Barrel Aged Black Metal

Way back in the long ago when i first started getting into craft beer, there were only a handful of places in the greater Austin area to get it.  There were a couple of bottle shops that were actually gas stations with impressive beer selections, a couple of pubs with the same, and a small smattering of breweries whose taprooms were makeshift affairs, picnic tables in parking lots and whatnot.  Jester King was out in the country, a farmhouse with picnic tables on ranchland instead of asphalt.  It was a meager operation back in the day, especially compared to their layout and spread now, and it's where i tried their Black Metal imperial stout for the first time some 10 or so years ago.  One of my all time favorites, even if the style is not quite in the brewer's wheelhouse anymore these days.  Recently, they teamed with Tulsa's American Solera for a barrel aged version of the brew, and i was fortunate enough to get a bottle over the holiday.  The 12% ABV brew pours black with very little head, a thin, brown fizz that dissipates almost as quickly as it appears.  Aromas of chocolate, vanilla, nuts, and alcohol are present, with the flavor following the nose, a kind of boozy mix of chocolate, hazelnut, and oak, something nice to sip on during the melee of Christmas.

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I never would have thought i'd still be writing this blog 10 years later when i started it back in the day.  It's been a lot of fun, and i hope that any of you that ever came across it were able to try some of these wonderful beers.  Signing off.

Martin House Campfire Whiskey Barrel-Aged Imperial S'mores Stout

Martin House Brewing has a reputation for getting a little crazy and out of hand with their beer ideas every now and then, but when they hit it, they hit it out of the park.  And the 2021 edition of Campfire, their whiskey barrel-aged imperial s'mores stout does just that.  The 11.6% ABV brew pours black with a light brown/dark tan head and smells of chocolate, vanilla, and a little bit of booze.  The Flavor is a nice, thick, and sweet mix of said chocolate and vanilla, along with marshmallow, some graham cracker and roasted maltiness, and a nice bite of whiskey to tie it all together.  Enjoy this one outside on a moonlit night.

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The Return of Imperial Stout

Generally when you think Texas brews, you think something sessionable...pales ales and pilsners and such.  It is hot here after all.  But the good folks over at San Antonio's Weathered Souls Brewing just consistently knock it out of the park with their stouts.  Maybe that should be our state brew instead.  Enter The Return of Imperial Stout.  The 12.3% brew pours black with a very minimal brown head and smells of chocolate, vanilla, coconut, and a little booze.  The flavor is a sweet mix of said chocolate, vanilla, and coconut along with some marshmallow (which the beer was brewed with), and those booze notes again.  It's a night time beer for sure, but a lovely way to end a weekend.

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Stout Chocula

While i'm still primarily grooving on the standard Fall beers, i simply couldn't pass up a monster cereal themed brew from Ingenious Brewing in Humble, Texas.  Enter Stout Chocula.  The 10% ABV imperial stout was brewed with plenty of chocolate and marshmallows and pours a dark black with a foamy, off-white head.  Aromas of chocolate and sugar abound with some notes of vanilla and a hint of roasted malts.  The flavor is a very sweet mix of chocolate, marshmallow, and vanilla along with that same hint of roasted malts and an alcohol sting.  This one won't be for everyone, but it made for a nice dessert brew after dinner.

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Great Divide Pumpkin Spice Yeti

College football is officially back, so it's okay to start drinking pumpkin beer again.  I know the stuff actually dropped a few weeks earlier this year, but you gotta have standards.  Anyway, one pumpkin beer i had not enjoyed before is the Pumpkin Spice Yeti from Great Divide, the Fall-themed take on their classic imperial stout.  The 9.5% brew pours a thick, dark black with a light brown head and smells of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg along with notes of roasted coffee and some light hints of vanilla.  The flavor is an almost creamy mix of said spices and coffee with some caramel and some earthy pumpkin notes.  It's all very well balanced, with no taste overpowering anything else, so about as well rounded a pumpkin stout as you're likely to find.

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Red Horn Cultivating Mass

Normally in the middle of August, i'm starting to get excited about the upcoming Oktoberfest/pumpkin ale onslaught of the fall...but as it turns out, that stuff is already on the shelves.  It feels too early for it.  I mean, i bought some and drank it already, but it still feels too early.  Anyway, it's never too early for a good stout, and the good folks at Red Horn in collaboration with Turning Point Beer have a whopper with Cultivating Mass, 14% ABV cookies n' cream imperial stout.  The brew pours black with a tan head smells of chocolate, vanilla, and a little bit of marshmallow.  The flavor follows suit and is amazingly smooth considering the alcohol content.  It will sneak up on you.  So sip it slow and enjoy.

