Air Whale Hell
Anchorage Brewing Company

 

Type: 375-ml. bottle
Reviewed as: American Double / Imperial Stout
Glass: Rip Current 5th anniversary 8-oz. beer glass
Price: $15.99
From: Preferred Liquors in Santee, Calif.
Purchased: Oct. 14, 2022
Consumed: Dec. 1, 2022
Misc.: Yellow waxed bottle neck; No bottled on date

Picked up this beer on my first trip to Preferred Liquors in Santee when the guy at the register talked me into it. Untappd description was “Imperial Stout fermented and Aged in Missouri oak. Finished on Klatch Coffee, Tahitian vanilla beans and Thai Bananas.” Sounded pretty legit.

Poured a pitch-black color with two fingers of frothy-to-fizzy dark khaki-brown head. Could see bubble streams coming up along the sides of the glass. Very good lacing. Very good retention. (Sight - 4.00)

Smelled toasted oak, dark chocolate syrup, ashtray, semi-char wood, black coffee, vanilla, banana and dark fruit. That banana is hidden in the beginning and then bam, it its you hard and dominates the nose. Smelled just as good from the bottle. (Smell - 4.25)

Taste was not quite as good as the nose. In order got toasted oak, dark chocolate syrup, burnt coffee rounds, ashtray, semi-char wood, vanilla, banana and dark fruit. Really smooth for 15 pct. ABV. (Taste - 4.00)

Full body. Sticky texture. Average-to-soft carbonation. Long, smooth finish. (Feel - 4.75)

This was outstanding. Not worth the $15.99 price tag, but still outstanding. (Overall - 4.25)

4.19 | 93 | A-

 

Very, very sweet. some coffee and chocolate, with notes of banana, too, as you'd expect. it's very hard to drink the whole thing b/c it's so sweet.

 

Poured from 12.7-ounce bottle into a snifter. Black with a reddish-tinged tan head. Although this sample had some age on it, the flavors really popped. Espresso bean up front, with notes of banana and vanilla. Syrupy mouthfeel, sweet and boozy, with a lot of a oaky astringence and a bitter coffee note lingering on the finish. Fantastic beer, but a little goes a long way.

From the Carwyn Cellars "One" subscription pack December 2022. Drunk in August 2023.

L: As black as the depths of a ruby-red-tinged hell. The thin head is a fiery red-tinged tan, adding to the perception of black depths. I can see many tiny bubbles moving slowly up the edge of the glass. This beer looks heavy and forbidding. Perfect for a cold winter's afternoon.

S: The smell is initially dominated by coffee and green banana leaves. There's a hint of vanilla, but in the early stages, it tends towards minerality. I'll come back to this once it warms up. [Note from future: half an hour later, the green banana note dominates the smell, with the coffee taking a back seat. I'd think the beer was minerally if I didn't know it had bananas in it. Luckily I know better...]

T: Initially, there's coffee, booze, and a green banana note. The finish is long and lingering, and the banana note hangs around well after the swallow, and the more I ruminate on this beer, the more that taste comes to dominate the profile. As with the nose, the vanilla teases but doesn't come to full expression. Pleasingly, there's no overly cloying sweetness. Don't get me wrong; it's bloody sweet but balanced, which can be wishful thinking with adjuncted Imperial Russian Stouts.

F: Mouthfeel is the expected smooth, oily, luxurious package, but it's balanced with a pleasant carbonic prickle on the way down. There's a bit of stickiness to the beer, but my lips aren't glued together, nor is my moustache requiring a comb afterwards.

