ALERAISERS

The Beer Of the Week for the week of 11/11/2010 is:

Oskar Blues Brewery’s Ten Fidy Imperial Stout

This weeks BOW comes from my favorite brewery at the moment, Oskar Blues.  Ive had my eyeballs on this big malty bad boy for a little while now, and since Ive been on a big malty kick lately I decided to pull the trigger.

From their site:  ”Ten FIDY Imperial Stout – This titanic, immensely viscous stout is loaded with inimitable flavors of chocolate-covered caramel and coffee and hide a hefty 98 IBUs underneath the smooth blanket of malt.  Ten FIDY (10.5% ABV) is made with enormous amounts of two-row malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, flaked oats and hops. Ten FIDY is the ultimate celebration of dark malts and boundary-stretching beer.”

This beer pours dark….we’re talking motor oil from suburbia teenage girls car, ace of spades, or maybe even black hole…dark!  It has a small chocolaty brown head that quickly faded into the darkness.  The aroma is of dark roasted coffee and chocolate.  It is definitely a little hot at 10.50%, but I like that in the big maltys.  It tastes YUUU-MEE.  Some seriously dark and chocolate malts impart their corresponding that parallel a molasses-like sweeness, but the 98IBUs leave a nicely balanced and dry finish.  The mouthfeel is thick and smooth; you might think that if you flung it at the wall it would stick and slowly drip to the floor like syrup.  This is a real beer drinkers stout, not for the faint of heart, but one you’re gonna wanna try!

4.4/5.0

Purchased at Package Twenty-Nine on Lawrenceville, Hwy in Lilburn, GA

The Beer Of the Week for 06/24/10 is:

Oakar Blues’ “GUBNA” Imperial IPA

Oskar Blues' GUBNA

By now you’ve noticed my love affair with hops and the IPAs to which they lend their powerful aroma. So, when I heard Oskar Blues, one of my new favorite breweries, did an Imperial IPA I knew I had to get one.  The first time I ran into the the “GUBNA” I was stunned by sticker shock and couldn’t pull the trigger.  However, I couldn’t get over that feeling of “the one that got away,” so the next time I came across the $14 4-pack, I made the investment.

When you think of Imperial IPAs, you might think of over powering hops used to balance out the huge grain bills needed to hit those huge OGs and lend to darker, richer ales; but the GUBNA really didn’t  meet my preconceived notion of what an Imperial IPA might be.  With the the popping of the top of Oskar Blues’ familiar can, your nose is quickly greeted with a fantastically aromatic citrus aroma.  It poured a  honey color with foamy white head that didnt stay long but left lacing on the side of my snifter.  As aforementioned, there is a strong citrus aroma, with a slight hint of alcohol to the GUBNA.  Contrary to the aromatics, this beer had a surprisingly malty flavor with good hoppy balance at the finish.  It isn’t overpoweringly rich like a lot of Imperials are and is quite even in the end.  It is lightly carbonated with a slightly syrupy mouth-feel. I really enjoyed this rendition of an Imperial IPA.  It had great flavor, aroma, and balance and unlike a lot of Imperials a second glass is an option…just don’t plan on going anywhere.