BIG American Double Imperial Stout goes to the test... with a Dane coming to the top!

In the grand scheme of things, when it was time to have a good old Russian Imperial Stout... I know I could sit back and relax, enjoy some good simple ABV and enjoy the malty and sometimes big goodness. Then I realized stouts could also be big in ABV beyond my comprehension.

Enter two big giants ready to do battle on the American Double Imperial Stout beer war. Here we have Mikkeller Black (17.5 ABV), in it's standard form (don't get me into all those wax capped bourbon aged barrel variations of I could only dream about tasting..), against... an evil looking incarnation... a very silverly looking devil of it's own from Avery brewery... Mephistophele's Stout (ABV 16.8).

I tasted and compared both of these. This was great for a nice winter day as snow has been falling of late. Strangely enough, I actually prefer these high ABV concoctions to other big carbonated beers with lower ABV. Sometimes sipping these is like imbibing a great wine. One was truly great indeed! Can you guess which one?

Only way you can find out is watching below! (or try them both yourself!)

Cheers!

Going into battle with three Russians... the fun way!

As the winter comes closing in, there is nothing much more enjoyable than drinking an imperial stout in the comfort of your own home. Warm and embracing, while the cold rages on outside, you can feel safe in its big embrace and darkness. Fireplace desired... but optional...

I went all out and decided on a three way Russian Imperial Stout battle between three different breweries all of which I have had good beer from and I consider good makers. The first was Avery's The Czar Imperial Stout from Boulder Colorado. It is one of their dictator series brews. The second was Oskar Blues from Colorado and their Ten Fidy, and last was Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout.

After having these I wish I could somehow breed and marry the best and remove the weak spots from all these beers to make the perfect stout. It seemed like you could genetically engineer a real good stout from all of these three.

Here is how the tasting went. Cheers!