Saturday, April 25, 2009

The rest of the Sam Adams Imperial Series

A week or so ago, I got my hands on one of the new beers in Sam Adams Imperial Series, their Imperial Stout. I rather enjoyed it, so I've been eager to try the other two beers in the series, their Double Bock, and their Imperial White. One of these, the Double Bock, is a style I'm a fan of, and a style I've had my fair share of. The other, the Imperial White, is a rare style, that not to many breweries try, so I was pretty excited to see what Sam Adams could do.
Double Bock: This is actually a beer that has been around a lot longer than the new Imperial Series. Its a beer that Sam Adams has been brewing for about 20 years or so. It was one of their first 'big' beers they made. The beer weighs in at a hefty 9.5% and pours a reddish brown with a thick tan color foamy head. The nose is rich with malts, and a slight hint of earthy hops. The mouthfeel is creamy, malty, caramel, sweet figs, some brown sugar, molasses, and some raisins. Its rich and creamy, a strong beer, but not a lot of alcohol in the flavor. Very malty and smooth, some coco notes as the beer warms. This one's another winner, very enjoyable. The BA's like it too.
Imperial White: This beer has been getting some mixed reviews. In fact I've heard it called a big alcohol infused mess. Well call me a glutton for punishment but I needed to figure it out for my self. This one does have some alcohol to it for sure as it weighs in at 10.3%. It pours a cloudy hazy orange with a thine white heads. Lots of alcohol on the nose, along with orange peel, clove, spices, coriander, honey, honeysuckle, floral notes. Mouthfeel is syrupy, still, very little carbonation. Orange and honey explode in the mouth and as expected there is a large amount of alcohol in the mouth. Its a strong beer that has a tendency to hit you over the head. But as big as the alcohol is, the other flavors of orange and honey, floral and spice, are rather intense, they don't take a second seat to anything. I like it, maybe not as much as other beers, but I like what they were trying to do. I think this beer needs some time for the alcohol flavors to mellow. A decent beer that I think has some promise. So for now it gets a C+. The folks at BA are mixed but overall give it higher grades then me.

No comments: