Beer Style: Aged Imperial Stouts
Prior to a meeting of local beer geeks and some planned holiday drinking, I sat down with a few friends to open some bottles of beer that have been collecting dust around the house. Seemed like a perfectly good way to kick off winter in Sonoma County.
The lineup was relatively small, but we were going with quality over quantity in this case. First up was Terrapin’s Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout (aka Wake-n-Bake) from the summer of ’08. The coffee really shines through in this one. I found myself swirling the beer around in the snifter admiring the red hues coming through on the edges. Not too big, this was a good place to start off an Imperial Stout tasting session.
Turning it up a bit I cracked a can of Oskar Blues’ Ten FIDY from last winter. Known for strong berry flavors coming through the malt, after a year of aging, the berry flavors are still present but much drier. The oxidative notes you might expect from an aged beer seem to be non-existent thanks to the can. It would be interesting to see how canned beers stand up to additional aging. Thankfully I still have a can left from last year, so check back with me next year and we can re-has the debate.
At this point it was time to add some bourbon barrel aging to the mix with a bottle of Rasputin XII. Not as aged as the other beers we tried this afternoon, but just as delicious. Rasputin XII is as advertised, bourbon and oak start the show with charcoal and chocolate coming along in the back. I was left with memories of chocolate covered fruit when finishing this beer. Excellent.
The finale was an ’08 Bourbon County Stout. This is one of those beers that I adore but only in 3-4 ounce servings. More than that and I find myself getting beat up by the beer and not enjoying it. With a year of age behind it, Bourbon County Stout is still as intense and decadent as a fresh batch but incredibly soft.
As a whole the tasting went well. Each beer increased in intensity and flavor, building off the last and leading up to a big finish. Once all the stouts were gone and a larger crowd arrived, we helped ourselves to an offering of Block 15 beers brought down from Corvallis by my buddy Wes. I’d also like to thank the crew at Lagunitas for hosting our Tweetup and bringing out their own cellar tasting of Hairy Eyeball, We’re Only In It For the Money and Brown Shugga as well as a great tour of the facilities.
Happy Holidays everyone.
