 rkuhnel (980), Eureka, California, USA
May 6, 2008
I have had this on the shelf for six months, and as I approach rating number 900 (this is 899) have decided to pull out some of those bottles I have been saving for a special occasion. I actually enjoyed the 11 theme. From a 22 oz bottle this poured a dark brown with a big tan head and lots of sticky lacing. Nose of sweet and chocolate malts, fruits, nuts, and complex herbal hop aromas. Mouthfeel is thick and sticky. Flavor is complex and interesting. Finish is slightly bitter. Alcohol is well hidden during the drinking, but you know it was there after you are done. I notice this is called an ASA, but seemed more like a barley wine to me.
TikiE (318), Sylva, North Carolina, USA
Jul 26, 2008 Pours a dark brown color with a tan head. Has a nice balance of all the different hops and malts. Is bitter with the taste of syrup and chocolate. The alcohol is well hidden in the beer!
AgentSteve (621), Livermore, California, USA
Jul 25, 2008 Shared by Fidel, pours cola brown with full tan head. The nose and flavor match, both powerful and flavorful, with chocolate, summer fruits like plum, caramel and a slight touch of soy. Very complex and a good experience.
douglas88 (652), Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Jul 22, 2008 Bought in Sams in Chicago. Pours a dark brown body with a small brown head. The aroma is very full; dark fruits, roasted malts and hops. The tatse has everything but the kitchen sink; bitter hops, rich roasted malts, some cocco and coffee beans. Very nice, but kinda too much that didn’t go well together, it needed to mesh more. But overall, a damn nice beer.
Pigfoot (2222), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Jul 21, 2008 Full blown brown is the color, coming close to black, with a lovely, creamy tan head nestled above. Absolutely inviting.
Cocoa controls the aromatics, well balanced, all in tune, nothing too sweet, or too loud, or too anything.
Taste: richness, right from the start, big, malty, thick, a chunk of cocoa and espresso on the side.
11 malts? 11 hops? 11% abv? This goes, it is said, to eleven...and that is as well a reference to Spinal Tap director Rob Reiner? No, wait, they don’t strictly do Jewish references on the label anymore...Stephen Colbert isn’t Jewish...so they’re just riffing on numbers now. Kool and the Gang.
American strong ale? I’d be tempted to call it a stout of some kind, but the vaguer the better...perhaps, in this world of swirling styles we live in.
Big and rich and huge and thundering...all the way to Eleven! That’s something, Nigel!
Really delicious, this...damn, these guys are good, when they want to be...I’m enjoying it...you should too!
L’chaim!
Serving type: bottle
phishpond417 (1162), Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
Jul 21, 2008 This is my kind of beer! It poured a very dark reddish-black colour with a fairly large almond coloured head. Aroma is of black licorice, cold coffee and chocolate covered cherries. The lacing left by the head is resinous, sticky, creamy and layered pretty well all the way down the glass. Initial flavors are somewhat chocolatey, but mid palate the flavor is faintly reminiscent of a barley wine. Roasted malts, burned coffee bean flavor. The finish is long and silky. Aftertaste sticks around in your mouth for a while, so if you try this beer first, make sure you rinse well.
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