I was wondering what your all thoughts are of this MD based brewery. Never had any of theres, but some look interesting. Colossus, Retribution, Sweet Baby Jesus, etc. I hardly ever see anything posted on here about them (that probably says a lot).
I've had a couple decent barrel aged offerings from them. I've also had one or two of their regular beers that were ok as well. Nothing mind blowing but decent in my opinion.
Of what I have had (which isnt everything by any means) their rye chocolate imperial porter (Exile 1) is my current favorite beer they make followed by Retribution. I am anxious to try their newly released vanilla and cocoa vanilla versions of retribution but holy shit they are priced high. Colossus is an experience. It is a huge sticky, cloyingly sweet beer but has a lot of interesting character in my opinion. We jokingly call it the beer version of "boilo." Again...priced quite high at over $30. Repent is sort of a mini belgian version of colossus and priced more reasonably at $10. Their other offerings arnt bad but those I mentioned above are the only ones I find myself returning to buy. My experience with their hoppy offerings has not been the best, i find them to be very malty or overly sweet. Perhaps just an off experience, next time i see them one on tap ill have to revisit.
As stakem said I have also at least heard about how expensive some of their new BA stuff is. Anywhere from $13-30. I was buying OA Black Jack Stout a ton last year because it was under $8 and really awesome. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1924/28036
They have been hit or miss with me as well. As DuClaw is local (at least back when I lived in Baltimore), I tended to try most of their beers when I saw them on tap over at Max's (who at one time or another, have had almost all of the DuClaw beers on tap or in bottle). Most of their beers have struck me as no better than so-so, though every one in a while I'd come across a gem (the Jack Daniels barrel aged BW, for example). Beers like Colossus, Repent and Divine Retribution, while interesting, are clearly just not my style. DuClaw's high alcohol, barrel aged beers tend to be very sweet and boozy, and that's just not something I appreciate. The IPA's and DIPA's I've had from them have all been "mehhhh" beers for me. Some of the Exile beers have been interesting... some not so much. At least IMHO, they are not one of the better regional breweries in the Mid Atlantic.
I have posted this before, but I feel that DuClaw is hit or miss (mostly miss) for me. I do have friends that love everything they put out though. Their beers are just too sweet for my tastes. Couple that with their pricing model, and I pass on DuClaw regularly. The DuClaw beer I enjoyed the most was the Black Jack Stout Aged in Whiskey Barrels (mentioned above). That was a solid beer, but I only decided to buy it because it went on sale.
I thought Retribution was awesome, and also enjoyed Sweet Baby Jesus. Bad Moon Porter was just okay for me. Haven't had anything else yet.
Liked: - Retribution - BA X-1 - Sweet Baby Jesus - Devil's Milk (with 2+ years age) Neutral - X-4 Macchiato milk stout Hated: - Euphoria - Serium
Only had Retribution, which I thought was good but not exceptional, and Sweet Baby Jesus, which I thought was ok but disappointingly dry for a peanut butter beer. Reviews seemed to suggest Reese's in a bottle which it most decidedly was not.
I'm a fan. Loved X-1, Double Naked Fish, black Jack, Oak aged black Jack, barrel aged x-1, Retribution, Hellrazer and Venum Sweet Baby Jesus is different, I really liked it, but one bottle is enough I hated X-5, whatever the hell that lemony concoction was supposed to be. But for the most part, I have not been dissapointed
I can't say enough good things about Retribution and Double Naked Fish. Plus I throw in an SBJ as one of a few extras in all my trades - just for the novelty of that beer.
Their beers are good to OK. I haven't been wowed by anything but when at one of their locations the Euphoria is a decent sessionable brown that goes well with dinner.