Untitled Art Espresso Honey Imperial Milk Stout

Even in the heat of the summer, i can't help but dig on the strong and dark stuff.  In the evening at least.  And the Espresso Honey Imperial Milk Stout from Untitled Art hits in all the right places for the desert beer enthusiast.  The 12% ABV brew pours black with an light tan head and smells of honey, coffee, chocolate, and cinnamon.  The flavor follows suit but with some additional notes of roasted malt, vanilla, and maybe even a little tobacco.  I spend many a Friday or Saturday night sipping on imperial stouts and watching horror movies, and this one filled the bill perfectly.

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Camp Fires and Ghost Stories

First off, dig on that "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" can art.  I am eternally a fan of the dark and heavy stuff, even in the blistering months of summer, so a s'mores brew felt like the way to go.  Camp Fires and Ghost Stories from Ingenious Brewing in Humble, Texas is an imperial milk stout brewed with chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers.  The 10% ABV brew pours a dark, blackish brown with a tan head and smells of chocolate, malt, molasses, and graham cracker.  The flavor is a solid mix of said chocolate and graham cracker with some notes of vanilla and caramel.  No false advertising here, it's basically a s'more in stout form.

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Moody Tongue Bourbon Barrel Aged 12 Layer Cake Imperial Stout

The last year and a half has kept me mostly away from the places i love to go, but on occasion, i'll get masked up, grab a seat outside somewhere, and enjoy a kind of imitation of the old times.  Last week, i made it out to a local bottle shop and popped a tasty brew to close out the evening to.  From Chicago's Moody Tongue, a restaurant and brewer of provocative beverages, i downed their Bourbon Barrel Aged 12 Layer Cake Imperial Stout, probably the best decision i made that day.  The 13.9% brew pours a dark black with a minimal tan head and smells of chocolate, bourbon, and oak.  The flavor is heavy on said chocolate, bourbon, and oak, along with some notes of graham cracker and caramel, a veritable desert in a bottle.  A fantastic brew, and a new brewer, for me at least, to try and get to know better.

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Prairie Artisan Cherry Bomb!

I think The Runaways always knew what they were talking about.  And the folks over at Prairie Artisan Ales in Tulsa, Oklahoma have followed suit with the Cherry Bomb!, a imperial stout aged on cherries, chili peppers, coffee, cacao nibs, and vanilla.  The 13% ABV brew pours black with a small tan head and smells of chocolate, coffee, cherry, vanilla, and some hints of cinnamon and spice.  The flavor is a mix of dark chocolate, cherry, and coffee along with those cinnamon and spice notes to finish things off.  This is a great desert beer.

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Odd Side Deleterious

Every now and then i stumble upon a beer that takes me the better part of an hour or more to drink.  It's just that heavy or complex or powerful.  Odd Side Ales' Deleterious, a bourbon barrel aged imperial stout, is one of those brews.  The 14.6% ABV beer pours a dark black with a tan head and has a general roasty aroma along with some notes of raisin, tobacco, chocolate, and oak.  The flavor is a nice and warming mix of roasted malt, oak, and bourbon with some subtle notes of vanilla, chocolate, and dark fruit.  It's a wonderful drink, a slow-sipper for sure, and a great beverage to close out a weekend to.

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Red Horn Liquid Bake Sale Imperial Stout

One thing i absolutely adore about the craft beer community is just how communal it really is, people with a common love of beer coming together in good times and bad.  And the last year has proved just how vital that communal spirit can be.  COVID hit the industry hard, like it did a lot of things, and now the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, a non-profit trade association that works to advance the brewing industry through advocacy and education, has put together a fundraiser dubbed Liquid Bake Sale where craft brewers from all over the state brew special, original recipes using Texas grown malt to raise money to support the guild's mission.  And i was able to try my first last week from Red Horn.  Their brew is a 10% ABV imperial stout brewed with chocolate and peanuts, and it's a delicious treat of a desert.  The beer pours black with a tan head and smells of chocolate, peanuts, and malt.  Dark chocolate and peanut notes hit heavy on the tongue with some general roastiness in the mix as well.  It's rich and sweet but well balanced and a smooth drinker.  Wonderful.  Here's to sampling some Liquid Bake Sale goods from all over the state in the near future.

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Batch Tapped Imperial Stout

Back on Good Friday, the wife and kids and i all had the day off and a hankering for some kolaches.  There's a place in Austin called Batch that makes great kolaches, and as i recently discovered, also brews craft beer.  So we went to Batch...or we eventually got to Batch.  Life with kids a lot of the time means you arrive late.  Anyway, we arrived late, and i guess in a mad holiday, increasingly post-vax world, they were sold out of kolaches.  They still had beer though.  And i drank some, one of which was the delicious, 12% ABV imperial stout called Tapped.  Brewed with maple syrup and fermented on maple wood, the beer pours dark and thick with a light tan head and smells of malts, chocolate, and maple syrup.  The flavor is a velvety mix of chocolate and maple with a little hint of booze.  Great stuff for drinking on a day off from work...and at home.

