Imperial Stout

AleSmith Nibs & Beans Speedway Stout debuts

Alesmith Nibs & Beans Speedway Stout, a chocolate, vanilla bean, coffee laden edition of the venerable imperial stout, is on sale now.

A few times throughout the year, Alesmith uses their nationally known imperial stout as a brewer’s playground. This round, Speedway Stout Continue Reading →

First time in cans: AleSmith Speedway Stout

AleSmith Speedway Stout, easily one of the most popular imperial stouts in the United States, is now available in cans.

The black, silver foiled, bottle of viscous has made AleSmith Speedway Stout an American brewing icon. What is the next logical step for Continue Reading →

Posted in AleSmith Brewing, Don't Miss This, New Releases

AleSmith Nibs & Beans Speedway Stout debuts

Alesmith Nibs & Beans Speedway Stout, a chocolate, vanilla bean, coffee laden edition of the venerable imperial stout, is on sale now.

A few times throughout the year, Alesmith uses their nationally known imperial stout as a brewer’s playground. This round, Speedway Stout goes full-on dessert beer. The brewery has added vanilla beans, cacao nibs, and locally roasted coffee. What we’ve heard is that these variants are fantastic. Now is the chance to find out for yourself.

RELATED: AleSmith releases Speedway Stout in cans

Each quarter we stretch our creative muscles and brew a variation of our year-round imperial stout. This quarter’s variation, originally created for the popular 3 day Speedway Grand Prix event in our Tasting Room, features vanilla beans from Madagascar and Papua New Guinea, cacao nibs from Brazil and Madagascar, and locally roasted Colombian coffee from Swell Coffee Co. This beer balances the aromatic quality of the vanilla beans, the nuttiness of the cacao nibs, and the earthy fruity notes of the coffee with the roasty, chocolatey flavors of our imperial stout.

AleSmith Nibs & Beans Speedway Stout will be available in 750 milliliter bottles. The brewery is pre-selling this online now, $22 dollars per bottle.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Vanilla Beans, Cacao Nibs, Coffee)
Availability: 750ml Bottles
Debut: 2/18/17

12% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Second Self Brewing Company, Coming Soon, Headlines

It’s more than just beer. It’s art. Second Self Manic Pixie Dream

It’s hard not to judge a book by it’s cover. The same goes for beer. As beer gets infinitely more creative, so has the artwork that goes along with it. Atlanta’s Second Self Beer didn’t just brew a great beer and slap a label on it. Manic Pixie Dream is a “next level” kind of collaboration.

This story starts a bit before the beer was brewed. Brewery co-founder Jason Santamaria has been a fan of Keith P. Rein’s artwork for a while. The guy is best known for the Slaughterhouse Starlets Series. Basically, he takes famous females like Winona Ryder or Taylor Swift and juxtaposes them into a murdery, Dexter-like composition. When Santamaria married his wife Liz, he noticed Keith P. Rein to be the dominant in each other’s art collection.

All Santamaria needed was a good reason to reach out to is favorite artist. As it turns out, Rein has always wanted to do a piece for a beer can. Manic Pixie Dream was born.

The Second Self team went big when it comes to the beer. The base is an 11% alcohol by volume Russian imperial stout, that has been aged in Blis barrels. The mere mention of Blis will make a beer fan salivate. Blis Gourment is a Michigan based company that ages maple syrup in bourbon barrels. After the maple syrup is drained, what you have left is a playground for one hell of an awesome beer. As an added bonus, Second Self infused locally roasted Batdorf & Bronson coffee.

Santamaria and Rein weren’t satisfied with just creating one label. Especially with a beer as complex as this one. Blis barrels are hard to come by, and recipes like this one are expensive. Ultimately, this beer is in short supply. Created simply for your own happiness. A bit like the Manic Pixie Dream Girl movie trope.

Coined in 2005 by film critic Nathan Rabin after watching Kirsten Dunst’s character in Elizabethtown, MPDG is a  “bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.” Other examples include Kate Hudson’s character in Almost Famous, Natalie Portman in Garden State, or Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot.

With Manic Pixie Dream in mind, Rein drew four different iterations of Pixie. Each label breaks out a component of the beer – Coffee, Maple Syrup, Bourbon, and Grains. Besides the incredible artwork, the beer is fantastic. Truly a sipper, where the each of the components starts to pop as the beer warms. After the barrel-aging, you’re drinking at near 14% alcohol by volume beer.

Second Self is holding a special release event on February 26th where attendees can purchase all four cans. The brewery is planning on making Manic Pixie Dream a series going forward, with an evolving list of styles (including a sour/wild ale).

This is one of the few times we have found ourselves torn between the beer or the artwork that’s more exciting. A few more sips and we might just decide.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Coffee. Barrel Aged. Maple Syrup Bourbon.)
Availability: 16oz Cans. Brewery Only.
Debut: 2/26/17

13.9% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Nebraska Brewing, New Releases

Nebraska Brewing MOAB, the biggest “Betty” to date

Nebraska Brewing MOAB, aka “Mother of All Bettys”debuts on Friday, February 17th.

