The Forum

If Ebenezer Scrooge was frightened into the Christmas Spirit by a se­ries of three ghosts, then trust me when I say that this mystical ale could knock the “Bah Humbug!” out of just about anyone. I am proud to have the distinct pleasure of introducing you to Dark Lord Imperial Stout, by Three Floyds Brewing Co. in nearby Munster, Indiana. It is a rare treat as an annual re­lease, but it is well worth the long wait in line during the April festival. Make sure you bring along a sober driver (and perhaps an exorcist) wherever you sam­ple this one.

For those of you that haven’t had the pleasure of traveling to Three Floyds Brewery and Pub, I strongly recommend you do so. They are known to produce over 30 great micro-crafted, regular and seasonal beers on tap, and another doz­en or so of the best ones from around the country as a demonstration of their confidence that their beers and diverse menu of delectable accompaniments are truly world class.

This style of Russian Impe­rial Stout was created in an attempt to please the Russian Czars of the 19th Century, and to make the trip from Eng­land to Russia its ABV was maxed out (usually 8-12%), even occasionally by fortification. The hoppiness of such a beer (measured by International Bitter­ness Units, or IBU’s for beer nerds) can vary from minimal (25IBU’s) to quite aggressive (50 IBU’s), this one even surpassing the latter with 55 IBU’s.

From the breaking of the beer’s seal, (the bottles are sealed with wax for visual effect and added freshness, the 22-ounce bottle seemed to fill the entire room with its dark and overpowering aroma, even seeming to absorb the light in the room. (I believe the lights even dimmed for a moment.) We stared into the mysterious Stout’s opaque, motor oil appearance for several minutes. The reverse cascading, which is the oppo­site of what happens when you pour a “normal” stout, confirmed that we were beginning a long and ominous journey. Its aroma wreaked of thick, dark molas­ses, delivering a strong and pungent li­quor punch into our noses. This liquor was a strange combination of the most potent Greek Ouzo, Norwegian Glögg, and British Brandy that I have ever tast­ed. A spicy Turkish coffee muck also helped to overwhelm the senses. When we finally did muster up the courage to try it, the heaviest, roughest, velvety mouth feel with a balanced carbonation simply dominated our senses.

As we anticipated a very dark, un­sweetened, bitter, chocolate sliced into the palette with an aggressive hoppi­ness, characteristic of American rendi­tions of this style. A very heavy dark oak flavor took over toward its dry fin­ish, perhaps concealing the spiciness we anticipated from its nose. The flavors were bold from the very beginning, but as our glasses gradually warmed, this radically intensified. My palette was even growing quite weary near the end of this “session”.

If you are among the chosen ones and this beer looms outside your door with its dark, empty hood and dragging chains, sample at your own risk. You have been warned.

Chris is a 3L and can be reached at fo­rum@valpo.edu

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm and is filed under Etcetera.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.