Here's a question for all you readers:
What do you consider the most "extreme"--oh, sorry, "EX-TRE-E-E-E-E-ME!!!!!!!!!!!!"--beer you can find in this region, or that I would have a prayer of finding or getting someone to bring/send me?
For this discussion, I am narrowing "extreme" to three categories:
1) High-Alcohol. The highest alcohol content without distillation or adding alcohol. Nominees include Sam Adams Utopias at 25+% (is it still for sale anywhere?), DuClaw Colossus at a reputed 23%, Dogfish Head 120-Minute IPA at 20%, Dogfish Head World Wide Stout at 18% (the original batch was reportedly 21-22%), and a couple out there around 17% (Mikkeller Black, Sam Adams Triple Bock, etc.)
2) Hops. I'm looking at a couple 100-IBU beers--Lagunitas Hop Stoopid, Avery 13th Anniversary, Three Floyds Alpha King.............. and a 225-IBU beer to be named later.............
3) Crazy Ingredients. Let's see........ Dogfish has a TON of such insanity, including the probable winner, Pangaea with ingredients from all seven continents........ Flag Porter, with 1825-vintage yeast from a shipwreck...... Chiostro, and Italian beer with wormwood........ Avery 16th Anniverasary, with jasmine, peaches, and honey....
Nominees?
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10 comments:
Since IBUs and tons of hops no longer seem to have an effect on my palate (though they still smell wonderful), I'd have to say the big ABV beers are at the top of the extreme list for me. So in this region, it's gotta be DuClaw's Colossus.
See, this is what happens when you overdose and abuse such substances...... <:-)
For hops I would go with Hop Wallop
Sad but true.
Some of the "extreme" brewing techniques seem a bit too hokey for my tastes. And yes, this includes some of the beers coming out of Dogfish Head.
I just heard that the Utopias are coming out again. But at $150-200 a bottle, I'll skip it.
I have a bottle of Colossus in the fridge, no idea what it's like because I haven't had the occasion to open it.
High IBU, not really to my tastes but you might be able to get some to take an empty growler up to Philly to find a nice bartender who will fill it with some Pliny.
Strange Ingredients? Other than dogfishhead, that one has be a bit stumped.
Caederus, the Colossus is on the order of a liqueur. More to follow.
My real grouse with the Utopias is that at least $50 of that price goes into the %*&#)!#@ bottle. If they were ever to release a plain-bottle discounted version of that stuff, I'd at least think about it. Also, I'm told a lot of the bottles end up more as gifts and rewards than as actual sales, and that keeping the price high and supply low really is just a way to add to that prestige and publicity. I'm certain that a lot of the people who bought the Utopias bottles at Max's were less appreciative of the beer itself than just the opportunity to flash money and buy a crazily expensive--THE most expensive--beer in the nation, and knowing about Jim Koch's marketing skills, I'm sure that's no accident.
I think my vote would go to Pangea (that had a whole lot going on in it), but another suggestion might be Manhattan Project from Brooklyn Brewery.
I suggest the peak organic espresso amber. Take the fact that it's espresso AND an amber ( almost always porters or stoudts are coffee flavored beers ) and then throw In the double whammy of beans and beer made organically. Add the fact that it's very, very drinkable and it seems an enigma.
Does #2 in your beer count as extreme?
Mikeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel-Imperial Oatmeal stout brewed with one of the world’s most expensive coffees, made from droppings of weasel-like civetcats.
The Beer Geek Brunch would certainly be up there.
I had 2 within the past week which I would consider extreme.
The Bayshore Oyster Stout ("Exit 1") from Flying Fish and the insanely overpriced ($30 - 12oz bottle) Atlantic IPA from Brew Dog. That one's extreme not only due to its price, but because of the aging process. (if you want to even call 7 weeks "aging")
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