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Main Boss Imperial Stout

So on Friday, i did something i didn't think i would ever do.  I sat and watched all 4+ hours of the "Justice League" Snyder cut.  It was fine.  Way, way too long, but it was fine.  I guess.  Anyway, getting me through the whole ordeal was the delicious and vicious Main Boss Imperial Stout, a collaborative beer between Minnesota's Fair State Brewing Cooperative and Iowa's Pulpit Rock Brewing.  The 12% ABV brew pours black with a dark tan head and smells of vanilla, brown sugar, and malt with some hints of fruit.  The flavor is sweet and syrupy, a thick liquid dessert of molasses and vanilla along with some chocolate notes and plenty of alcohol.  This one won't be for everyone, but it sure did make for a good companion during a 4-hour movie.

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Left Hand Bittersweet Nitro Imperial Coffee Milk Stout

It's been a spell since i've had anything from Colorado's Left Hand Brewing, so i picked up a 4-pack of their Bittersweet Nitro Imperial Coffee Milk Stout.  And i'm glad i did.  The 8.9% ABV brew pours black with a beautiful off white head that bubbles forever as nitros are wont to do.  Aromas of coffee, vanilla, cream, and roasted malt abound.  The flavor is heavy on coffee and cream with some notes of caramel in the mix as well, finishing smooth and very balanced between the bitter and the sweet.  This beer is wonderful.

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I Love You This Much Commitment Imperial Stout with Raspberries

So whatever Valentine's Day plans my wife and i may have pretended to have yesterday were pretty much eliminated by ice and snow and freezing temperature.  That's okay though.  Chili and hanging out with kids and watching Nicolas Cage battle animatronic robots in "Willy's Wonderland" was probably what we would have ended up doing anyway.  I did get a Valentine's Day beer though with the delicious I Love You This Much Commitment Imperial Stout with Raspberries from the good folks at Saint Arnold.  The 12.8% ABV brew pours a dark brownish black with a tan head and smells of chocolate and raspberries.  The flavor is similar, lots of chocolate notes on the front with the raspberry flavor getting stronger as the beer warms to room temperature.  It's a warming brew to end a cold day.  Lovely.

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Full Grown Beast

Wanna get nuts?  Let's get nuts.  And let's do it by sipping on this 16.3% ABV monster of a brew from Tupps Brewery.  The Full Grown Beast is a bourbon barrel aged imperial stout brewed with coffee and chocolate and pours a dark, brownish black with a tan head.  The beer smells of said chocolate and coffee, along with some notes of dark fruit and plenty of oak and booze.  The flavor is the same and gets a little smoother as the beer warms to room temperature, though it's obvious you've got to watch out with this one.  Outstanding.

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Whitestone Ancho Chile & Toasted Coconut Imperial Stout

It's blowing my mind these days with many a local brewery celebrating a new milestone anniversary, a constant reminder that i'm always older than i think i am.  When i moved out to the 'burbs in Cedar Park, Whitestone Brewery was the new kid on the block, and a salvation of sorts as they were one of the only taprooms out my way.  And now they're five years old.  And to celebrate, last week they released a few new brews, one of which is the outstanding Ancho Chile & Toasted Coconut Imperial Stout.  The 10.5% ABV beer pours a dark black with a quickly dissipating tan head and smells of coconut with notes of chocolate, vanilla, and spice.  The flavor is a mix of said toasted coconut with some notes of malt and vanilla and a very pleasant amount of spice from the peppers that finishes surprisingly smooth.  Here's to five more years.

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Cigar City Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout

The winter months roll on, so i'm neck deep in stouts.  And one of the better ones i've had the chance to drink comes from the always dependable Cigar City with their delicious Marshal Zhukov's Russian Imperial Stout.  The 11.8% ABV brew is a straight forward take on the style that really excels on every level.  The beer pours a dark, oily black with a brown head and smells of chocolate and coffee with some notes of dark fruit.  The flavor is a nice and balanced mix of said chocolate and coffee along with notes of black cherry and molasses all in a smooth and full mouthfeel.  It's really just a perfect example of what an imperial stout should be.

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El Sputniko Imperial Stout

While this pandemic has certainly been a bitch, and we've lost some great breweries along the way, the folks over at Austin Beerworks have managed to tread these waters by releasing new and excellent beers on an almost weekly basis since March.  They've all been delicious, and they've all sold out.  One of the most recent is El Sputniko, a variant of the brewery's Sputnik Stout.  The 8.5% ABV El Sputniko is an imperial stout with coffee, ancho chile, cocoa nibs, and cinnamon, a beer take on Mexican chocolate.  The brew pours a dark blackish brown with an off white head and smells of chocolate, cinnamon, and spice.  The flavor is a nice and surprisingly smooth mix of said chocolate, cinnamon, and spices.  It's kind of Christmassy in its own way, and in general when you slap a luchador mask on something, you've piqued my interest.

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