Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

Good beer doesn't come in cans, or so many craft beer drinkers have thought for years. While it's true that a TON of bad beer comes in cans, it is possible to get a good beer in a can. In fact, in some respects a can is a better container than a bottle. For one thing, light can't get through to skunk the beer. It doesn't break like glass does, so it's easier and safer to take some places, and it's easily crushable so it takes up less room after consuming. However, there's something elegant and classic to a glass bottle that makes a beer feel "right". This can be less of a concern at times, but more importantly for many companies, the equipment needed to bottle is much cheaper than what it takes for canning. In fact in some cases it's possible to bottle by hand, whereas you need a large production line to make canning worthwhile, and it takes a much larger scale to make the cost offset of the materials from canning beneficial. Oskar Blues is one of the few craft breweries so far that has made the jump over to canning, but assuredly one of the most famous.

The beer pours thick, black, and viscous, with a thin brown head that dissipates almost immediately. It almost seemed to come out in slow motion, and clung to the glass on it's way towards the bottom. It seems almost impossible for light to travel through this beer, quickly being lost in it's murky depths.

Even more noticeable than the black opaque nature of the beer though is the strong aroma that comes immediately upon opening the beer. There's a strong roast quality with underlying cherry and alcohol. Touches of dark chocolate, caramel and coffee float along as well, providing a denseness to the smell.

The first sip offers roast, vanilla, and toffee with a light smooth sweetness at the tip of the tongue. However it is swallowed the flavor develops to more coffee, bitter, and burnt flavors that combine with the sweetness to offer balance. After swallowing, roast, toasted marshmallow, and bitterness linger on the tongue for a very long time. It's as if the beer is so thick that it coats the taste buds, and won't let go. As the beer warms, new flavors develop. I began to notice more caramel and sweetness up front, along with a touch of fruity flavor. It's possibly a little syrupy as well. However, the bitterness raises as well, with the coffee flavors becoming more prominent.

This is most assuredly a heavy bodied beer. Along with it's fairly low level of carbonation, this provides a viscous sensation in the mouth. While the alcohol may not be readily apparent in the taste, being masked by the rather strong flavors, it is noticeable after swallowing as it quickly warms the throat.

Overall, this beer is thoroughly enjoyable, but absolutely a sipper. I could not imagine trying to get through more than one of these in a single night. Unlike the Clipper City Russian Imperial Stout I tried earlier this week, this is a classic example of what one expects from the style. It's thick, strongly flavored, and strong in every sense of the word. So there you have it. Great beer, and from a can.

- Adam

Clipper City Peg Leg

I haven't made it any secret how I feel about Clipper City as a brewery. They are one of the local breweries that I consider to be among the top nationwide, especially when it comes to consistent quality of their offerings. Although they might not all be the best renditions of a particular style that I've ever had, they always are flavorful and good. I picked up a 6-pack of Peg Leg to give to a guy in California who is a fan of Imperial Stouts. I don't think that I had ever tried it before, but it was pretty highly rated, and I trust Clipper City.

The smell of the beer is not weak, but not exactly strong. There's a healthy dose of roasted malts, coffee and chocolate, and a sweetness that evokes a fruity sense, possibly of cherry or fig. There's not much else beyond that in complexity, but possibly a touch of alcohol.

The first taste of the beer offers a toasted bread quality, backed up by a mild caramel sweetness. Shortly after the roast kicks in full gear, with a present but not overbearing bitterness. Beyond this is a dash of chocolate, and a smooth overall silkiness. The aftertaste had a lingering smokiness to it as well. I felt that it could possibly have used some coffee flavor as well, and a bit more bitterness, but even though it was a bit on the sweet side for the style it was far from cloying. Don't expect this one to be a crazy over-the-top Russian Imperial Stout.

In the mouth the beer has a medium body, not as thick as many in the style. There's a moderate level of carbonation to match. There's a slick coating in the mouth as well, combined with just a touch of warmth in the throat. It's on the wet side a bit as well.

