353. Sierra Nevada Charlie, Fred, & Ken’s Imperial Helles Bock

This is the second in the Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary beer series after the Fritz and Ken’s Ale, and our ninth beer from Sierra Nevada, including Southern Hemisphere Harvest, Bigfoot, 30th Anniversary Fritz and Ken’s Ale, Kellerweis, Celebration, Torpedo Extra IPA, Anniversary Ale 2009 and Harvest Wet Hop Ale 2008.

Charlie, Fred, & Ken’s Imperial Helles Bock pours a crystal clear with a creamy white head. The nose is grainy, sweet, fruity, and slightly juicy; flavors open with dry biscuit maltiness before moving into a clean fruity middle that is also slightly creamy—there are light grape and citrus flavors that verge on pineapple. The finish is sweet, biscuity, and quite bitter, although not very clean—the bigger bitterness may be to cover up residual imperial-style sweetness of the beer. CFK’s Imperial Helles Bock has a medium to heavy body with medium carbonation that bites mostly in the final third. There is a bit of a tang from the bitterness on the palate. A good beer in general; the finish does get a bit sticky, especially after carbonation bite. We’d like this a bit more if it was a bit smaller so that the finish was drier and cleaner. However, they did an excellent job of scaling up the size of the beer while retaining its original characteristics.

From the bottle: “Charlie Papazian and Fred Eckhardt are two of the country’s most esteemed homebrewers and writers. Their influential books and steadfast promotion of brewing culture helped propel the craft brewing movement. Charlie and Fred agreed to work with us on this very special brew in honor of our 30th Anniversary. This Imperial Helles Bock is a testament to the ever-evolving brewer’s art. Bold yet balanced with distinct toasted malt character, moderate sweetness, and clean floral hops.”

From the Sierra Nevada website: “Charlie Papazian and Fred Eckhart are the men who launched a thousand breweries. Their writing on the art of homebrewing and steadfast promotion of beer culture helped propel the craft brewing movement. Charlie and Fred agreed to work with us on this special ale in honor of our 3oth anniversary. This Imperial Helles Lager is a testament to the ever-evolving brewer’s art. Bold yet balanced with distinct toasted malt character, moderate sweetness and clean and floral hops. Enjoy!”

We do wonder about the ever-so-subtle differences between the comments on the bottle and on the website—what led to wordsmithing we see here?

ABV: 8.3%

(6/18/10)

261. Southern Tier Krampus

“Are you naughty or nice?”

Another imperial beer from Southern Tier; we’ve had three other big beers from Southern Tier, including through Crème Brûlée, Mokah, and Jah*va, and we’ve also had Old Man Winter, their Winter Ale. This is their Christmas seasonal, so we are drinking it a little out of season, but there’s nothing new about that with us...

Krampus has a clear copper color with a light but persistent white head. The nose is lightly caramel and grainy, mixed with Chinook hops aroma, giving it some spicey and piney hop notes. Opening with caramel malt flavor in the front, Krampus quickly moves into hop flavor and bitterness middle; there are resin and pine hop flavors before ending crisp and dry with some lingering bitterness. The body is medium with some light tongue curling from the hops, and the carbonation is medium. Overall, not what we expected—Krampus has very few of the lager characteristics we thought we’d find. While it is an Imperial Helles, the hop presence is much larger than any lager we’ve come across. There is a crispness to the finish, but it has the hop and malt balance of an IPA without the syrupy nature of some of the bigger DIPAs and Imperial IPAs. The 9.0% ABV is pretty muted as well; it is not until it gets decently warm that any alcohol flavor or mouthfeel makes its presence known. Interesting and enjoyable, although I’m not sure if we’d pull the trigger on this one again. Bottle number two is still lurking in the back of the fridge...

From the bottle: “St. Nicholas, aka Santa Claus, is a magical figure, the bringer of gifts and an icon of holiday spirit. Forgotten by most is his evil side kick and enforcer of ‘the list.’ European tradition says while St. Nick is busy delivering presents to good little boys and girls, Krampus hands out punishments to the bad. A fanged, goat-horned bully, the Christmas Devil uses sticks and chains to beat the naughty children. Dark malts and aromatic hops create the diabolical spirit of this brew. It is finished with lager yeast and aged cold for no less than 30 days. This Imperial Helles Lager will warm even the darkest hearts. This season, replace the cookies with a bottle of Krampus. If he happens to pay a visit, toast to him with this devilish brew. Merry Kramp-mas to all, and to all a good pint!”

ABV: 9.0%
OG: 20° P

(3/18/2010)