Happy New Year, beer lovers! To start 2017, I've decided to produce a video review and present two different Russian Imperial Stouts from 2013, which have been aging in my basement over the past couple of years. There's not much that I can write in this post that isn't said in the video, so if you have some time, sit back and enjoy this video. It's a little long—almost 20 minutes—but it is a detailed review of two stouts and includes the kind of tasting notes that you've come to expect at Beer O'Clock. Considering it's unscripted, I'm surprised I was able to shut up in the 19 minutes of recording. The Russian Imperial Stouts are by
I hope you enjoy this video review. If you do, let me know by leaving a comment. If there's enough interest, I may make video reviews a monthly thing. Cheers!
I think one of the marks of friendship is the ability to share not only interests but also aspirations. It's something special to have a friend confide in their hopes and dreams, and as their friend, your job is to listen and support his or her support of whatever that dream is. I have two friends who told me of their aspirations for owning a brewery and creating some tasty craft beer, and I have supported them, if not in action, in spirit. It takes a special person to put themselves out there, to toil and sweat and make something to share with the public, and to have that public scrutinize that creation. When I met Perry Mason, he was managing an Ontario wine boutique and teaching wine-appreciation courses on the side, but at heart he was a beer lover who had been making home brews for decades. He had forgotten more about beer than most people would learn over a lifetime, and he hadn't forgotten much. When he opened the Scotch-Irish Brewing Company in 1998, four years after I had first heard of his dream to be a brewmaster, I was living in Korea and was unable to share in his success. It wasn't until April of 1999 that I was able to try his flagship beer, Session Ale. And I knew that his years of hard work had paid off. In December, 2005, Perry created his first Imperial stout, and when he delivered my first case to me, he said that he suspected that this creation would last 10 years. I kept him at his word. I drank Tsarina Katarina regularly into the spring of 2006, but didn't have any again until December, 2011, on the brew's sixth anniversary. Since then, I've had it again in December of 2013 and this past December, and I'm happy to say that on its ninth anniversary, drinking it with Perry and some Ottawa beer aficionados, the Imperial stout was still holding strong. And for my review of Imperial stouts, I thought I would give it another official review.
Tsarina Katarina Imperial Stout, 2005 (9% ABV) Scotch-Irish Brewing Company (no longer open) Fitzroy Harbour ON
Appearance: deep walnut to black. No light comes through. A thick, foamy, dark taupe head still poured thick but quickly settled to a solid cap, and then a thin cap, and finally a full, tight lace. Nose: sweet dates and ripe prunes, with a hint of licorice. The nose drops off after a few minutes but does not entirely go away. Palate: bitter chocolate and rich malt, with some fruit. The beer has mellowed but all the elements are still there. There is a full, cedar and eucalyptus finish. Overall impression: I am amazed at this beer, but not surprised: amazed, that a beer can hold on for so long and still run strong with a younger crowd; not surprise, that this beer met the expectations that my friend said it would fulfill. I have only one bottle of this treasure left. I shall open it in December of this year, on its tenth anniversary. I look forward to finishing the end of a great era of a great brewmaster.
Beer O'Clock rating: 5 Another friend of mine, someone I have only know for a few years, also expressed his desire to own a brewing company before he actually brought his dream to fruition. And his beer is already off to a great start. J.P. Fournier has made some interesting beers in less than two years with his brewery, Turtle Island. He has made a sour-cherry ale, a hibiscus ale, and the strongest dessert beer-liqueur I've ever had. But there is method in J.P.'s madness. When J.P. created his Imperial stout, in 2013, he introduced it at a beer market in Manotick, and it won the distinction of best beer of the event. In 2014, and the same event, he presented a cask from the same vintage, and again, his Imperial stout was deemed the best of the show. Being a good friend, he gave me a couple of bottled versions. This weekend, I opened one of them.
Appearance: black—I think light was getting sucked into the glass, as everything around it seemed to darken (I had to overexpose the photo by more than two stops to capture it properly). A creamy, mid-light-taupe head sustained good depth as I drank it. Nose: I didn't get much off the nose. This baby was holding onto its secrets like family jewels. Palate: BAM! Lots of alcohol with strong flavours of prunes and cedar. The maple comes through in the finish and tastes slightly burnt, like the caramelization in a crème brulée. Overall impression: if you're at home and only want one beer, this one is it. The alcohol will hit you by the time you reach the end of your glass, and you ain't goin' nowhere. This is a royal stout that is a little to heady to quaff all night long. This ship fires all guns at will, and it will sink you. But it does hold up an intense flavour that should balance it out as it ages. I'm going to set my second bottle down and try it again in a few years. Maybe, with Perry.
Beer O'Clock rating: 4 When you love Imperial stout, like I do, it's good to have friends in the beer industry, who have followed their dreams and produced wonderful ales. The beers are a good thing. The friendship is the true benefit. Cheers!
All week long, I've been trying to come up with a post that would do justice to the Ottawa Beer TAP Society dinner that was held last Monday at the Copper Pot Café, on Bronson Avenue.
I wanted to talk about how the host, J.P. Fournier (of National Capital Craft Beer Week and WinterBrewed), offered some of his lovely beer and had it paired with some truly marvelous food, and how it was great to learn that this was going to be the last of such dinners before J.P. went professional, starting Turtle Island Brewing Company in the next month or so. This has been a dream of J.P.'s for many years, and I'm thrilled to be a witness to that dream coming to fruition. I can't wait to be there for Turtle Island Brewing's grand opening. You can expect a big post then. (And, J.P., I want a private tour. Think you can talk to someone to make that happen?)
I also wanted to talk about the great people I met at the OBTS dinner, such as some of my Twitter friends, Darrel from West End Chiles (forgive me if I misspelled your name, but it wasn't on your business card or on your Web site), food critic and blogger for the Ottawa Citizen, Ron Eade, and the head brewer for Ottawa's Mill Street Brew Pub, Adam Rader. There were lots of beer lovers at the dinner, ranging from newbies to experts in the field. I'm somewhere closer to the former. I wanted to go into great depth in describing the dishes and the beers, offering my opinion on each course, but I thought that it might drag on. Sort of like how this supposedly visual post is not so visual. Let me just say that every dish was a masterpiece. I was even eating things that I don't generally like, such as mushrooms (I don't eat fungus) and beets. My favourite dish of the lot was the maple-pepper haddock fillet with snow pea tips, baby bok choy, and dumplings in a miso broth. The pairing was with my favourite beer of the evening, J.P.'s dark honey brown ale. You'd better be brewing that one at Turtle Island, my friend! I also loved the Black IPA. I would have loved to spend more time with it but by that late part of the evening, my taste buds were tired.