Overall, it's an enjoyable beer, although not the intense RIS that some brewers tend to make. I would consider this an every day Imperial Stout. I wouldn't place this at the top of Clipper City's offerings. Honestly, this probably belongs more at the high end of a regular stout rather than an Imperial. It would make a decent introduction to the style, or be great when you want a flavorful stout that doesn't fill you up too much. It also goes great with food for that reason. If you go into the glass expecting that rather than a boozy, bitter, thick stout, you won't be disappointed.

- Adam

North Coast Brewing's Old Rasputin

Facebook is well on its way to taking over the world. Even my mom has a facebook profile now, so it's really not much of a surprise that North Coast Brewing has their own facebook page where you can become a fan of the brewery or a particular beer. What was surprising to me was when I stumbled upon their page for the Old No. 38 Stout earlier this week, and found a link to my own blog up there! So having this on my mind, when I made a trip over to State Line last night to pick up some new brews I couldn't resist grabbing a 4-pack of Old Rasputin.

When a beer has an A on Beer Advocate and a 100 on Rate Beer, it's a pretty safe assumption that it's not only tasty, but also a decent representation of the style. I've had a few Russian Imperial Stouts in the past such as Rogue's XS Imperial Stout, Great Divide's Yeti, and Stone's Russian Imperial Stout. My reaction to these has varied pretty greatly from not being able to finish the Rogue XS, to enjoying the Great Divide and Stone brews even though I had to take my time with both. Not knowing quite what to expect from Old Rasputin, I was a little nervous going in.

The beer poured a deep, nearly black hue with a 1-finger light brown head. The head dissipated to a thin layering fairly quickly, but this remaining layer stuck around for a while. As I drank the beer, it left a decent bit of lacing at first, but this dropped off after I got about a quarter of the way through the glass.

My first whiff of the beer surprised me a little bit. One of the things I've come to expect based on the Russian Imperial Stouts that I've had in the past is a blast of aroma when it's first poured, and a decent bit of alcohol coming through in the smell. Old Rasputin however had a moderately strong, but not overpowering aroma, and the alcohol was definitely not forefront. What I did smell was a nice, slightly sweet combination of chocolate and coffee. Underneath this was just a touch of smokiness, and finally just a hint of alcohol. For being 9% ABV, this was definitely well masked.

Having had my nerves comforted a bit by the pleasant smell, I went ahead and took the first sip. What I immediately noticed was a mix of dark chocolate up front in the mouth, a little bit of a nutty quality in the center of the tongue, and a bitter roasted coffee flavor in the back of the mouth. There was a bit of heat left in my mouth from the alcohol, but I didn't really taste alcohol in the flavor. The aftertaste is pretty similar to dark chocolate as well. The flavors are bold, but they mix together well. Even though the bitterness was the dominant flavor of the beer, it wasn't so bitter that it became a chore to drink or needed to be sipped to get through the glass. The sweetness from the chocolate flavors and the nutty quality are also balanced in such a way that the bitterness isn't the only thing to focus on.

The beer had a fairly thick feel in the mouth, as is to be expected with a Russian Imperial Stout. There's a very substantial quality to it. It's moderately carbonated, just enough to leave a nice tingle on the center of the tongue, but not so much as to distract from the flavors. As mentioned before, there was a nice subtle warmth imparted from the alcohol as well.

As with all the other Russian Imperial Stouts I've had, Old Rasputin was definitely not a gulper. It's meant to be savored and enjoyed over a longer period of time than it would normally take to consume a beer. However, unlike the other Russian Imperials I've had, I didn't feel like it was a chore to get through at any point, and felt like I could have had another without getting sick of the flavors. It was definitely the easiest to get down of the Russian Imperials I've had. It had a nice balance, complex flavors, but still didn't completely overpower the palate. I'd definitely recommend this one to others and I can see myself going back to try it again. Another strong offering from North Coast, so I'm looking forward to seeing what else they have out there.

- Adam