The La Vista, Nebraska based brewery is known for their Black Betty Imperial Stout (aged in whiskey), and Sexy Betty (aged in brandy barrels). Nebraska Brewing MOAB takes “Betty” to the next level.

The brewery uses twice as much grain and double mashed (two grain soaks) in order to get the hefty amount of fermentable sugar to make a stout this big. No other sugar was used in the brewing process.

After primary fermentation, the beer was transferred to four different bourbon barrels for six months of aging. The result is the biggest Betty yet.

MOAB will be available on draft on Friday, February 17th. The bottle release has been delayed until it meets brewery standards.

Style: Imperial Stout (Barrel Aged. Bourbon.)
Availability: Draft, Bottles. Extremely Limited.

Debut: 2/17/17 (Draft)

?? ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Funky Buddha, New Releases

Funky Buddha The Love Below, with chocolate and cherries

Funky Buddha The Love Below goes on sale at the brewery again on February 15th.

The base beer is Funky’s Nikolai Vorlauf Imperial Russian Stout, that has been aged in both Cabernet barrels and bourbon barrels. The barrels were then blended together with real cherries and 100% chocolate.

Thick and sultry, this is a beer best consumed with a very special friend.

Funky Buddha The Love Below will be available at the brewery again on February 15th, 2017.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Cherries, Chocolate. Barrel Aged. Cabernet Sauvignon, Bourbon.)
Availability: 22oz Bottles
Debut: 2/15/17

12% ABV, 40 IBUs

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Schlafly Brewing, Beer News

Schlafly Smoked Stout debuts in Limited Series

Schlafly Smoked Stout, a new limited release, debuts Valentine’s Day week.

Built for colder weather, Schlafly Smoked Stout truly is a fireside sipper. The barley is smoked with beechwood, giving the beer hints of smoke. The finish is slightly hoppy, with smoke and a touch of chocolate.

“Our Cellar Beers are meant to be conversation pieces. It was a 2017 goal to expand our offerings of
unique, larger format beers and encourage guests to enjoy and share the beers with friends. The Smoked Stout is exactly what you want to be drinking this time of year. Robust and rich, the appropriate amount of hops provide balance while the Belgian crystal malt and German smoked malt lend complexity.” – Ambassador Brewer Stephen Hale

Other limited releases in the series includes Belgian Golden Ale, Baltic Porter, and ESB.

Schlafly Smoked Stout is available in 750 milliliter bottles. ERP, $13.99.

Style: Smoke Beer
Availability: 750ml Bottles
Debut: Valentine’s Week, 2017

8.5% ABV, 45 IBUs

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Tallgrass Brewing, Don't Miss This, New Releases

Love Buffalo Sweat? Drink Tallgrass King Buffalo

Tallgrass King Buffalo has kicked off the Manhattan, Kansas based brewery’s new year – a big imperial stout.

The brewery is most well known for Buffalo Sweat, an oatmeal cream stout. Now the “king” of buffalos, has joined the brewery’s Explorer Series. Tallgrass King Buffalo is an 10.5% alcohol by volume imperial stout, with intense coffee and chocolate flavors.

Big Stout. Small Can.

Don’t let this little 12 ounce can fool you. What is inside is big and bold. If you love Buffalo Sweat (as much as we do), you have a home here. Scratch the milk sugar for brown sugar, and up the flavor of coffee and chocolate. King Buffalo drinks like a meal. The brewery said it best – “One Buffalo to Rule Them All.”

Kicking off the 2017 Explorer Series is King Buffalo, a 10.5% imperial stout. Sitting on a throne of dark roasted grains, King Buffalo is loaded with the same intense coffee and chocolate notes of our original Buffalo Sweat, but it’s deeper, darker, richer and more complex.

Tallgrass King Buffalo is now our packs of 12 ounce cans, from January until March, 2017.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Brown Sugar)
Hops: Columbus, Cascade, Northern Brewer
Malts: 2Row, Vienna, Victory, C60, Wheat, Chocolate Malt, Roasted Barley, Oats, Dehusked Carafa III

Availability: 12oz Cans, Draft.
Debut: January, 2017

10.5% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in AleSmith Brewing, Headlines

First time in cans: AleSmith Speedway Stout

AleSmith Speedway Stout, easily one of the most popular imperial stouts in the United States, is now available in cans.

The black, silver foiled, bottle of viscous has made AleSmith Speedway Stout an American brewing icon. What is the next logical step for one of America’s most renown stouts?

Alesmith has already been canning their IPA for while now, and fans have been wondering what’s up next. A pint can of the coffee-laden stout might just be the perfect size for those nights your aren’t sharing your beer.

…Chocolate and roasted malts dominate the flavor, supported by notes of dark fruit, toffee, and caramel. A healthy dose of locally-roasted coffee from Ryan Bros. Coffee, Inc. added to each batch brings out the beer’s dark chocolate flavors and enhances its drinkability…

AleSmith Speedway Stout is currently available year-round in 750ml bottles and draft. 16 ounce cans are available at the brewery in San Diego starting January 27th.

Style: Imperial Stout
Availability: 750ml Bottles Draft. Year-round. 16 oz Cans (New)
Debut: January, 2017

12% ABV

Image: Beer Street Journal 

by Reid Ramsay