Otter Creek Russian Imperial Stout – Once again here is another gift from my buddy Jeff and his trip to Vermont earlier in the year.  This time around it’s an Russian Imperial Stout from Otter Creek out of Middlebury.  Now Russian Imperial Stouts are probably my favorite style of beer these days.  I love the big taste and smell these brews usually give off but I felt like this beer just didn’t hit the spot for me as many of the others in the style did.  Overall though it’s still a rather decent beer.

This RIS like many others (ok 99.9%) pours pitch black.  Nice frothy tan head and great retention.  Now like I said above I love my RIS to be huge, after all why put the word “Imperial” in the name if you didn’t want it to be big =)  But this one kind of fell short.  Faint aroma of burnt coffee, molasses, and sweet dark chocolate.  If this was brought up a notch I would of been in love.

The same goes for the taste.  Good but faint.  What I did notice more then the other ingredients was the molasses.  Brought a nice sweet taste to the brew.  Espresso and chocolate bring up the rear.  The mouthfeel was slick and smooth.  A little bit on the heavy side.  Little carbonation.

This RIS has some good qualities.  Maybe I waited a little to long to drink it.  But I was just looking for a little bit more.  

Found: From my buddy Jeff
Price: No Idea
Website: http://www.ottercreekbrewing.com
What the company says: The style was first brewed in England for the Russian Czar and it is the king of stouts. Plenty of big malt flavors- chocolate and roasted- and high alcohol with lower carbonation and mild hops.
We brewed this beer with double the malts and four times the hops of regular stouts! Otter Creek Russian Imperial Stout clocks in around 10% ABV- a beer to be savored responsibly. True to style, this beer will last for years so you may want to stock up on a few bottles for your cellar while it’s available.
ABV%: 10.60%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Otter Creek Pale Ale
Other beers to try within the same style: Stone Russian Imperial Stout, Brooklyn Brewery Black Ops
Rating: B+

Southern Tier Cuvee Series 2 – Beer geeks love the world Oaked or Barrel Aged.  As we get more and more into the craft beer world you’ll notice that a lot of these beers are harder to get.  Southern Tier Cuvee series is a series that is actually pretty easy to get.  I can walk into most of the good stores around here and they’ll have it sitting on the shelves.  This brew in particular is number 2 in the series of 3.  Word on the streets (or beer sites =) is that the third in the series will be hitting the stores soon.  The first in the series actually disappointed me a bit.  Sadly I felt the same way about this one.

Cuvee 2 pours a dark brown color with ruby red highlights.  A good amount of head is poured but quickly fizzes away into what you see above.  A very thin layer of head is left.  The aroma on this beer is decent and really had me hoping this one was better then the first.  Lovely smell of wood hits the nostrils first.  A good amount of caramel and vanilla follow that up.

The taste is slightly boozy but not as bad as I thought it would be.  This beer is definitely a malt bomb.  Looking for any kind of hops in this beer, just don’t bother.  The caramel is mixed in nicely with the oak flavors.  I also picked up a good amount of dark fruits and vanilla.  This brew has many characteristics of a Barleywine.  What I didn’t like was the bitterness it gave off.  It didn’t taste like the usual bitterness that is given off by a ton of hops but something different.  Something I just couldn’t get into.

The mouthfeel is smooth and big.  Goes down really nice.  Overall this was maybe another disappointment for me.  Hopefully the series turns it around when the third one is released.  You know what they say, third one is a charm.  If you are looking to try some Southern Tier for the first time I’d say stay away from this brew.  They make so much better stuff.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 12-14 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.southerntierbrewing.com
What the company says: ALE IMPRESSIONS: Dark ruby red color, roasted malt flavor with apparent bitterness. Finishes with a rich caramel and espresso aroma.
AMERICAN OAK IMPRESSIONS: Impressions of vanilla crème, classic crème brûlée and nougat. A little more oak flavor than series one, but with creamy intensity.
11.0% abv. • individually boxed, foil labeled 22 oz bottle
ABV%: 11.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Southern Tier Gemini, Southern Tier Mokah
Other beers to try within the same style: New Hollands Dragon Milk, Stone Double Bastard
Rating: B

Sierra Nevada Estate Brewers Harvest Ale – The way I got this beer is pretty funny and not funny at the same time.  A friend of mine (who shall remain nameless) got a phone call from a buddy of his.  He asked him if he wanted some of this brew and because this stuff isn’t available in the area he jumped all over it.  He said “Sure get me two or three” Much to his surprise, his friend arrived at his house with 3 cases of the stuff.  Surprised and lost for the most part he asked what the hell is this, you said you wanted two or three.  Not cases he said!  Bottles!  So basically he’s stuck with 3 cases of this stuff.  So he was nice enough to give me a bottle.  Hell I think he’s giving a way a lot of bottles =)

Estate is a pretty cool beer.  Why you ask?  Well every ingredient in this brew is from Sierra Nevada.  Everything.  That’s not something you can say about a lot of beers.  Estate pours a dark amber color with a huge fluffy head.  Great retention and a ton of lacing throughout.  The smell on this beer is pretty damn nice.  Floral hops.  Earthiness.  A nice bready malt background.  A slight aroma of alcohol hits the nose.

Overall a winner from these guys.  I’d love to see what they can do with other styles of beer if they continue to make beers with ingredients from their farms.

Found: From a friend
Price: No idea
Website: http://www.sierranevada.com
What the company says: Nothing on the site about this one yet.
ABV%: 6.70%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Other beers to try within the same style: Alesmith IPA, Town Hall Masala Mama
Rating: B+