Imperial Stout side-by-side tasting

Old Growth, Caldera Brewing, Ashland, Oregon
22oz bottle, 8.8%abv

Vs.

The Dogfather, Laughing Dog Brewing, Ponderay, Idaho
22oz bottle, 10.85%abv

Appearance: both are appropriately black. Old Growth has much better head.

Aroma: Old Growth has a great roast and coffee nose. Dogfather is lacking aroma wise, with perhaps a subtle hint of vanilla, but otherwise not much.

Flavor: again, Old Growth comes out on top here, with good balance, nice roast malt, and chocolate. Reminiscent of a chocolate-covered espresso beans. Dogfather is not as well balanced, and is a bit harsh.

Mouthfeel and finish: Old Growth is a bit smoother and balanced overall, but is a bit sharp with astringency. Dogfather has a more bitter finish. The beers are more closely matched here.

Overall, the Old Growth is a much nicer beer. The Dogfather is ok though, and may get better with age.

Friday Mixed Six

Thanks to Trace, my Friday just got way better -- she picked me up this great mixed six. I'll blogityblog about each of them as usual.

Avery Mephistopheles

Stout, Avery Brewing Co, Boulder Colorado
November 2008 bottling
15%abv, 12oz bottle

Calling this simply "Stout" is like calling the ocean "a bit moist" -- this beer is huge.

Appearance is solid black with a pleasant thick brown head that lingers nicely.

Aroma is alcohol, vanilla and toffee.

Flavor is sweet, but not overly so. Big alcohol flavors with lots of roast malt and pleasant toffee and coffee notes.

Mouthfeel is very thick. The finish is neither dry nor sweet, it's mostly alcohol heat.

Normally these over-the-top beers aren't my favorite, but this one is actually quite enjoyable.

Stout!

Today's batch is 10 gallons of a dry stout. It looks pretty, and the wort tastes good. We'll see how it ends up.

Edit: Figured I might as well throw the recipe up here, for posterity and such:

10 gallon dry stout:

Malt:

• 20 lbs 2-row Pale Malt
  
• 1 lb 60l Crystal Malt
  
• 1 lb 400l (I think) Chocolate Malt
  
• 1 lb 500l Roasted Barley
  

Hops:

• 4 oz homegrown Mt. Hood (bittering -- 60 minutes)
  
• 2.5 oz homegrown Goldings (flavor -- 15 minutes)
  
• No aroma hops were used.
  

Yeast:

• White Labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast
  
• White Labs WLP007 Dry English Ale Yeast
  
• (batch was split into two 5-gallon carboys each with a different yeast)
  

Mashing and sparging were fairly typical, but we've been messing with some new equipment so ran into a few snags along the way. They didn't end up really being an issue though, as the brew session took the same amount of time it always does, and we ended up with a good starting gravity of 1.059. That should put our final ABV about 5.5% or so, about perfect for a nice dry stout. I guess we'll find out in a few weeks.

HUB Secession CDA

Organic Cascadian Dark Ale
Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland, OR
22oz bottle, 6.5%abv.

Cascadian Dark Ale, a.k.a. "Black IPA" is a recent style to come out of the Northwest, and has been a great style for Northwest breweries to play with over the last year or so. HUB's new organic version is a great example.

Appearance is dark brown to reddish black with a decent head.

Aroma is initially delightfully hoppy, with big dankness. As the beer warms and the hop volatiles dissipate, a nice note of roast malt appears in the nose.

Flavor leans dry and hoppy, with good roast malt and plenty of hop flavor and little sweetness.

Finish is solidly bitter and crisp.

This may be my favorite CDA yet -- very tasty and highly recommended.

Follow up: Southern tier Oat

I had this beer two months ago, but had another one left to drink. Figured I'd add an update with this bottle. Basically it's the same as I described before, except I notice a distinct but subtle black licorice aroma and flavor now. Not sure why I missed it before, but whatevs.

Le Pelican Brun

Belgian style brown ale
Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, Oregon
25.4oz bottle, alcohol not specified.

Color is dark reddish brown with a moderate white head that lingers.

Aroma is mild malt with some subtle notes of chocolate and maybe even a hint of coffee.

Flavor is solid malt with a pleasant mild fruitiness.

Body is medium with a very slightly sweet finish.

Overall a really nice mellow, tasty and drinkable beer from one of the most picturesque breweries on the Oregon Coast. Highly recommended.