Review: Goose Island Backyard Rye Bourbon County Brand Stout

Goose Island Backyard Rye Bourbon County Brand Stout
12.7% ABV

Goose Island Brewing Co.,Chicago, IL
22 oz btl

Served in Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale snifter
Date on bottle: Bottled on 11/20/13
Reviewed on 2/21/14

This imperial stout pours a thick dark brown color with a toasty beige, slightly red head that dissipates quickly. Decent lacing.

Smell consists of strong dark fruit, alcohol, whiskey, malt, chocolate, some coffee, wood, soy, sugary cherry, vanilla.

Taste consists of strong flavors of cherry and berries, muted alcohol, wood, vanilla, whiskey, slight chocolate, coffee, malt, touch of caramel.

Mouthfeel is smooth and syrupy on the apalte with some muted through noticeable bitterness.

Overall, this is a strong tasting imperial stout with prominent flavors of berries and dark fruit. Alcohol is prominent on the nose, but takes to the background on the palate. Vanilla, whiskey, chocolate, and wood flavors provide solid flavorful accents.  This one compares quite well to the other Bourbon County Brand offerings.  Quite tasty and worth savoring, though it's far too easy to drink quickly.

My score: 97

Review: DC Brau On the Wings of Armageddon Imperial IPA

DC Brau On the Wings of Armageddon Imperial IPA
9.2% ABV

DC Brau Brewing, Washington, DC
12 oz can

Served in Duvel tulip glass
No date on can
Reviewed on 2/22/14

This imperial IPA pours a somewhat hazy amber color with a good bubbly off-white head that has decent retention. Good lacing.

Smell consists of hops, grapefruit, pine, malt, fresh herbs and flowers, touch of spice, touch of wheat.

Taste consists of hops, spicy grapefruit, pine, herbal/floral notes, malt, slight caramel, dry wheat.

Mouthfeel is quite dry and bitter on the palate though not as intense as some other IPAs.

Overall, this is a nice tasting imperial IPA that's full of hops, grapefruit, and pine flavors and looks quite good in the glass.  Pleasant spice and floral/herbal flavors mix in to provide a broad range of flavor.  This brewery is new to the Maryland area in terms of distribution, and this beer is supposed to be fairly well sought after and hard to find.  It rates as quite a good IPA, though perhaps not in my upper echelon.

My score: 93

Review: Rodenbach Grand Cru

Rodenbach Grand Cru
6.0% ABV

Brewery Rodenbach, Steenhuffel, Belgium
750 ml btl

Served in St. Bernardus chalice glass
Date on bottle: Best before 5/29/16
Reviewed on 1/10/14

This Flanders red ale pours hazy reddish brown color with a good ivory-colored head that quickly dissipates.  Good lacing.

Smell consists of sour dark fruit, some malt, mild hops, oak, fresh flowers, syrupy sugar, cherry liquor.

Taste consists of sour cherry, honey, mild malt, mild hops, thin whiskeyish oak, fresh flowers, slight syrupy sugar, mild alcohol.

Mouthfeel has sourness on the palate that quickly becomes mild bitterness. A touch of champagne-like dryness.

Overall, this is a pleasant tasting sour with a complex profile of flavors. Sour cherry, honey, and oak flavors come together with fresh fresh flowers and syrupy sugar to create a nice drinkable beer that's almost like fine liquor. The sour bite is there, but it's mostly at the beginning and fades nicely to a mild bitterness, tweaking the palate enough to make you want more.

My score: 92

Review: Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! Solstice d'hiver

Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! Solstice d'hiver
10.2% ABV

Macrobrasserie Dieu du Ciel, St. Jerome, Quebec, Canada

11.5 oz btl

Served in Dogfish Head signature glass
No date on bottle
Reviewed on 12/5/13

This barleywine pours a brownish-amber color with a good light beige head that has decent retention. Good lacing.

Smell consists of malt, hops, brown sugar, dark fruit, some honey, caramel, earthy alcohol.

Taste consists of malt, bitter dark fruit, caramel, honey, brown sugar, alcohol, hops, slight cough syrup.

