Brewed By: Hoppin' Frog Brewery in Akron, Ohio
Purchased: Bodacious 22oz bomber bought at Binny's in IL; 2012
Style/ABV: Russian Imperial Stout (Oatmeal Imperial Stout), 9.4%
Hoppin' Frog is a
"small, hands-on brewery making very flavorful beers in the most
flavorful beer styles." The brewery was founded by owner Fred Karm in
2006. The dude looks like he means serious business, and he has been
brewing specialty beers since 1994. Karm came up with the concept of
Hoppin' Frog, and has designed and produced 21 award winning beers at
the Great American Beer Festival and World Cup. As Ali G would say:
"Respect!"
I have to wonder if Karm is a fan of the Melvins. Wait, let me backtrack. Who is Boris? Boris is that big Russian dude who shows up to your party, uninvited. He's a big guy, and he's probably in the mob. He drinks all of your vodka, and doesn't clean up his shit. He is a total fucking asshole. You just want to throw the dude out, but you know he will kick your ass, and then get the mob to kill you. What a prick.
Boris is also an ambient/noise/experimental metal band that hails from Japan. And their name comes from this song by the Melvins: Boris. Boris truly is the crusher. The song Boris is maybe in my top 10 songs ever, and it's certainly in my top 5 heaviest songs ever.
The
song is crushingly heavy, and the inspiration for the band Boris. If you haven't been pulverized by Boris,
check the song out.
Okay, okay, enough with the Boris tangents. Let's talk about the beer. Hoppin' Frog's B.O.R.I.S. actually stands for "Bodacious Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout." Yup, this is a Russian Impy brewed with oats. This beer has taken home gold medals at the 2008 and 2011 GABF, and is in the top 50 Russian Imperials on Beeradvocate. The beer is described as deeply roasted and full-bodied, with a robust hop character to balance everything out. Clocking in at an impressive 9.4% ABV and packing 60 IBUs, this is a big Oatmeal Stout. So let's turn on the song Boris, and pour B.O.R.I.S. into a glass and see how it crushes.
I've had this beer out of the fridge now for around 50 minutes, and I'm guessing it can still warm up a bit. There was some smoke when I popped the bottle cap, something I forget to mention with many of the beers I review these days. The pour reveals a pitch-black, dark as night beer, with a pinky's worth of dark brown, coffee-colored head. The head doesn't hang around for very long, but there is a nice cauldron effect on my beer. When held to bright light, the beer is still super dark, with maybe some hints of brown. There are huge alcohol legs on this beer, and some sticky lacing when I swirl it around.
When I popped the bottle I was greeted with an aroma of wood, brandy, and malts. This beer is super raunchy, and has a giant malt profile. You get a huge sweet oat malt on the nose, some booze, big sweet, delicate chocolate, caramel, some of that meaty Imperial Stout aroma (it reminds me of mushrooms and steak), a hint of wood and roast, and some hints towards dark fruit. There's also a touch of vanilla that is bouncing around on the aroma.
I've had this beer before, and yeah. The taste on this beer is fantastic. The palate depth on this beer is A+ stuff. The duration of this beer on your palate is incredible; I took my first sip, and some 20 seconds later I'm still experiencing waves of chocolate and roasted malt. The body of this beer is basically perfect, with that medium-full to full mouthfeel, and HUUUUUUGEEEE palate depth. It's incredible stuff.
Really, let this beer warm up. We are going on an hour here, and I still think this beer can get a bit warmer. I'm pulling out HUGE malt sweetness in this: giant pieces of chocolate, cocoa nibs, big roasted malts. There's a sweet oat note in here, along with some sweet caramel, and you pick up on some booze which adds a nice, subtle, liquor/brandy note. Big roasted malts hit on the finish, with some campfire and tasty goodness. I'm also getting some coffee in here, likely from the roasted malts. Really though, what makes this beer so incredible is the HUGE palate depth. This beer really brings the big malt flavors. (As I dig a bit further, I'm pulling out just a touch of hops, with some hints of floral/citrus bitterness, but the hops really take a back seat to the huge malts in this one).
This is incredibly smooth, fairly complex, and very drinkable for the style. At 9.4% ABV, you do get some booze in the mix. It's not overly boozy, and if you do age this beer, I'd probably see how it is holding up after 2 years or so. Again, the palate depth is huge, with each sipping occupying 10-20 seconds of flavor. This is medium-full to full, and something you want to sip on. The fullness combined with the huge palate depth give the beer some "chewiness," which is a good thing for the style. But the oats smooth things out. Up front is some roast, huge sweet malts, and then some brandy/booze...this rolls into a middle of dark fruits, sweet malts, more intense roast...the back end is roast, some campfire/smoke, and lingering blasts of chocolate and cocoa nibs. There's also some hop notes that come and go. OMG this is ammmmmaaazzzinnnng!
