The Beer Tap

"I am the Yeti!"

The second big beer of the weekend was Yeti Imperial Stout by Great Divide. There have been Bigfoot sightings in the woods of Wisconsin over the last few weeks and with all of this snow, he may now be a Yeti.  Imperial stouts were exported to the Russian Czars back in the 1800s, hence the name "Imperial Stout".  In order to survive the long trip, this style was brewed at a higher alcohol content.  Today, American craft brewers have revived this style and taken it to new heights.  And by heights I mean "how much alcohol can a beer have and still taste good?"  The Yeti clocks in at 9.5% ABV and still manages to taste great!

• This beer is as black as night and pours thicker than your average beer.  GD's website uses the word "viscous" and I think that is a good choice.
• Like many higher alcohol beers, the head was small and quickly faded.
• The aroma is sweet and alcoholic.  My mouth is watering in anticipation!
• The flavor is sweet up front, followed by roasted flavors that linger on the tongue without any harsh bitterness or astringency.
• This is not a wimpy beer!  I can tell the alcohol is there, but all of the flavors seem to balance out nicely.  I can tell why Yeti has won a good number of awards.

Drink a 22 oz of this beer and you too may believe that you ARE the Yeti!

And then there was snow...and beer!

It is officially winter now.  I woke up Friday morning to many inches of snow.  By the end of the day we had somewhere between 9 and 12 inches.  After a long day at work, the roads were still bad so I made the decision to hit the beer store to try and find a few "big" beers to help warm me up.

One of the beers I found was a single batch seasonal by Bells, Hell Hath No Fury.  The pink label and six pack holder were visible from across the store.  Once I read the label, I knew I had to try it.  Here's what is says:

A brew that gives you either sympathy for the devil or the courage to face him. Goes especially well with your favorite lost my girl/truck/dog/trailer song.

I think there must be a good story behind this beer!  There wasn't any label on alcohol content, but since it was an "American Dubbel" I knew it had to be in the 6-7% range.  The Bell's website confirmed that is comes in at 7.7%. 

Here are my thoughts:

• This beer is very dark.  Almost as dark as a porter or stout.  A nice creamy head that lasts to the bottom of the glass.
• With a beer this dark, you would expect a combination of roasted and bitter flavors.  HHN is very smooth with a focus more on sweet caramel flavors and typical Belgian flavors imparted by the yeast.
• You don't notice the high alcohol content of the beer.  You get a hint at the alcohol in the aroma, but its not apparent until after the third beer.  That's when I realized it!

Overall...if you like Belgian beers, I think this is a must try.  I think it is similar to 1554 made by New Belgian, but it has been a while since I have had that.

More snow-bound, big beers to come later this week.