BA Impy Stouts from Europe

Nordic/Danish stouts wet my whistle! Amagyer classic, similarly Beer Geek by Mikkeller.
Nice mouth feel, great finish, both go great with a wide variety of foods.
Cheers

 

It sure depends on how you go about critiquing the product: is it an European take on the America, or an interpretation of it translating for the European palate? In my knowledge of Italian craft in particular, it is important to understand what is in the general palate of the country. Some flavors are foreign, and thus can be misinterpreted wrong, while others are familiar. Gentian root comes to mind, which is used in amaro's. This is what I believe so I hope it helps....

 

Besides Belgian sours, European beer is universally over-rated, but you won't make any friends pointing that out.

 

By overrated you mean that you personally don't care for most of it, right?

 

De Molen BA beers are supposed to be very, very good.
European BA beers are very different to US BA beers. Not as sweet and more char, ash, and burnt tires.
They are just different as the barrel Notes are not as pronounced as the US one's can be.

 

Interested in hearing more about your experiences with European breweries, friend....

 

- Struise Black Damnation series (Black Mes is a recent re-release, it's so good, Black Albert aged on Caol Ila)
- Hel & Verdoemenis barrel-aged stuff (there are quite a few, most are retired and very hard to get)
- Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch on Cognac and Calvados, though I prefer the regular
- Mikkeller Black on Tequila and Speyside and many more variants
- Summerwine Kopikat on Caol Ila or Clynelish

To be honest, I think that Struise and De Molen are leaps and bounds ahead of most American stuff technique-wise (I think it's absolute bull that an imperial stout shouldn't have a head or carbonation), but the flavor is a different beast in the American brews. It's a good to-and-fro mechanism. Americans look at Europe for technical knowhow and Europe looks to America for new and exciting ideas on flavor. I generally tend to think European stouts are more layered and balanced, but American stouts do one thing extremely well, whereas some European beers tend to be "jack of all trades, master of nothing".

America is firmly in my top ten with seven or eight brews when it comes to imperial stouts, but Struise Double Black still takes the number one spot for me. I fail to see how it can be improved upon. Still waiting for my Bourbon County Rare, I see that as a serious ontender to nudge it off its lofty throne.

 

Cuvee Delphine is one of my favorite barrel aged stouts of all times.
I have tried and loved many American barrel aged stouts and imho lots of the US offerings the barrel takes over the base beer completly.
That being said the do US offer great BA stouts. They might be different but great.
De Molen stouts are great and might even do some of the best barrel aging in the world (and that is a solid objective opinion). Try them...

Bourbon County might just be overrated.

Am I alone on this?

 

Excluding German beer, of course.

 

Really?

PS: Where's herrburgess when you need him?!

 

I've tried most of the high profile BA stouts from the States on multiple occasions, and De Molen, Struise, Mikkeller, etc. are pretty much staples in my glass, so I've got some experience to go off of. Then again, these are just my views, which are as valuable as you think they are.

The USA does barrel bombs well, partially because the base beers are sometimes weak. Sure, the ABV is strong, but the flavor and depth of the base beer is sometimes lacking. A strong base beer will take to barrel aging better, as the flavors and complexities will be able to push though and hold their own against the barrel. A weak base beer will just get pushed aside. It seems that some brewers just "fix" the base beer by barreling the crap out of it forever.

Some of the best BA stouts from the States have solid base beers. All the CCB barrel aged stouts are fantasic, as the base beers are big and bold. I can imagine the base beers used for Hill Farmstead's Damon and BoT were excellent, and I'd love to see what would happen to Midnight Sun Moscow in a barrel. It would be fun to try Black Tuesday's base beer as well, but on the other hand, I don't think it's a mystery why the base beers for the Bourbon County and Eclipse series have never been widely available.

The European BA stouts are usually more balanced than their US counterparts. The flavors is often very bold, but for the most part, they're aren't barrel bombs. While I can't say much about most of the Scandinavian brewers, and Mikkeller is really hit or miss, probably because they're gypsie brewers, De Molen's Hel & Verdoemenis and Struise's Black Albert are massive beers. You may not like their charred, burnt qualities, but they are big and bold imperial stouts, meaning the base beers are able to hold up against the barrel aging. It may also be that European brewers don't generally barrel age their stouts for overly extended periods of time.

To answer your question, you're definitely not alone. In the end, it comes down to personal tastes. If you like barrel bombs, then you'll find more beers for your palate in the States. If you like more nuanced barrel aging with a bigger base beer presence, then you might find some enjoyable stuff in Europe. For me, I find the Hel & Verdoemenis series and Black Albert's offsping much more my style than the Bourbon County or Eclipse series. Probably because I'd rather drink a Black Albert or a Hel & Verdoemenis than whatever base beer was used for the Bourbon Counties and Eclipses.

tl;dr = You're not alone, but many don't share your tastes.

Jeff

 

Dr. Jeffo has spoken.
This thread may be closed now.

 

http://beeradvocate.com/community/posts/598852/

 

Seems right from what you've said and Jeffo's description. When I look at my reviews, e.g., Black Albert vs Bourbon County, I liked both, but gave higher marks to the Black Albert based on complexity of the flavor profile and lower marks to the Bourbon County because it was dominated by the Bourbon. As you and he say, different tastes.

 

Stuff here is pretty sweet. Over there is pretty ashy and certain other complexities depending on the yeast strain. I know this is generalizing but people seem to prefer sweet, under-attenuated, barely carbed stouts in the US so I can see why a lot of Americans might think Euro beers are inferior.

Personally I think people over-hype BCBS. It's certainly not my favorite BA stout. Probably wouldn't put it in my top 10.

 

I do not know. I never drank an imperial stout. Now I'm drinking a The kernel export stout london 1890 6.7
I have had too many Italian craft beers that for me were the exact opposite of what was written on the label

 

Right up there^