O: Old Man Yelling at Cloud (TM) time: this is a nice beer; it's balanced, showcases an unusual ingredient (Thai bananas), never hits cloying territory, and it will not be a chore to get through as some of these beers can be. So why does it need to be 15%? Is the alcohol balancing the sweetness, and keep it this side of the cloy line? Is the alcohol giving the beer the kick it needs to go from novelty, sweet RIS to something I'd consider having again? I don't know, but I can't imagine the beer being too different at 10% compared to 15%. This single beer takes up 45% of the Australian weekly alcohol consumption guidelines in one 375ml (12.7Oz) package. And do you think that's necessary? 49-year-old AzfromOz says no. 25-year-old AzfromOz might have begged to differ, but 25-year-old AzfromOz wouldn't have been able to afford this beer anyway! Ultimately it gets a decent score because it's a nice beer, and it might be a nice beer because it's so strong. But I wish it didn't need to be.

Cheers!
#291

Obsidian black with a short dark tan blanket that is not too long for this world.

I expected very little from this, but first sip immediately converted me. The malt is very chocolatey, drenching the gooey banana that gently comes in second with a dark ganache characteristic for days. A subtle thread of mocha cleans up the finish as well as it can, but the overall palate is actually not as sweet as expected to begin with, translating as more boozy, in fact.

This is a dominant coffee forward stout. Coffee so strong on the nose, its almost green peppery. The banana shows up on the nose after it warms a bit. The coffee is strong on the taste as well, and more banana on the palate. Not quite as strong as the Explorer. The mouthfeel is thinner than other Anchorage stouts. This one doesn't really wow me. Its better than solid. Its good. But for the price range and weight of other Anchorage products this one falls short.

 

 

12.7 ounce yellow wax capped bottle, no dating that I noticed on the bottle or label. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with not quite an inch tan head that didn't stay around for very long. Decent amount of lacing. I like the aroma, the brew smells like coffee, bananas, roasted malt, and some vanilla. Taste is similar to the aroma, but with the addition of some dark bread, oak, dark fruit and some chocolate flavors. Banana flavor seems more like overripe than fresh ones to me. Mouthfeel/body is full, it's slick and smooth with a low/moderate amount of carbonation. 15% ABV is well hidden here, although I'm sure it will hit me later! I liked this imperial stout, it's definitely a sweeter tasting one and almost to the point of being overpoweringly so. Also helps if you like bananas. Worth a try!

 

 

From the wax capped bottle in a snifter. This brew pours a near pitch black
with a modest head that fizzles to a thin brown ring and has some legs. Nose of
dark coffee, char, roast, banana, brulee, and dark fruits amongst dark chocolate.
Flavors follow the nose with some exceptions with dark coffee, dark chocolate,
vinous wine notes, subtle vanilla, banana, heavy char and roast, faint oak notes,
and brulee touches with soy elements. Mouth feel is full, slick body, coating, and
near non existent carbonation with a warming bitter malt finish.

Overall, it's a bit much for a dessert brew, cloying, with a lot going on.

 

Pours black with very little head foam. What head is there bubbles away quickly before snapping a photo of the label.

Aroma is rich and full bananas, with vanilla bean, oak, and toffee behind. Bananas dominate, especially in the first two-thirds. Coffee is mild in intensity, and comes paired with hearty chocolate undertones. Roasty and toasty malts sit underneath, but don't play much of a role. It leans sweet initially, despite the alcohol levels, but levels out to a more balanced nose as it warms.

Flavor profile is banana, which is mushed and mashed to fit next to roasty and toasty malts, chocolatey coffee, and light vanilla bean. It's considerably less sweet than the aroma foreshadows, with the malts tethering the banana and vanilla bean from floating off uncontrollably. Speaking of, vanilla bean is light, especially compared to the aroma. Coffee is really the intriguing note here, pushing a heavy chocolate flavor note alongside it, creating a bitter pair. Alcohol is more discernable here than the aroma.

Mouth feel is thick with a full, semi-creamy texture. Creaminess is just tamped out lightly by some minor silt.

Overall, it's a banana beer. As in, that's the clear focus, with coffee and vanilla bean adding a little bitterness and sweetness, respectively, and helping to increase the price. As the beer warms, the flavors start to muddle together in an indiscernible mashes, and bringing with it an unpleasant rise of heat.

Served in a 15.5oz Spiegelau tulip from a 375mL bottle.