The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2018 Edition Day 8:Imperial Stout By Fuller's

Beer # 467 Imperial Stout

Brewery: Fuller, Smith, & Turner


Type: National Brewery    Est.:  1845

Location: London, England, United Kingdom

Beer Style: Russian Imperial Stout

ABV: 10.7%      IBU: 60

Format: Brown Glass Bottle Size: 500 ml

Cost: $7.85 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

 fullers

    @Fullers

Fuller's is a pretty common British export in the LCBO, however, this is the first year I think I have seen this one (not sure).   I've had a few beers by them and they make a decent product for a National/Macro Brewery. Nothing too exciting. But since this is the #2-4beersofChristmas I thought I would give this 10.7 % big boy a try, and quite frankly I enjoyed it.

Onto our beer.


Pours a very dark chocolate brown with a short but tight tan head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is chocolate and molasses with hints of liquorice and turbinado sugar. Faint wood, wisps of smoke and a brush of whiskey. First sip is blackstrap molasses, rich and warming with vanilla biscuit and liquorice. Faint sweet hum of horehound candy. A hint of dark green hops running through the middle aeration gives us some old leather smoke and ashes.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS
Re-Order:  5/6 PASS
Experience: 5/6 PASS
Christmas Cheer 5/6 PASS


Final Thoughts:

Russian Imperial stouts have had a bit of a renaissance lately They are butch, flavourful, and malty beers that you can sit and contemplate for a while. They go very well with food, and the alcohol content is high enough to merit sharing this with someone so you don't get too giggly with the Christmas spirit. This is a very workable Russian stout full of flavours and definitely has a good hit of alcohol. Give this one a shot if you can find it, it is quite enjoyable.


CJT

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Deforestation Collaboration Sawdust City and Forked River Brewing

Beer # 225 Deforestation
Collaboration

Sawdust City Brewing Company
Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada

Forked River Brewing Company
London, Ontario

Independent Microbreweries
Imperial Bourbon Barrel Aged Brown Ale
9.1 % ABV 10 oz Draft (296 ml.)
$6.50 (Canadian) At the brewery

Twitter @SawdustCityBeer @ForkedRiverBrew

'Tis, apparently, the season of collaboration. Last, (I think) in our string of collabs is this huge, barrel aged brown ale from Sawdust and Forked River in London. Forked River has graces our pages here before, and the beers I have had from them are always fantastic... this one was no exception.

Let's jump right in...

Pours a dark chocolate-black with hints of chestnut. Head is darker tan and short, made up of small bubbles. The nose is deeply complex with aromas ranging from oak to creosote, to pine tar, bourbon tobacco, chocolate, coal dust, molasses and deeply bruleed sugars. First sip is all whiskey.with hints of rye, oak and vanilla. Shades of rye and coke. Nice strong hits of alcohol mixed with malty sugars. Aeration brings out an earthy dusty woody cigar box, with notes of chocolate and cocoa.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Colour: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order:  6/6  EXCEPTIONAL
Experience:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL

Final Thoughts:

Wow. Big, bold, great flavour. It would take days to contemplate every nuance of this beer. (But at 9.1% not very feasible!) Alcohol is evident and trust me you will feel it. They served this in a 10 ounce tulip and it still packed more punch than a full pint of normal beer. Sip this one at either brewery in Gravenhurst or London, while you can. But this one is so good it should be a regular seasonal (in my opinion).



Cheers


CJT


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Double Dunk Forked River Brewing Company

# 207 Double Dunk Weizenbock

Forked River Brewing Company

London, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Imperial Weizenbock 8.2% 10 oz Draft Tulip Glass
$7.25 (Canadian) At the Sawdust City Brewery guest Tap

Twitter: @forkedriverbrew

Down to Forked River of London Ontario today. I have had one of their beers before, but it didn't make it into the blog. Forked River starts their own Bio out like a classic Joke "Two Biologists and an Engineer walk into a bar..." But instead of a punchline we get some amazing beer. Dave Reed, Andrew Peters, and Steve Nazarian all met through a regional homebrewing association. As their friendship grew, the job market for their professions started to dwindle in London, and not wanting to move their families they decided to work for themselves. So Forked River was born in 2012.  The other beer that I have had by them, was the Riptide Rye Pale Ale, and I must confess it was delicious. I only wish I had taken notes for the blog. If I can get my hands on some again I will... stay tuned. Until then we shall sample this beer right here...

