I believe I've hit my abv "wall."

Strictly Utopias, it's a sort of minimum threshold.

 

It's a good point. To be honest, you need to be doing something pretty special to make it worth going past 12 per cent.

 

Is your threshold flavor vs. sh*tted? (I have no idea why I substitute sh*t when it comes to crucial vowels in words...besides the point...)

When it comes to the higher alcohol (15%+) brews, to get the ABV to that level and still retain hop crispness is d@m (there I go again!) impossible. I much prefer a hop bomb but granted, I agree, a maltier beer lends itself to more complexity and I really enjoy that as well. But, there's alot of other non-hop forward beers out there well under 15% with really nice complexity. I really dig (now there's an atiquated term, almost as bad as "groovy") There's a myriad of beers out there well under 15% that are complex but because of the malt bill are not enjoyable because the booze masks the complex and subtle nuances.

 

Mephistopheles is the highest abv distributed beer I've had and i enjoyed it.

The highest abv beer I've had was an 18% imperial stout from some homebrewers near me. I enjoyed that as well. I still haven't reached my limit

 

Chocolate Rain at 19.5%ish was excellent in my opinion. Smoked BCBS in my opinion. Haven't had anything higher than that that was any good yet. Got some Utopias sitting in the cellar though...

Dope

 

I don't believe I've had anything higher in ABV than Black Tuesday, and I fucking love Black Tuesday.

 

Utopias is always nice (27%). Struise has a few fun beers over 20% (Special Kay, Double Black, 5 Squared). Black Tuesday and Chocolate Rain (~19%) are great.

I'm drinking a bottle of Monster29 from Dark Horse right now. At 17%, it's pretty good. I'm always down to try something over 15%.

 

I was "timed out", please refer to my response above before I get flagged for bad hippy grammar.

 

Stop thinking and just drink

 

Out of all the high-ABV beers I’ve had, Black Damnation V does the best job of being the highest-ABV beer that still tastes like beer. Utopias is only a couple ABV points higher but definitely drinks more like a port/brandy. Black Damnation V is stupid though – it drinks easier than most other double-digit ABV beers.

 

I think that around 10% it begins to lose its beer-ness. I.E. to much alcohol bite

 

Dogfish 120 and WWS are two favorites of mine, typically around 18% abv. I thoroughly enjoy Utopias as well, as I have had the last 3 releases, all at slightly climbing abv levels. I tried Sink the Bismarck at it was hot, but the flavor itself, was a bit off putting. I don't think abv should be your determining factor, it's all about flavor and your enjoyment of the brew.

Cheers

 

Uncle Jacobs was amazing.

 

'Aven't 'ad anything stronger than 18.0 abv Oi 'aven't. Dogfish 'ead 120, WWS and Raison D'Extra.

 

Bcbs has high abv but you don't feel like your drinking something with a big boozy mess, I love it.

 

Completely agree with this. After trying Utopias, and not being a huge fan, I thought Double Black was a lost cause. Opened mine a few weeks ago and loved it. Amazing how well it drank for the extremely high abv. Try going after this beer before setting your ABV limit!

 

I just personally want to thank you for putting the period on the inside of the quote.

 

I've found that more malt forward beers tend to win over overly hopped ones when you're getting up around 15%+ in ABV. Sink the Bismarck is my highest 'had' beer at 41% and it was rough goings. The hop/alcohol mix was alot to deal with.

I've found malt forward beers in the 15-19% range to be exquisite and complex for the most part, and the alcohol seems to compliment rather than blend poorly with the alcohol.

 

I tend to hold the minority view but I don't typically like beers with a high abv (My favorite beer is 4.7%). I used to drink Eliot Ness regularly in the Summer until I started realizing I always seemed to get buzzed after a couple. When I discovered that the abv was 6.2% I stopped buying it and now when I want a Vienna Lager I buy Brooklyn or Boston Lager. I do love Porters and fortunately most of the ones I like are under 6%. Once in a while I like to have IPA but that style isn't even close to being a favorite. The one category of high abv beers I make an exception for is Belgian Strong Dark Ales. They taste so amazing that I don't mind going into a stupor for one of them.