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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Lazarus Samuel

Still running through my Christmas beer lineup, and fondly remembering my dinner selection with Samuel, an American wild ale from Lazarus Brewing.  The 7.1% ABV beer was brewed with Texas Satsuma oranges, grains of paradise, and some Brettannomyces, and pours a wonderful gold color with a white head.  Aromas of orange abound with some added notes of funkiness.  The flavor is a slightly tart and funky mix of orange and other fruit notes that finishes crisp and dry, a great dinner beer.

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Martin House Puppy Chow

I never knew i needed a beer with Chex in it, but here we are.  And Puppy Chow, an 8% ABV pastry stout from the weird and wild folks over at Martin House Brewing, certainly provides.  The beer pours a dark, inky brown with a light tan head and smells of chocolate, peanut butter, and cereal milk.  Brewed with said chocolate and peanut butter along with powdered sugar and Chex, sweet flavors abound but never get too out of control.  Everything is amazingly well balanced together.  Well done.

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Independence Barrel-Aged Convict Hill Stout

I'm still working my way through writing about all the fantastic beers i drank over Christmas.  These posts will probably take me well into February, because i had a lot of great stuff.  One of those excellent brews was the Barrel-Aged Convict Hill Stout from Independence Brewing.  The 9% oatmeal stout pours a dark, oily black with a tan head and smells of chocolate, malt, vanilla, oak, and whiskey.  The flavor is a smooth and almost creamy mix of the same with some very subtle notes of licorice in for the ride.  Convict Hill has always been a pretty good stout, but the barrel-age variety is on a whole different level.

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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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