Samuel Adams Imperial Series Double Bock

I am a huge Sam Adams fan. Consistently good brew for an honest price. And as far as macro brewers go, it's one of the best. I plan on getting most of the Imperial Series down after trying this fantastic brew out.

As I poured it out of the bottle, it came out in a nice, brown, translucent color. There was also a slightly red tint to it. After the pour it formed a nice, off-white head that settled very quickly. Taking a whiff, there was a pretty sweet, almost fruity, aroma with a dash of hops. In my first sip, I got a nice, smooth, malty taste. It was followed by a nice hint of fruit and sweetness and it finished up with a nice kick at the end from the barley and the alcohol (9.5% is hard to mask). The texture, I thought, was fantastic. It was very filling - almost like bread. And the entire experience was very smooth. It has a smooth opening and an interesting bite at the end to finish it off.

Overall, I see this as yet another great session brew. Also, I think it would go great with a light dinner (simple burger or fish). Not too big though considering how heavy the brew does feel after you finish it. One of my favorite Sam Adams. I definitely see myself buying this again.

Appearance - 4.1
Smell - 4.2
Taste - 4.3
Texture - 4.5
Overall - 4.28/5

Young's Double Chocolate Stout

Double Chocolate Stout? This sounds like a gimmick. I mean, come on - it's in a nitro can. Let's see what comes from it...

Black as hell. Pretty reminiscent of Guinness, actually. Especially with the way the head settles with a cascading effect. It almost looks like an imperial stout, too. One whiff and you know why it's called chocolate stout. It smells like liquid chocolate (or liquid sex - depends on how you look at it). It is a very sweet smelling brew. Whilst trying it out, it reminded me, again, of Guinness. It was kinda watery as it entered the mouth and then the chocolate kicked in (oh so nice). It was a very sweet brew. But, this brew has almost no texture. I mean, it's better than, say, Bud. But, in comparison to the other high-class brews we've had lately, this is highly lacking. It's kinda watery and has no body. The flow of the flavors was nice but they didn't hit you in the way that a 4.3+ beer on this site would.

Overall, I can see this brew being a great dessert beer. It's a pretty good gimmick beer - at least they succeeded in that.

Appearance - 3.9
Smell - 4.3
Taste - 3.9
Texture - 3.5
Overall - 3.9/5

Young's Double Chocolate Stout

Well, anything with double chocolate in its name has to be good, and Young's Double Chocolate Stout is no exception. This brew is the weakest one that has been rated on this site, sitting at only 5.2% alcohol, but what do you expect from a chocolate stout? It pours a darwn brown with a milky head which fades quickly. It smells like dun dun dunnnnn!!!! chocolate, with a little bit of roasted malt. Even though it smells divine, the taste is a little disappointing: bland, with a slight chocolate taste. This brew is lacking in the texture, and has almost no body to it, it tastes good but nothing like I thought it would after the first whiff after pouring. I'd suggest this as a good desert beer, hell, it may be the best double chocolate stout out there.

Appearance - 4.0

Smell - 4.1

Taste - 3.7

Texture - 3.5

Overall - 3.83/5

Rochefort Trappistes 10

This has got to be the most common premium brew around, resting at number 7 on www.ratebeer.com's top 50 list, even though it is available world wide. Thank FSM for the broad distribution of Rochefort Trappistes 10. 

This Quadrupel Belgian Ale pours a dark brown with a lasting off-white head and appears to be highly carbonated. The smell is overwhelming: brown sugar, dark malts, cinnamon, coffee, this beer has everything. And even though it sits at 11.3% alcohol it can not be picked out by the nose. The taste is pure heaven and very smooth to boost; it is dark, hops-filled, with brown sugar notes... it is extremely complex. Overall the beer works wonderfully and I would recommend to anyone.

Appearance - 4.0

Smell - 4.1

Taste - 4.6

Texture - 4.7

Overall - 4.35/5

Rochefort Trappistes 10

Yet another of our pinnacle beers being at #7 on our list. Rochefort Trappistes comes from the monks of Belgium and the attention to detail clearly shows.

The brew is a very elegant looking one with an opaque, brown coloring. You can still see the yeast in the bottle seeing as it is bottle-brewed. The head does also last quite a while in a nice off-white tint. This is a very complicated brew though. The smell was a mix of pretty much everything and I couldn't pinpoint one single thing. It had hops and yeast in the nose as well as being a little sweet, though. The first taste is the taste of air in the carbonation followed by a brown sugar taste. There is also a very prevalent taste of the hops in the brew and an alcoholic ending that was evident, but not overpowering. The texture was all you could hope for in a brew like this. Smoothness is top-notch. Every flavor follows through smoothly between each other and even though the brew is very complex, it finds some way to make everything work.

Overall, yet another fantastic beer touched by the workers of God.

Appearance - 4.4
Smell - 3.9
Taste - 4.6
Texture - 4.8
Overall - 4.43/5

Brew Tasting the Second

This is our second official Brew Tasting and the first one on the official night of tasting - Wednesday. Let's see what's getting put onto the charts tonight...

1) Rochefort Trappistes 10
2) Young's Double Chocolate Stout