Mouthfeel is fairly bitter on the palate with a good strand of dryness. Some alcohol harshness comes through.

Overall, this is an interesting, quite bitter barleywine from Quebec. Earthy in taste with strong flavors of dark fruit, alcohol, caramel, and honey coming through. The bitterness comes at you along with some alcohol harshness, demanding that it be savored.  Good drinking even if it doesn't quite stack up to some of the more exceptional barleywines.

My score: 91

Review: Brimstone Big Ale

Brimstone Big Ale
13.1% ABV

Brimstone Brewing Co., Frederick, MD (defunct) 
12 oz btl

Served in Dogfish Head signature glass
Bottled October 1998

Reviewed on 12/19/13

This barleywine pours a hazy deep amber color with a bubbly beige head that has good retention. Good lacing.

Smell consists of strong aromas of cherry, raisin, and perhaps plum right at the start. Caramel, tobacco, leather, malt, and brown sugar and prevalent also. Slight sourness.

Taste has a somewhat sour cherry, raisin, plum, caramel, malt, alcohol, leathery tobacco, muted whiskey, honey.

Mouthfeel is a bit sour, a bit sweet on the palate.  Somewhat bitter.

Overall, this is an interesting barleywine that provides a unique view into 15 years ago. It has some definite prominent flavors that are typical of a barleywine and are even somewhat intense, though there is a bit of sourness and some flatness coming through.  There's no comparison to what it might have tasted like 15 years ago, obviously, but more so, there is some comparison to contemporary barleywines.  It's fairly reminiscent of North Coast Old Stock Ale, though it's not quite as well put together and the dark fruit is more prominent here.  It's somewhat close to DFH Olde School, though not as intense.  For a 15-year-old beer, it's fairly good and quite interesting.

My score: 89

Review: Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Barleywine

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Barleywine
12.1% ABV

Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL

32 oz growler

Served in Burley Oak tulip glass
Growler filled on 12/14/13
Reviewed on 12/14/13

This barleywine pours a deep amberish brown color with a thin beige head that quickly dissipates. Good lacing.

Smell consists of cherry, dark fruit, malt, oak, honey, whiskey, some caramel, raisin, touch of hops, alcohol, slight soy.

Taste has cherry, malt, dark fruit, vanilla, honey, oak, whiskey, alcohol, raisin, chocolate, touch of hops.

Mouthfeel is creamy and velvety on the palate--uncharacteristic of a barleywine. Some muted bitterness.

Overall, this is an excellent tasting barleywine that's full of flavor and has a velvety stout-like feel on the palate. Cherry, oak, and whiskey flavors hit the nose and palate immediately, with honey, vanilla, and even chocolate emerging as well.  As it warms up, more flavors emerge, and each taste seems to differ from the previous one. The big surprise here is how this comes across on the palate.  It's thick and velvety, quite uncharacteristic of a barleywine, giving it definite uniqueness in the style.

My score: 99

Review: Perennial Abraxas

Perennial Abraxas (2013)
10.0% ABV
Perennial Artisan Ales, St. Louis, MO
25.4 oz btl

Served in Dogfish Head signature glass
Date on bottle: Bottled 11/2013

Reviewed on 12/6/13 

This imperial stout pours a thick dark color with a somewhat reddish tint.  Toasty brown head with decent retention. Nice lacing.

Smell consists of malt, dark chocolate, coffee, cocoa powder, slight hops, chili-pepper-like spice, brown sugar, touch of cinnamon.

Taste has malt, dark chocolate, muted chili pepper spice, earthiness, touch of honey, slight hops, cinnamon, some coffee.

Mouthfeel is quite thick and creamy on the palate with good noticeable texture.  Good rounded bitterness.

Overall, this is a great tasting, complex imperial stout with a varied and distinct profile of flavors.  Dark chocolate, chili pepper, and cinnamon flavors are abundant, with good accents of coffee, honey, and hops in the mix. On the palate, it has a thickness and creaminess quite unlike other stouts.  It's fairly expensive but given its distinctness and taste (and limited availability), it's worth the cost to have as a special treat.

My score: 98