Already a mouthful in a name... The Double Dunk Weizenbock. Onto the tasting.

Pours a cloudy chocolate brown with an off-tan head made up of small bubbles. Nose is vegetative like tomatoes, and smells of hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce, like a really strong Caesar (drink... not salad my American friends!). First sip is intense, woody, spicy, umami laden, rich and creamy. Clove and cinnamon intensify through the middle and then the beer softens out to a tart tangy breadiness with a hint of sourness. As the beer warms up, chocolate appears with some oak, caramel, and vanilla in the background.  Aeration whips the beer up like fresh cream and  brings out the alcohol. intensifies the baking spices, light hints of banana, and enhances the chocolate.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Experience:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL


Final Thoughts:

Another massive beer. You feel all of it's 8.2% ABV. But such complexity! Layers upon layers of flavour. It is a real "thinking beer." One you definitely want to sit down and ponder. What struck me the most is the "Umami" in this beer. Umami is a borrowed Japanese word that means "pleasant savoury." In essence umami is the meatiness, the roundness, the completeness of a satisfying flavour. It's that deep mushroomy flavour, or the flavour of a seared steak. And it was all through this beer. The would certainly be an excellent food beer, and I would love to cook a nice beef stew with it. I suggest you grab one and taste it for yourself. 

CJT


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Beer # 75 A. Le Coq Premium

A. Le Coq Premium


A. Le Coq & Co
Tartu, Estonia
Owned and Operated by Olvi Brewing (Finland)
Premium Light Lager 4.7% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 500 ml.
$2.40 (Canadian) At LCBO. 


A. Le Coq  traces it's roots back to a Prussian man Named Albert Le Coq who established a beverage trading company in 1807. In the 1820's he moved his operations headquarters to London England. There he began to take advantage of the demand for "Russian Imperial Stout" and began to bottle the beer purchased from London breweries under his own name and ship it back to Russia. In 1904 high import duties in Russia forced A. Le Coq to move the bottling plant to St. Petersburg Russia. And then began the search for an appropriate brewery for A. Le Coq to brew the stout in Russia. In 1913, Tivoli LTD. was purchased with it's two breweries The B.J. Hesse Brewery and the R.J. Schramm Brewery. The name was changed to A.Le Coq Ltd. It briefly became know as the "Tartu Õlletehas" (Tartu Brewery) during the soviet era in Russia; but finally, in 1997 Finnish Company Olvi purchased the brewery, privatised it, and renamed it A. Le Coq.


Without further ado:


Light to clear gold in colour with a frothy white head made up of tiny bubbles. Rich, clean, malty aroma. Very crisp euro-style, lager, malty and fresh. Hints of sweet clover, honey and a touch of flinty mineral. Slight medicinal hops. Well rounded finish with a touch of grain that lingers in the nose. Very thin in body, and does show a little of the "washed out" "rainwatery" character typical of the  euro lager. However, it is without any signs of chemical, tinny, aldehydes, that mar cheaper euro lagers.





Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional   


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS
Re-Order:  5/6 PASS
Experience:   5/6 PASS


Final Thoughts:


I was pleasantly surprised, I have tasted many "euro lagers" and pilsners that are generally quite horrible. Mostly canned, and cheap, with dubious production values. However, A.Le Coq is a refreshing well crafted brew, and quite easy to see why it is the most popular beer in Estonia. A good patio sipper or something with a light meal.


Cheers


CJT


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