I'm feeling a Decent Divine Brew on this. This is really a spectacular beer, if not one of the best Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stouts I've had. This beer is amazingly smooth and drinkable, while still retaining a huge palate depth, flavor, and chewiness. The only thing that could amp up this beer would be to age it in a barrel...and it just so happens you can get this beer aged in a barrel. That's likely going to be a purchase in my near future, with the only caveat being the price (around 17-20 for a bottle). But really, this beer here was around 10 dollars for a bottle, and is totally worth it. Each sip rewards you with a long blast of intense flavors, making this the perfect beer to sip on over the course of an evening. Or during the Bears vs. the Packers, like me. I'd pair this beer with a chocolate cheese cake, or a steak with potatoes and mushroom gravy. Or a burger. If you can get this beer, check it out!!!
 |
| The Stallone of brewers! |
I have to wonder if Karm is a fan of the Melvins. Wait, let me backtrack. Who is Boris? Boris is that big Russian dude who shows up to your party, uninvited. He's a big guy, and he's probably in the mob. He drinks all of your vodka, and doesn't clean up his shit. He is a total fucking asshole. You just want to throw the dude out, but you know he will kick your ass, and then get the mob to kill you. What a prick.
Boris is also an ambient/noise/experimental metal band that hails from Japan. And their name comes from this song by the Melvins: Boris. Boris truly is the crusher. The song Boris is maybe in my top 10 songs ever, and it's certainly in my top 5 heaviest songs ever.
The
song is crushingly heavy, and the inspiration for the band Boris. If you haven't been pulverized by Boris,
check the song out. Okay, okay, enough with the Boris tangents. Let's talk about the beer. Hoppin' Frog's B.O.R.I.S. actually stands for "Bodacious Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout." Yup, this is a Russian Impy brewed with oats. This beer has taken home gold medals at the 2008 and 2011 GABF, and is in the top 50 Russian Imperials on Beeradvocate. The beer is described as deeply roasted and full-bodied, with a robust hop character to balance everything out. Clocking in at an impressive 9.4% ABV and packing 60 IBUs, this is a big Oatmeal Stout. So let's turn on the song Boris, and pour B.O.R.I.S. into a glass and see how it crushes.
I've had this beer out of the fridge now for around 50 minutes, and I'm guessing it can still warm up a bit. There was some smoke when I popped the bottle cap, something I forget to mention with many of the beers I review these days. The pour reveals a pitch-black, dark as night beer, with a pinky's worth of dark brown, coffee-colored head. The head doesn't hang around for very long, but there is a nice cauldron effect on my beer. When held to bright light, the beer is still super dark, with maybe some hints of brown. There are huge alcohol legs on this beer, and some sticky lacing when I swirl it around.
When I popped the bottle I was greeted with an aroma of wood, brandy, and malts. This beer is super raunchy, and has a giant malt profile. You get a huge sweet oat malt on the nose, some booze, big sweet, delicate chocolate, caramel, some of that meaty Imperial Stout aroma (it reminds me of mushrooms and steak), a hint of wood and roast, and some hints towards dark fruit. There's also a touch of vanilla that is bouncing around on the aroma.
 |
| B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher |
I've had this beer before, and yeah. The taste on this beer is fantastic. The palate depth on this beer is A+ stuff. The duration of this beer on your palate is incredible; I took my first sip, and some 20 seconds later I'm still experiencing waves of chocolate and roasted malt. The body of this beer is basically perfect, with that medium-full to full mouthfeel, and HUUUUUUGEEEE palate depth. It's incredible stuff.
Really, let this beer warm up. We are going on an hour here, and I still think this beer can get a bit warmer. I'm pulling out HUGE malt sweetness in this: giant pieces of chocolate, cocoa nibs, big roasted malts. There's a sweet oat note in here, along with some sweet caramel, and you pick up on some booze which adds a nice, subtle, liquor/brandy note. Big roasted malts hit on the finish, with some campfire and tasty goodness. I'm also getting some coffee in here, likely from the roasted malts. Really though, what makes this beer so incredible is the HUGE palate depth. This beer really brings the big malt flavors. (As I dig a bit further, I'm pulling out just a touch of hops, with some hints of floral/citrus bitterness, but the hops really take a back seat to the huge malts in this one).
This is incredibly smooth, fairly complex, and very drinkable for the style. At 9.4% ABV, you do get some booze in the mix. It's not overly boozy, and if you do age this beer, I'd probably see how it is holding up after 2 years or so. Again, the palate depth is huge, with each sipping occupying 10-20 seconds of flavor. This is medium-full to full, and something you want to sip on. The fullness combined with the huge palate depth give the beer some "chewiness," which is a good thing for the style. But the oats smooth things out. Up front is some roast, huge sweet malts, and then some brandy/booze...this rolls into a middle of dark fruits, sweet malts, more intense roast...the back end is roast, some campfire/smoke, and lingering blasts of chocolate and cocoa nibs. There's also some hop notes that come and go. OMG this is ammmmmaaazzzinnnng!
Rating: Divine Brew
I'm feeling a Decent Divine Brew on this. This is really a spectacular beer, if not one of the best Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stouts I've had. This beer is amazingly smooth and drinkable, while still retaining a huge palate depth, flavor, and chewiness. The only thing that could amp up this beer would be to age it in a barrel...and it just so happens you can get this beer aged in a barrel. That's likely going to be a purchase in my near future, with the only caveat being the price (around 17-20 for a bottle). But really, this beer here was around 10 dollars for a bottle, and is totally worth it. Each sip rewards you with a long blast of intense flavors, making this the perfect beer to sip on over the course of an evening. Or during the Bears vs. the Packers, like me. I'd pair this beer with a chocolate cheese cake, or a steak with potatoes and mushroom gravy. Or a burger. If you can get this beer, check it out!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment