Great Waters The Apocalypse

Formerly brewed at Great Waters Brewing
Style: American Strong Ale
St. Paul, Minnesota USA

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

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CASK: Dark Brown Coloring with Red Hue. Fair Amount of Alcohol on the Nose. Rich And Syrapy with Hop Notes...Heavy Mouthfeel...Alcohol Tingle...Heavy Malt, Oats...Drying Malt and Hops on the Aftertaste.. Overall a Raw Big Beer with Simplicity. Leaves Promise that With a Little Tweaking, It Truly Could be the Apocalypse.

This beer is a dark brown copper, somewhat murky. Topped by about a quarter inch of light tan foam, the head sticks around for the duration. Good webby lacing. Strong hoppy aroma - bitter citrus and chlorophyll. The flavor is exceptionally hoppy - bitter and green and even harsh. I understand that this was something of a kitchen sink brew, including smoked or peated malt. I taste no malt. But I do taste plenty of alcohol. Too boozy for me. Medium body, light carbonation. I would have liked more balance, more body, and more fizz.

You certainly wouldnt guess that this has 10% alcohol in it, I couldnt taste it much at all. Served in a snifter, you feel important while drinking it if nothing else. It does sneak up and wack ya after just a glass of this stuff, could put you on the floor after a couple...

On tap at the brewpub in St. Paul. Dark copper color - served at 52 degrees in a snifter - off-white head, thick and creamy. Aroma is minty and fresh. Flavor has hints of caramel, brief citrusy notes, spearmint, underlying nuttiness. thick and creamy mouthfeel. Very good.

The waitress described this as an IPA, but I think she was wrong. This beer is served in a snifter. It has a thick khaki colored head over the opaque brown beer. There is a light, floral hop aroma. The flavor has a hint of sugar, but is dominated by bitter hops. This is also quite strong in alcohol, but its presence is felt more than smelled or tasted. I see what they are going for but it just doesn’t work out. The bitter hops are overpowering but there is not good hop flavor like in a bitter ipa. With some refinement this could be a world class beer. Thick and heavy on the palate. A good effort that needs adjustment.

Cask. Light brown color with a thick head. Nice aroma of sweet malt and oats with some alcohol waiting to smack you in the face. The malt takes a turn to the bitter side for the taste. Syrupy body thickens it up a bit. Not too complex and a bit of an American/British identity crisis, but pretty good.

On-cask at the brewpub and served in a 10oz tulip snifter: Clouded bronzey gold, darker in the center then the edges. Medium cap of bubbly off-white foam which stays intact for great length. Lacing is placed all over the glass in thick strings. Aroma is fairly hoppy and boozed up with juicy citrusy stuff of lemon, orange, and lime and a malty, light caramel, whole grained backing. But the boozyness is over riding many aspects of what could be one decently complex nose. Taste, unfortunately, has the same characteristics of the nose with a big citrafied hoppyness of lime, orange, and lemon juices punched with a big hit of warming alcohol and backed by a slight malty sweetness of grains and bread. Too warm too quick. The booze slaps ya quick and the hops pucker there after with much citrusy bitterness and warmth thats seemingly unbalanced and out of place the whole way through. Big on warmth, soft on flavor, medium in body, with a cask texture thats fitting, but the warmth is too much as its hoppyness. Strong Ale? You bet your ass it is. Very strong and quite hoppy too. This almost seemed like a IPA triple at first. This was not an easy drinker to say the least. The snifter took me forever to finish, or so it seemed. Chalk this experimental brew up for a tweeking and pass me a Volcanus Red.