LEGENDARY BREWS
Along with the growth of craft beers has come a phenomenon I call Legendary Brews. These are beers that, either regionally or nationally, gain a near mythical status. For any number of reasons - limited production creating demand, unique taste profile, word of mouth, a particular hype upon release, or a combination of any and all - these beers become the stuff of legends. Usually they are brewed only certain times of the year, sometimes only once a year, and their release becomes a kind of beer geek celebration. Heady Topper from The Alchemist Brewing was one of the early Legendary Brews. Heady Topper started the New England Style IPA movement with a hazy, citrusy, hop-forward beer for which people wait in line for hours upon release in order to purchase a limited number of 4-packs.
Nearly every part of the country seems to have a Legendary Brew: Kentucky Stout from Toppling Goliath Brewing in Iowa, Sip of Sunshine from Lawson's Finest Liquids out of Vermont, Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout from Foothills Brewing in North Carolina, Hunahpu's Imperial Stout from Cigar City in Florida, Dark Lord Imperial Stout from 3 Floyds in Indiana, Dogfish Head's 120 Minute IPA, or Dave, a barleywine from Hair of the Dog Brewing in Portland Oregon. Most of these are available regionally, which seems to add to their mystique. While Dogfish Head's 120 Minute IPA is more of a national brew, selling for over $40 per 4-pack. For many of these brews people will camp out at the brewery overnight prior to the release of the beer. Dark Lord, Hunahpu, Sexual Chocolate are all released once a year with big release parties. Dave is aged 20 years and its last release was in 2013 with only 12 bottles selling at $2,000 per. They sold out within hours.
A Central New York beer that has reached Legendary Brew status is Mass Riot IPA from Prison City Brewing in Auburn, NY. It is a New England style IPA that recently gained national attention (which pushed it into the realm of Legendary) when it was named Best IPA by Paste Magazine. We at BOTB were lucky enough to get into the brewpub on a Mass Riot release date for a member's birthday celebration. Like so many craft beer brewpubs, Prison City, located in The Armory building inAuburn, has that nice, laid-back, hip industrial vibe. Our waitress was a lot of fun and knowledgeable. The food was terrific. And Mass Riot lives up to the hype. It's a wonderful beer. But it was by no means the only good beer available. Like many brewpubs, Prison City rotates beers in and out and experiments with different styles. Much to our delight they had a number of IPAs on tap besides Mass Riot including a Red and a Black and a New England. Along with the myriad IPAs there were Sours, Lagers, Porters, Blondes, Belgians and hybrids of various ilk. It'll be interesting to see if their success equals wider availability.
AMERICAN STOUTS
Why "American" Stouts? After all the birthplace of stout is Ireland with Guinness Stout (ergo our nod to Guinness with our "Pour" section rating - Guinness Class Head). As American craft beer has grown, however, nearly every brewery has its own stout or several variations of Stouts. As has happened with the craft beer industry, American brewers took the basic essence of a style and tweaked it in various ways. In the case of Stouts, the basics amounted to a dark, malty beer with subtle hints of coffee and chocolate. American craft brewers have been toying with that formula to create stouts that tend to be a bit bigger and bolder and often hoppier than their cousins across the ocean. This month we decided to check out stouts produced exclusively by American brewers.
OATMEAL STOUT
BRECKENRIDGE BREWERY
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Breckenridge Brewery, Littleton, CO; STYLE: Oatmeal Stout; ABV: 5%; IBU: 36
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "A well balanced easy drinking stout is timeless. Deeply roasted malts lend hints of coffee and dark chocolate. There's a softness that comes from the oatmeal, which when combined with the malts, adds a touch of sweetness at the onset. This transitions to an unexpected dry finish."
COLOR: Deep Mahogany
POUR: Decent tan head
AROMA: Malty, molasses dominates
BODY: Bit less than medium
TASTE: Toward the sweet side of balance with overtones of chocolate and coffee.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Between "I Could Drink This" and "Can't Get Enough!"
COMMENTS: "Creamy on the tongue; A little thinner body than you might expect from a stout; Nice and mild; Not over the top, but easy-drinking beer; Nice, solid beer."
OLD MOUNTAIN MILK STOUT
BLUE LINE BREWING
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Blue Line Brewery, Saranac Lake, NY; STYLE: Milk Stout; ABV; 5.1%; IBUs: 25; MALTS: Roast, Chocolate, Crystal, Victory.COLOR: Black
POUR: Slight head with some lacing
AROMA: Brown sugar
BODY: Between Medium and Full
TASTE: Sweet with notes of coffee, vanilla, brown sugar
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Between "I Could Drink This" and "Can't Get Enough!"
COMMENTS: "More malty; A bit creamier even than Breckenridge; Roasty; On the sweet side - I like it; Kind of like a nice latte; Yeah, coffee and vanilla; Good beer."
