RateBeer Roundup VI
RateBeerians (and distant cousins the BeerAdvocaters) are, by nature, a committed bunch. Seeking out the rare and unusual, ticking their way through all and sundry, and spending huge amounts of money on their hobby along the way. Current RateBeer kings Ungstrup and fonefan are battling over supremacy, having totalled 22,251 and 22,200 beers sampled, respectively.*
How much must this have cost them over the years? Well, if they buy beer in the UK – as surely they must – then their pastime is now more expensive than ever, thanks to the duty rise. So one way to highlight the nature of well-made, strong beer, is to host a tasting of just that – which explains why we gathered at Craig Garvie’s (7,399 and counting) for an over 7.5% beer night. Bring it on!
First up, Flowerpots Brandy Mount barley wine (8.2%). Given the high abv limit, we were expecting plenty of barley wines and imperial stouts – and this one was pretty true to style. Fruity, plenty of rich caramel, and quite sweet. We then notched up the other type with Black Sheep Imperial Russian Stout (8.5%), a new beer from the Masham concern. Very different to their usual releases, it reminded me of liquorice Christmas pudding.
New Glarus Unplugged Bourbon Barrel Bock appeared next – several of those words usually make me hesitant, but this one was actually alright. It smelled a bit cheesy, but the whisky tones were muted – probably by deliberate Brettanomyces infection, which tarted things up a little (pun intended). We’re assuming it was over the 7.5% threshold, there was no abv on the bottle.
This was something of a theme – not only do some American states not require an alcohol by volume to be listed on the bottle, apparently (email in, if otherwise) one particular state tells brewers not to list alcohol content on their labels. Is this the same US state that forbids off-sales in anything other than crates? Why buy one bottle of thick, dark-looking beer when you are required, by law, to purchase 24?
So we rolled unknowingly through Founders Nemesis 2009, Mayflower Brewing Imperial Stout, and Haverhill/The Tap Joshua Norton. The Nemesis was aged in maple syrup casks (note to brewer – please, no), the Mayflower tasted incredibly strong – well over double figures, I’d wager. The Joshua Norton was by far the pick – imperial stout flavours wrapped in layers of cocoa.
Time for the Europeans! There’s something about the Low Countries that have inspired liver-flayingly strong beer – and we polished off a few in good order. Dutch brewer Berghoeve were represented by a couple of 8% crackers – Hammer Schout and Verre Vriend (which sounds like something you’d say to your best mate after a few). Both were outstanding, particularly the tripel/saison crossover of the latter.
Back to the UK next with (inevitably if you’re drinking strong British beer) a couple of Kernels – the 9.1% Imperial Marzen, and 8.9% Big Brick Red Rye Ale. We’ll be doing another feature on the Kernel later on in our big beer month, so stay tuned. Both of these are as good as everything else Evin puts his hand to. We also tried two old Fullers Vintages – 2002 and 2006. The ’02 divided opinions, but I thought it had aged superbly.
The thing I love about these RateBeer tastings is that you fly through things. Before long, the next bottle was opened – de Struise’s monstrously brilliant Black Albert (13%). It doesn’t really click that just before we’d opened a beer that had been aging for nine years. Mind you, Black Albert will make you forget just about anything, it’s a fabulous sweet, roasty mocha stout.
We had a few more on the night, which concluded with another masterpiece from de Struise – Pannepot Gran Reserva (10%) – the 2005 vintage. Nineteen beers in all, every single one over 7.5%. Did any of us wake with a headache? Were we fighting in the streets? Apparently Shovels got up at 7am the next morning and went mountain biking, then played a round of golf! Beer over 7.5% is not the cause of society’s problems. Why tax it like it is?
* These figures will since have changed, both since I wrote this post, and since you started reading this sentence…
