Best high ABV beers from small brewery

Mississippi Fire Ant Imperial Red Ale, 8%, 65 IBU, brewed by Southern Prohibition in Hattiesburg, MS.

 

I just had an imperial fruit beer from ellicottville that I thought was well done. Raspberry beret.

 

Just had Blend Part IV from Rushing Duck. At 12% ABV this a Barrel Aged whopper of a beer, and it's full of enough clean flavors and complexity to keep things delicious and not too "hot".

 

Riverhorse Brewing Company out of Ewing, NJ made a 10.5% 20th anniversary ale which I found excellent. They took the bourbon barrel aged version of their Belgian Tripel called Tripel Horse, and blended it with a red wine barrel aged version and added orange and tart cherry. It had a buttery red wine quality, vanilla bourbon flavors with sweet orange and a hint of tart cherry.

Along the same lines, Rinn Duin out of Toms River New Jersey for its second anniversary brewed a bottle conditioned Irish red ale at 8.5% that was also excellent.

 

Just saw no stouts......lol. Damn.

 

To-Ol Ov-ral
Sixpoint Hi-Res
Knee Deep Hop D-Ranged
Smuttynose Smuttlabs Shebang
Other Half Green is for Gs
Avery Maharajah
Knee Deep Hop Shortage
Mikkeller Double Eye PA
Knee Deep Simtra
Finback Auspicious Day
Singlecut Billy 200-Watt IIPA
Flying Dog Double Dog Double IPA
Thomas Creek Up the Creek

 

Abandoned Building does a great Quad and solid Trippel - both in the area of 9%
People's Pint has done a scotch ale that's 8% I believe and was fantastic on cask. They also have an imperial red rye in the same area that's really good.
Many of Element's beers are 8%+ and most are excellent, but cost prohibitive. Their wheat wine, Vernal, is around 11% and outstanding.

 

RD has really been cranking out the BA blends this Summer. Wondering if you've had the chance to try Pine Island Big Brown...a 10.80 American Brown Ale. It's worth the 15 minute or so drive from RD.

 

No, but I sure will now. Thanks for the recommend!

 

Burlington Beer Company: Amber Ridge (12% Bourbon barrel aged Maple Brown ale)

Rock Art: Vermonster (10% Barleywine) and Barrel aged Vermonster (10% Barleywine aged in Maker's Mark barrels)

Queen City Brewery: Monk of Underhill (9.2% Belgian Tripel) and Old Monty (9% Barleywine aged in Chardonnay barrels)

 

I love a good quad. my two fave domestics that i'll probably never try again.

Midnight Sun Venus
Odonata Rorie's

 

Bishop Barrel 13 from Saint Arnold's was such an awesome quad.

 

Jackie O's Nobel Sorrel.

It's an Imperial Brown Ale aged in bourbon barrels for 17 months and is insanely good!

 

The Kraken from Real Ale was probably one of the best Barleywines I've ever had as well.

 

Joseph James 7th Anniversary was an old ale that was really good. 11% aged in bourbon barrels.

 

I second Vermontster! When I'm in VT I always pick up a couple bottles of Vermontster so that I have a rotating stock aging in my cellar. I prefer Vermontster after 6-12 months to let hops mellow some and balance the malts, particularly for the BA version.

 

AleSmith.
Still cranking out the goods:

Old Numbskull
Wee Heavy
Decadance
Grand Cru
Private Stock
Horny Devil

Cheers!

Edit:. Although, I guess you can argue that they are "big" now.

 

Elevation Brewing in Poncha Springs CO is probably the best small "high octane" brewer in CO. Avery certainly takes the cake overall, but I don't know if I'd call them small anymore.

 

Steel Toe in MN has a few all BA from a very small brewery.
Lunker (BW) 14.4%
Wee Heavy 10.95%
Before The Dawn (BW) 13.7%