Draft sampler at the 2021 Rocky Water Brew Fest. Hazy light gold color with a white head. This Pilsner has a very sharp mouthfeel, but not super bitter. Classic pilsner profile. Good for the style.

So it came up in a reddit thread the other day about quads and such and I realized it had been many years since I've had one, that I had effectively stopped drinking belgians altogether. Not only had I gotten tired of the really high grav beers (as noted in my prev review of an impy stout from this brewery) but I had also tired of the esters and phenols found with belgian yeasts - and so I've really been drinking very clean fermentation profiles for a few years now, with the occasional sour or brett beer thrown in for fun, because I still like those, for sure. But anyway, here goes on a quad. I had almost went to get something familiar, just to revisit something I knew I had liked, but I'm a sucker for new ratings too. This one poured a dark brown, not opaque. Only haze once it got to the yeasty bottom. Small thin but last tan head. Nose is quiet, a little caramel. Maybe a hint of phenol, I can almost taste a hint of bubble gum. Flavor is nicely complex, as others noted, there are some sweet caramels, some nuttiness, some dark fruits, but also the phenols are there in the background, hinting at something vaguely medicinal, approaching clove territory but thankfully not. I think one big factor in my dropping belgians was my acquired distaste of cloves coupled with an increasing sensitivity to clove-like phenols. Here it is not bothersome. The body seems big enough, and well, its pushing 11% so of course it is. Leans sweet to semi-sweet, somewhat low in carbonation so that contributes to the heaviness. In sum its decent, interesting, but not particularly drinkable. As I said in my previous review for their impy stout, I mostly want to drink a beer, and that means drink a beer. I've nothing especially bad to say about this beer, but I'm unlikely to go back to the well, as they say.

Well I figured it was about time to try an imperial stout. Not for the first time mind you, well, the first time in a long time, in a couple years I'd guess. Of course I'm sure we all know how impies jumped the shark several years ago, and have turned into a bunch of over the top, way too high grav, ingredient-dense, flavor-dense bottles of bullshit. And so when it came time to say I want to drink a beer, such liquid pastries were the literal last thing I had in mind. But now I've got hop fatigue, IPA fatigue, whatever. And so when I found this little 8.3% impy, flavored only with coffee, I thought why not? So I'm giving it a whirl and will decide whether I might drink another relatively soon, or go on another 4 year hiatus. This one gave the classic imperial stout pour - as black as can get, with a surprisingly brown head of foam that lingered pretty good. Yes you can smell the coffee. The flavor is even more coffee, playing with some roasted malt and dark chocolate, leading into a decently bitter aftertaste. The whole thing feels balanced - I'd almost want to say semi-dry but it can't be. Its surprisingly drinkable at first because of that balance and the fact that the coffee thins the body a bit. But then halfway into the glass you're facing a pretty dense dark chocolate and roast wall that forces you to slow down. That is perhaps my problem. I like to drink fast sometimes, well, most times. Like I said, sometimes you want to drink a beer, and that means, drink a beer. Not sip. Drink. Well, just so I'll shut the fuck up and rate this beer, its actually pretty good as an impy, reminds of the impies you'd find 20 years ago. But I'm unlikely to keep going back to this well very often if even something like this leaves me wanting.

Can at home. Nice after dinner digestive. Glowing orange yellow and fairly clear with fine. Nose is fruity peach and tea as to be expected. Tastes mostly of peach tea, salt, lime, wheat. Lingering fruit finish. Slightly tart. Salt remains on lips.

Can from abc. Bright clear amber and small head. Nose is caramel. Tastes malty, caramel, dried fruits, some brown paper bag. Smooth palate.

12 oz. can purchased at ABC Liquor - Lake Mary, FL. Pours a crystal clear bronze color with a small off white head and good retention. Spots of lacing. Caramel malt aroma. Good sweet caramel malt flavor with a short finish. Fairly flat mouthfeel. Smooth and clean and no bitterness. A good example of the American interpretation. Nice.

Draft at Half Barrel. Dark pour decent head. Nose is rich coffee and vanilla. Tastes similar with some plum and earth and bourbon. Very smooth, easy drinking and dangerous.