Beer Rant

Well I'll take a little break from manditory writing for a while and engage in the fun stuff. I've really been hitting the imperial stouts lately so I'll go with yet another slab of rich dark godliness in a bottle. This one comes from one of the adventure capitals of the U.S., which is already reason enough to head out to Boulder CO and play around. Boulder also happens to be the location of several great breweries that brew a variety of beers, even some of the so-called "extreme" beers. Avery brewery is one of those, and it's as expected a beer chalk full of tastes. This particular one has been aged since 2008, and it was incredibly smooth. The Czar imperial stout weighs in at a healthy 10.77% alcohol, so it's nice strong body to go along with that flavor. This one had many of the usual flavors of a stout, the chocolate and toffee particularly, but not the coffee flavor that comes with many of these stouts today. I would have to say the most unique characteristic of this particular imperial stout was it's malty aftertaste. The taste and body was definitely that of a stout, but the aftertaste was something closer to that of a regular scotch ale. This could just be from the amount of hops used in the brewing process or the direct intention of the brewer to invigorate the maltier characteristics of the brew. Aging a year gave it that great natural smoothness I love in an aged ale, or cask ale. Is this my favorite Imperial Stout? Nope, not a by a long shot. It's very good and I'd recommend anyone try it, but I do know so many better out there (see Ivan the Terrible in the old notes). The Czar does have it's own uniqueness but something about it tastes a little to standard to me. I've tried a great many Imperial stouts, and this particular one is supposed to be a more specialized brew, and to me it just doesn't taste it. For example a very standard Russian Imperial Stout is Rasputin from North Coast, I would probably rate it above this particular stout. But hey someone else out there may taste something great about it I may be missing, I would love to hear any rebuttal or critique on something I may not have picked up on. And if your a history buff who loves tiny pictures there are plenty of paintings of Russia's past czar's on the cover. This particular one I picked up from Bottleworks in Wallingford, another good store I don't quite make it to often enough. All being said it's another wonderful addition of dessert in a bottle for all the beer loving public to melt over.