Thoughts on Beer

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

While in New Jersey, I had a chance to try one of the best beers in a can, Oskar Blues Ten Fidy.  The beer, an Imperial Stout, gets its name from the 10.5% ABV of the beer.

I didn’t quite know what I had in these little cans.  When I cracked it open and poured it into a glass, it was so thick and rich, it looked like used motor oil.

It had a very strong chocolate scent.  With the first taste, it had a great, thick chocolate flavor.  Even though I could feel how thick this beer was, I was surprised how remarkably balanced it was.  Even with the big mouthfeel, I found myself having a couple of these before I was done.

I was very impressed by this great beer, and it takes a place as one of my favorite stouts.

Have you had Ten Fidy?  What did you think?

Peace Tree Black River Gumbo Stout

Over the past week, I’ve enjoyed a six-pack of Peace Tree‘s new offering: Black River Gumbo Stout.  It happens to be one of those ‘I can have a few of these’ stouts.

What makes this stout unique is the use of a Belgian yeast.  So far, there are only a few Belgian-style stouts on the market (e.g. Boulevard‘s Dark Truth Stout), but the Black River Gumbo Stout is the most drinkable due to its lighter body.

To start with, the beer had a coffee and roasted scent to it.  There was a lot of roasted and chocolate flavors present, but there was a hint of a unique flavor, similar to a cola, that isn’t in many beers.  It had medium body, and finished fairly clean, leaving a slightly bitter, roasted, and smoky aftertaste.

Overall, I enjoyed the Black River Gumbo Stout quite a bit.  I’ve heard that Peace Tree serves this on a Nitro tap at their Knoxville tap room, so if you’re in the area, check it out!

Have you had the Black River Gumbo Stout?  What did you think?

New Belgium Frambozen

I have to say, it took me a while to review New Belgium‘s Frambozen.  One time I enjoyed it, where it was slightly tart, and then the next bottle I didn’t like it at all.  It seemed to be a bit of a beer enigma.  Over the course of the six pack, I found it was better chilled and poured into a goblet-type glass.

The beer started off slightly tart.  It had a brown-ruby color and has a slight scent of raspberries.  As it traveled through the mouth, it had a fairly light mouthfeel and had a bit of tartness.  It finished fairly clean, but left a hint of raspberry behind.

The overall impression of this wasn’t great because, to me, it seemed to be stuck between two styles – malty brown and tart raspberry.

What did you think of Frambozen?

Samuel Adams Revolutionary Rye

As part of the American Originals Variety Pack, Samuel Adams released the winner of the 2010 Sam Adams’ Beer Lover’s Choice contest, Revolutionary Rye.

With this beer, I didn’t quite know what to expect because rye beers run the gambit of beer styles.  Initially, this smelled like bread and a bit like spicy hops.  It tasted a bit malty, but there was a lot of flavor from a pine-like hop variety.  It left quite a bit of bitterness in the finish.  I think if you enjoy IPA‘s, you might like this beer since it reminded me of a less-bitter crisp IPA.

Have you tried the Revolutionary Rye?  What was your take?

Infinium

On New Year’s, I had the chance to try Infinium, the collaboration between Samuel Adams and the Weihenstephan Brewery, the oldest known brewery in the world. These two breweries worked for over several years to create a new type of beer, adhering to the Reinheitsgebot, or German purity law that states beer can be made of only four ingredients: malt, hops, water, and yeast.  They claimed it to be like a champagne, but it’s not at all like the champagne of beers…

To sum up this beer, it closely resembled a highly carbonated Belgian trippel .  What makes it more fascinating though is most trippels tend to use candi sugars in the beer to increase the strength of the beer while reducing the body.  Infinium uses only malt to push this to a 10.3% beer.

This beer smells very fruity, like a trippel with more carbonation.  It tastes like a mix of a Belgian trippel and a Belgian dubbel (because of the bigger malt flavor), and the extra carbonation leaves a big tingling sensation.  It finishes slightly sweet with a dry finish.  I thought it was a good beer that has its place in the beer world, but, in my opinion, at $18, there are more cost effective Belgian beers available.

Did you have some Infinium over New Year’s?  What did you think?