NITRO BREAKFAST WITH CHURCHILL OATMEAL COFFEE STOUT
WAR HORSE BREWING
THE BEER FACTS: BREWERY: War Horse Brewing, Geneva, NY; STYLE: Oatmeal Stout; ABV: 7.2%; MALTS: 2-Row, Oats, Roasted barley, Chocolate Malt, Crystal 55; HOPS: Bravo, East Kent Golding; OTHER: Colombian Coffee
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Breakfast With Churchill is full of roasty smooth dark chocolate notes and balanced bitterness. With the addition of freshly roasted Colombian Coffee from our good friends at Glenn Edith in Rochester, it's a perfect start, or finish, to your day."
COLOR: Near Black with a red tint
POUR: Between Decent and Guinness Class with long-lasting lacing
AROMA: Brown sugar and coffee
BODY: Between Medium and Full
TASTE: Nice sweetness on the front with a pleasing bitterness at the end with a strong coffee taste throughout
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Darn near "Can't Get Enough!"
COMMENTS: "Creamy; More roasted taste than some of the others; Fills the mouth; Like a nice mug of coffee; Real nice mouth feel; They really hit the coffee stout sweet spot - a little sweet a little bitter with a nice big flavor; Coffee, yes, but still beer; Little bit of dark chocolate in there too; I like it."
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Breakfast With Churchill is full of roasty smooth dark chocolate notes and balanced bitterness. With the addition of freshly roasted Colombian Coffee from our good friends at Glenn Edith in Rochester, it's a perfect start, or finish, to your day."
COLOR: Near Black with a red tint
POUR: Between Decent and Guinness Class with long-lasting lacing
AROMA: Brown sugar and coffee
BODY: Between Medium and Full
TASTE: Nice sweetness on the front with a pleasing bitterness at the end with a strong coffee taste throughout
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Darn near "Can't Get Enough!"
COMMENTS: "Creamy; More roasted taste than some of the others; Fills the mouth; Like a nice mug of coffee; Real nice mouth feel; They really hit the coffee stout sweet spot - a little sweet a little bitter with a nice big flavor; Coffee, yes, but still beer; Little bit of dark chocolate in there too; I like it."
DRAGONSLAYER
MIDDLE AGES BREWING CO.
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Middle Ages Brewing, Syracuse, NY; STYLE: Imperial Stout; ABV: 9.5%; HOPS: English hops
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Brewed in the style of a Russian Imperial Stout. Strong, chocolatety and aggressively hopped with finest English hops
COLOR: Near pitch black
POUR: Near Guinness Class head - big, rich and long-lasting
AROMA: Roasty malt, candy
BODY: Near full
TASTE: Somewhat sweet, with coffee and dark chocolate dominant
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Near "Can't Get Enough!"
COMMENTS: "A bit more carbonated than many; Roasted coffee bitterness; Iced coffee; Not a dessert beer yet, but a meal ender; Bit of licorice taste in there; Big malty taste; Got a nice dark chocolate taste to it; The British vibe comes through with the English hops; Another good beer from one of our favorite breweries."
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Brewed in the style of a Russian Imperial Stout. Strong, chocolatety and aggressively hopped with finest English hops
COLOR: Near pitch black
POUR: Near Guinness Class head - big, rich and long-lasting
AROMA: Roasty malt, candy
BODY: Near full
TASTE: Somewhat sweet, with coffee and dark chocolate dominant
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Near "Can't Get Enough!"
COMMENTS: "A bit more carbonated than many; Roasted coffee bitterness; Iced coffee; Not a dessert beer yet, but a meal ender; Bit of licorice taste in there; Big malty taste; Got a nice dark chocolate taste to it; The British vibe comes through with the English hops; Another good beer from one of our favorite breweries."
THICK MINT STOUT
SOUTHERN TIER
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Southern Tier Brewing, Lakewood, NY; STYLE: Imperial Stout Dessert Beer; ABV: 10%; IBU: 60
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Inspired by the legendary cookie, Thick Mint joins our world-class rated Blackwater Series of dessert beers alongside Creme Brulee, Choklat Oranj, Salted Caramel and Choklat in 2017. This Imperial Stout is a mouthful of perfectly balanced mint and chocolate. Roasty malts coalesce with notes of Belgian dark chocolate, sweet mint and just a touch of sweet caramel. So decadently delicious, you'll wish you'd bouth another box...er, bottle."
COLOR: Black
POUR: Between Decent and Guinness Class
AROMA: Mint and chocolate
BODY: Full
TASTE: Sweet with dark chocolate and mint, bit of caramel and roasty malt
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Near "Can't Get Enough!"
COMMENTS: "Tastes like a Girl Scout cookie; Dessert; Creamy; Great mouthfeel; Deceptively alcoholic; I'm the one dissenting voice here - I'm just not a fan of mint in anything other than a candy of gum, just don't care for it. Having said that, I like this better than I thought I would - the mint is subtle enough to not overpower."
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Inspired by the legendary cookie, Thick Mint joins our world-class rated Blackwater Series of dessert beers alongside Creme Brulee, Choklat Oranj, Salted Caramel and Choklat in 2017. This Imperial Stout is a mouthful of perfectly balanced mint and chocolate. Roasty malts coalesce with notes of Belgian dark chocolate, sweet mint and just a touch of sweet caramel. So decadently delicious, you'll wish you'd bouth another box...er, bottle."
