Strong Beers Tasting

Went to the Strong Beers tasting at the Brickskeller last night with C.S. and a few of his friends. It's been a while since I've attended one of their tastings. It seemed smaller and more quiet than in years past, but it may have been due to the theme of this particular tasting -- these were not your everyday beers. To some extent they are experiments on the part of their respective brewers who want to see how far they can push the envelope. They were all very strong, sometimes overpowering, both in alcohol and flavor, intense winter seasonal brews. All tended to de-epmphasize the fresh, floral hoppiness of classic American microbrews and were, to a greater or lesser degree, sweet. There were only two beers that I could see myself drinking in any quantity. All breweries were more or less local to the Washington-Baltimore area. What follows are my highly unscientific observations about each one, in order in which they were served.

Gordon Biersch (Rockville, MD) Alte Bock
Style: Single Bock (German ale). 6.5% ABV. Dark tan color. Cloudy appearance. Not much of a nose. Reasonably balanced on the palate, creamy feel, fairly dry compared to the rest, with reasonably pronounced hops. The least intimidating and one of two most drinkable of the bunch. Soon to be available on draft at GB Rockville.

Brewer's Alley (Frederick, MD) Scotch Ale
Style: Scotch Ale. 8% ABV. Reddish color. Nose is initially sweet, eventually I thought I detected some gingerbread and prunes. Sweet on the palate, no hops, no bitterness, but reasonably fruity. A little one-dimensional for my taste, but reasonably well put together. Available now on draft at Brewer's Alley.

Red Brick Station (Baltimore, MD) 2006 Highlander Wee-Heavy
Style: Wee-heavy (Scottish strong ale). 10% ABV. Dark reddish-brown color. Weak nose. Smoky on the palate. Also somewhat bitter, but not a hoppy kind of bitterness. This beer was barrel-aged for four years. Interesting, but I would not want a pint or even a goblet. Current vintage available at Red Brick Station, if memory serves.

Wharf Rat (Baltimore, MD) Hot Monkey Love
Style: Who knows. Probably American strong ale tending towards barley wine. 10% ABV. Dark brown color. Very funky on the nose. First whiff said "dirty kitchen sponge" until I realized that what I was smelling was intense fresh yeast, like a big lump of cake yeast. Also -- go ahead and laugh me out of the house for this (one of C.S.'s friends did) -- I detected some dried bananas. Not the crunchy banana chips you find in trail mix, but the Asian-style ones. They are dried whole until they are rubbery and sticky, and have a distinctive smell (they are very good, by the way). That's what this beer smelled like. On the palate, surprisingly complex and drier than expected, with grassy notes. Maybe some celery. It is brewed with 120 lbs. of clover honey per batch, and wins the award for best name. Way too intense to drink in any quantity. Available (I think) at both Wharf Rat locations.

Gordon Biersch (Washington, DC) Baltic Porter
Style: Dark lager. Apparently, this type of beer was actually somewhat popular at the turn of the last century in certain parts of Central and Eastern Europe -- Northern Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine. It was a local approximation of Russian Imperial Stouts made in England for Russian aristocracy. 8% ABV. Very dark brown color. Strong coffee on the nose. Coffee and chocolate on the palate, with a noticeable Germanic shrimpy notes from the lager yeast. Very drinkable and hands down my favorite of the bunch. Currently on draft at GB DC. I'm going.

District Chop House (Washington, DC) Double Bock
Style: Double Bock. 9.3% ABV. Almost black in color. Plasticky on the nose. Fruity on the palate, but one-dimensionally sweet. None for me, thank you.

Franklin's (Hyattsville, MD) Imperial Stout
Style: Imperial Stout. 10% ABV. Classic stout look -- black. Coffee on the nose, but also very perfumy. Balanced and smooth on the palate. Very impressive, but too strong to drink in quantity. Available for a little while longer on draft at Franklin's.

Sweetwater Tavern (Merrifield, VA) High Desert Imperial Stout
Style: Imperial stout. ABV: neglected to write down. Black color. Slightly smoky and tarry on the nose. Some bitterness on the palate, especially in the finish, but like the Highlander, not a hoppy bitterness. One of C.S.'s friends described it perfectly: blackstrap molasses.

DuClaw (Baltimore, MD) Hybrid Strong Ale
Style: Strong ale/barley wine. ABV: 21.92%. I kid you not. Evidently, it has been independently verified by a lab (hence two decimal places). Clear amber color. Candy on the nose. Cloyingly sweet on the palate -- cola and ripe strawberries. Sheer insanity.

One of the topics of discussion, both in the audience's questions and among the brewers, was the current US hops shortage. A crop failure is sending prices through the roof and making availability tight, but apparently there is a more permanent problem -- hop growers in the Pacific Northwest are tearing out their hop vines and planting apple orchards instead for economic reasons. The brewers tried to put up a front of optimism by saying that other varieties of hops will eventually be grown by others and/or elsewhere, resulting in some interesting new flavors down the line, but I got a sense that they are worried.