Keith the Beer Guy
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 30/1/06
- Messages
- 258
- Reaction score
- 1
Hi everyone,
had the pleasure last night of having a sneak preview of not one but two, soon to be released commercial imperial stouts both created by Shawn Sherlock from Murrays.
"Wild Thing" & "Heart of Darkness"
At a HUB club meeting last night, Shawn (aka Gough) brought in, straight from the tank, samples of both Imperial Stouts. They were a great accompaniment to an informative talk Shawn gave extolling the virtues of using roast in your beers.
The two imperial stouts are very different from each other.
I enjoyed the Wild Thing most (available in the bottle in July) and I am sure I am not the only one looking forward to the latest version of this beer with a great deal of excitement.
Huge hit of citrus hops on the nose and more of the same on my palate. The malt was incredibly rounded, smooth and rich in the mouth given this beer has over 20% roast and has been in the tank for an incredibly short amount of time. My impression is the beer is an excellent example of a big American style imperial stout. My own preference is that I am looking forward to drinking it at some point in the future when the hops have mellowed a bit, but I am sure that the hop heads will enjoy the experience now.
Shawn described the Heart of Darkness to be released July1, only available in draught, as a Belgian imperial stout.
Fermented at higher temperature with a trappist high gravity yeast I found the beer to have plenty of classic Belgian spiciness and big fusel flavours. Very different from Wild Thing the higher alcohols put me off a bit, but I am looking forward to trying this beer when it goes on tap and seeing how a little more conditioning and the carbonation works with the beer.
My thanks again to Shawn for the sneak preview of the beers and his very informative discussion about using roast (don't be afraid of the IBUs!).
And let me say isn't it fantastic and exciting to be a fan of good beer at this moment in time.
Keith
had the pleasure last night of having a sneak preview of not one but two, soon to be released commercial imperial stouts both created by Shawn Sherlock from Murrays.
"Wild Thing" & "Heart of Darkness"
At a HUB club meeting last night, Shawn (aka Gough) brought in, straight from the tank, samples of both Imperial Stouts. They were a great accompaniment to an informative talk Shawn gave extolling the virtues of using roast in your beers.
The two imperial stouts are very different from each other.
I enjoyed the Wild Thing most (available in the bottle in July) and I am sure I am not the only one looking forward to the latest version of this beer with a great deal of excitement.
Huge hit of citrus hops on the nose and more of the same on my palate. The malt was incredibly rounded, smooth and rich in the mouth given this beer has over 20% roast and has been in the tank for an incredibly short amount of time. My impression is the beer is an excellent example of a big American style imperial stout. My own preference is that I am looking forward to drinking it at some point in the future when the hops have mellowed a bit, but I am sure that the hop heads will enjoy the experience now.
Shawn described the Heart of Darkness to be released July1, only available in draught, as a Belgian imperial stout.
Fermented at higher temperature with a trappist high gravity yeast I found the beer to have plenty of classic Belgian spiciness and big fusel flavours. Very different from Wild Thing the higher alcohols put me off a bit, but I am looking forward to trying this beer when it goes on tap and seeing how a little more conditioning and the carbonation works with the beer.
My thanks again to Shawn for the sneak preview of the beers and his very informative discussion about using roast (don't be afraid of the IBUs!).
And let me say isn't it fantastic and exciting to be a fan of good beer at this moment in time.
Keith