COLOR: Black
POUR: Between Decent and Guinness Class
AROMA: Mint and chocolate
BODY: Full
TASTE: Sweet with dark chocolate and mint, bit of caramel and roasty malt
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Near "Can't Get Enough!"
COMMENTS: "Tastes like a Girl Scout cookie; Dessert; Creamy; Great mouthfeel; Deceptively alcoholic; I'm the one dissenting voice here - I'm just not a fan of mint in anything other than a candy of gum, just don't care for it. Having said that, I like this better than I thought I would - the mint is subtle enough to not overpower."
HYPNOPOMPA IMPERIAL STOUT
OMNIPOLLO BREWING
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Omnipollo Brewing, Boston MA; STYLE: Imperial Stout; ABV: 11%
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Hypnopompa is our Imperial Stout brewed with almost 100 kilos of marshmallows and Tahitian vanilla beans ( the size of cigars). Low carbonation and boiled a bit extra for good measure, this is a beer strictly for the stout inclined."
COLOR: Black
POUR: Decent chocolate brown head
AROMA: Chocolate, sea-salt, caramel/sweet
BODY: Full
TASTE: Sweet dark chocolate
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Near "Can't Get Enough!"
COMMENTS: "Could chew this; Dessert beer; Tastes like a liquid S'more; Lady Godiva; After-dinner drink; Almost like chocolate syrup; Could put it on French Vanilla ice cream; Good - and different."
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., STYLE: Bourbon barrel-aged Imperial Stout; ABV: 12.3%
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "What we've got herre is an imperial stout brewed with a massive amount of coffee and chocolates then cave-aged in oak bourbon barrels for an entire year to make sure wonderful bourbon undertones come through in the finish. Makes your taste buds squeal with delight."
COLOR: Black
POUR: Decent Head
AROMA: Chocolate, coffee
BODY: Full
TASTE: Big chocolate and coffee with smooth bourbon undertones
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Near "Can't Get Enough!"
COMMENTS: "Coffee grounds; Green pepper? I think; Sweet smelling - maybe horehound; Bourbon taste comes through nicely - sort of blends in nicely almost like a nice Irish Coffee made with bourbon; A real tasty sipper."
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Middle Ages Brewing, Syracuse, NY; STYLE: Imperial Stout; ABV: 12.5%
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "This version of our imperial stout Dragonslayer has been aged in Bourbon Barrels for over 6 months."
COLOR: Black
POUR: Guinness-class with nice lacing
AROMA: spicy, alcohol, subtle
BODY: Full
TASTE: Coffee, bourbon, alcohol, bit of toffee with fruity hops
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Near "Can't Get Enough!"
COMMENTS: "Alcohol up front; Booze; Serious stuff; A 'get-me-in-trouble' beer; I taste a little coconut in there; Dangerously delicious; One of the hoppier stouts we've had today.
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "Hypnopompa is our Imperial Stout brewed with almost 100 kilos of marshmallows and Tahitian vanilla beans ( the size of cigars). Low carbonation and boiled a bit extra for good measure, this is a beer strictly for the stout inclined."
COLOR: Black
POUR: Decent chocolate brown head
AROMA: Chocolate, sea-salt, caramel/sweet
BODY: Full
TASTE: Sweet dark chocolate
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Near "Can't Get Enough!"
COMMENTS: "Could chew this; Dessert beer; Tastes like a liquid S'more; Lady Godiva; After-dinner drink; Almost like chocolate syrup; Could put it on French Vanilla ice cream; Good - and different."
KBS (KENTUCKY BREAKFAST STOUT)
FOUNDERS BREWING
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., STYLE: Bourbon barrel-aged Imperial Stout; ABV: 12.3%
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "What we've got herre is an imperial stout brewed with a massive amount of coffee and chocolates then cave-aged in oak bourbon barrels for an entire year to make sure wonderful bourbon undertones come through in the finish. Makes your taste buds squeal with delight."
COLOR: Black
POUR: Decent Head
AROMA: Chocolate, coffee
BODY: Full
TASTE: Big chocolate and coffee with smooth bourbon undertones
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Near "Can't Get Enough!"
COMMENTS: "Coffee grounds; Green pepper? I think; Sweet smelling - maybe horehound; Bourbon taste comes through nicely - sort of blends in nicely almost like a nice Irish Coffee made with bourbon; A real tasty sipper."
BOURBON BARREL DRAGONSLAYER
MIDDLE AGES BREWING
THE BEER FACTS: BREWER: Middle Ages Brewing, Syracuse, NY; STYLE: Imperial Stout; ABV: 12.5%
WHAT THE BREWER SAYS: "This version of our imperial stout Dragonslayer has been aged in Bourbon Barrels for over 6 months."
COLOR: Black
POUR: Guinness-class with nice lacing
AROMA: spicy, alcohol, subtle
BODY: Full
TASTE: Coffee, bourbon, alcohol, bit of toffee with fruity hops
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Near "Can't Get Enough!"
COMMENTS: "Alcohol up front; Booze; Serious stuff; A 'get-me-in-trouble' beer; I taste a little coconut in there; Dangerously delicious; One of the hoppier stouts we've had today.
