The Triangle

Issue date: 11/14/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Karl Kuchs

Here's to the official beer review of The Triangle! Each week I'll be ranking different beers from my own personal scale: The Suds-o-Meter. Rankings will take into account looks, tastes, smells, inebriation levels, and all that other stuff that makes beer so good (or so bad). But enough of this formality crap: let's talk brewski.

This week's review spotlights a local brewery that has yet to disappoint me. Although I've tried a fair amount of their brews, there's been one in particular that I've avoided up until now. But I realized it was time to step up to the plate and try their stout, a style that I simply do not enjoy, with exception to one or two specific beers. This week's style is the Russian imperial stout.

The Russian imperial stout dates back to the 1800s from, you guessed it, Canada. Just kidding - I needed to see if you were paying attention. This style, brewed to impress and win over the Russian Czar, possesses higher alcohol volumes as well as strong malty backbones. Typically, this style portrays a very dark color due to the roasting of the barley that is used in the brewing process. In addition to the dark color, roasting the barley provides the chocolate, coffee, burnt or roasted flavors associated with stouts and other darker beers. Although hop character and dark fruit flavors can vary with each specific beer, this style is known to be astringent - meaning it dries the palate. Victory Brewing Company of Downingtown, Pa. has developed its own popular brand of this style.

Storm King Imperial Stout's label features a bird with a crown on it, signifying that it is indeed a king of some kind. It pours very nicely and is appealing on several levels. The beer is onyx in color and is topped with a chunky, milk chocolate colored head. Lace surrounds the glace when swirled and retains nicely. Although I am not a stout guy myself, I have to admit that it looked pretty.

The nose was not as strong as I would have imagined. Chocolate and toffee as well as a fair amount of hops were identifiable, but were not powering. Other than that, it was hard for me to pick out exactly what smells were coming through. Due to this, I found that the beer was approachable, especially for someone that's a heavy hop head like me. I could see this beer as a gateway stout, regardless of the fact that it is an imperial.

The taste was a crescendo of flavor and grew progressively stronger as it went down. Hops were definitely noticeable as well as burnt popcorn flavors at the end of each sip. Victory, one of my favorite local breweries, has a way of disguising the alcohol through full flavors, and does not fail here. No alcohol bleeds through and all flavors maintain well.

The mouth feel was clearly thick, which is one characteristic of stouts that deters me from drinking them. Furthermore, I disliked that it was astringent - it made me feel slightly dehydrated. I've always felt that I need a fork and knife to get this style of beer down, which lowers its drinkability rating. The other feature of this beer and style that dissuades me is the aftertaste. The strong coffee aftertaste is not appealing to my taste buds, hence the reason why I am a tea drinker.

Admittedly, I didn't finish the beer, which was only delight to my friend. My rating will definitely be skewed due to the fact that this style does not appease me, but if you're one that likes stouts, can tolerate coffee breath, and wants a very well composed beer: this is the brew for you.

Is there a beer that I need to know about? Want Suds-for-Thought to review it? Send your beer suggestions to entertainment@thetriangle.org with "SUDS" in the subject line.

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