It's very cool to see Stone really experiment and tweak these recipies. I'm a sucker for a big stout, any beer from stone, and a beer brewed with coffee. If ever a beer was a no brainer, it's this one. To the beer!

REVIEW: Stone Imperial Russian Stout

I missed out on this one last year. Not that I didn't see it around at liquor stores and bottle shops, but for whatever reason, I wasn't feeling in the mood for a giant imperial stout when this hit stores last spring. Stone's IRS comes out every April, which is usually a time when I'm starting to think about pale ales, saison's, and such. Not big hearty stouts. Perhaps this is sort of the same thing I noticed when I talked about Great Divide's Wolfgang. A big hearty doppelbock that came out in June. Sort of counter-programming to all of the lighter spring-summer seasonals on the shelves. But anyway, what we have here, is a 10.6% 60 IBU beast of an imperial stout. Let's get into it. To the beer!

REVIEW: Great Divide Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti

You guys know I'm always down to try a new beer from Great Divide. Doubly so when it's a special Yeti variety. I took a look at the Espresso Oak Aged Yeti almost exactly one year ago. This one today though, is brewed with excessive amounts of chocolate and even some cayenne pepper. I don't need to hear any more, do you? To the beer!

REVIEW: Revolution Very Mad Cow

More beer from Revolution Brewing. I know, I'm getting to be a bit of a broken record at this point. These guys are good and I really like their stuff. Their Third year Beer, the rum barrel aged barleywine that I looked at a few weeks ago was one of the best beers I've had in a good long while. Today's beer, Very Mad Cow is another entry in the same Deep Woods series of barrel aged beers that brought us the lovely Third Year Beer. I had to give this one a try. Very mad Cow is a 9.7% ABV, 30 IBU milk stout aged in Woodford Reserve barrels. Sounds delightful, right? To the beer!

REVIEW: Sixpoint 3Beans

You guys know I couldn't let a new Sixpoint beer pass by the wayside without taking a look at it. I love these guys and their fabulous beers. Their newest ale, 3Beans is brewed with coffee beans, cacao beans, and romano beans, hence the name. A beer brewed with coffee and chocolate is old hat around these parts. But romano beans, which are similar to green beans? That one seems a bit odd. Turns out that brewers in medieval Europe, in many Baltic countries, didn't have access to traditional brewing ingredients. So they often had to turn down different avenues for fermentable sugars. They used, you guessed it, beans. Sounds intriguing to me! As always, with any new Sixpoint beer youtube is required viewing. This video chronicles the creation of and tribulations involved in getting the beer into my grubby little hands. If you can watch that video and don't come though on the other side excited about beer you're nobody I want to be friends with. So, we've got a 10% ABV, 85 IBU imperial stout brewed with Mast Brothers chocolate, Stumptown cold pressed coffee, and romano beans. Three Brooklyn companies, three beans, one beer. Sounds good to me! To the beer!

REVIEW: Avery The Czar

Today's beer is the third in Avery's Dictator Series. The first that I looked at, The Maharaja, is one of my favorite beers of all time. The second, The Kaiser, was a delicious Imperial Oktoberfest lager that I enjoyed quite a bit. Go check those old reviews out if you haven't already. Those are some great beers. But all of that brings us to the final beer in the series, The Czar. An 11.1%, 55 IBU, beast of a Russian Imperial Stout. I know I'm excited. To the beer!

REVIEW: Sierra Nevada Narwhal

My foray into big hearty beers continues. Today I'm checking out Sierra Nevada's newest beer, Narwhal, an imperial stout. What a great name for a beer, and what an even cooler label! Clocks in at 10.2% ABV and 60 IBU. To the beer!

REVIEW: Bell's Expedition Stout

While the Sixpoint Diesel I had yesterday sure did hit the spot, It did not quite sate my thirst for stouts. Although, I strongly doubt that could ever happen. I don't think I will ever get to a point where I say, "you know, I think I've had enough stouts." But it is finally legitimately the season for stouts. There's a couple of inches of snow on the ground and we're supposed to get more on Saturday. This weather demands a hearty beer that will stick to your ribs. Enter Bell's Expedition Stout. A 10.5% Russian imperial stout. I can't wait. To the beer!

REVIEW: Southern Tier Crème Brûlée Stout

Today's beer comes courtesy of a glowing recommendation form my good friend, Grant. This was always one that I wanted to try. One that I knew I'd get around to one of these days. But Grant's enthusiasm for the beer definitely bumped it up the list. Crème Brûlée is an Imperial milk stout. It's brewed with 2 row pale malt, dark caramel malt, columbus and horizon hops lactose sugar, and plenty of vanilla beans. It checks in at 9.5% ABV. This ought to be intense. To the beer!

REVIEW: Founders Breakfast Stout

Beer drinkers in the know will be familiar with this one. Even if they've never had Breakfast Stout, they know of Breakfast Stout. It's one of the most well regarded imperial stouts in the world. And as we will soon see, for good reason. Also, adding to the mystique of the Breakfast Stout are the rarer varieties, the Kentucky Breakfast Stout and the Canadian Breakfast Stout. Aged in bourbon barrels and bourbon barrels that contained pure maple syrup just prior respectively. I've only had the KBS once, and have never been lucky enough to sample the CBS. Hopefully we'll see those on the blog one of these days. But today we're dealing with the standard Breakfast Stout. Brewed with flaked oats, bitter and imported chocolate, Sumatra and Kona coffee and checking in at 60 IBUs and 8.3% ABV. This should be fun. To the beer!

REVIEW: Mt. Carmel Third Shift Imperial Coffee Stout

We've got a special one today folks. If you read Monday's post you know I headed down to Mt. Carmel and came home with a growler of this beauty. This is the latest in Mt. Carmel's Snapshot Series, their limited run brewery exclusive beers. Prior beers in the series included Hopton Golden Ale, Barrel Aged Drifter, and Squirrel Bite Imperial Brown Ale. I knew I had something cool in store for all you blog readers when my buddy Alex and I came home with this growler. At the same time though, it's downright mean of me as the vast majority of you will never have a chance to try this tasty beer brewed with coffee from Cincinnati's La Terza Artisan Coffee Roasterie. But I did get to try it, and isn't that really what's important? To the beer!

REVIEW: Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti

Great Divide's Yeti is a damn good Imperial Stout. Big, hoppy, bold, I love it. I had their Belgian style Yeti at the beerfest and really liked it too. This one though, the espresso oak aged variety, has eluded me. I knew I had to try it as soon as I saw it. Take Yeti, which is already an intense brew, and throw in coffee and age it on oak chips? That's a recipe this guy can get behind. To the beer!