About a year ago, I was looking on the Russian River website to see where I might have a chance of trying their beer on the east coast, and they mentioned a bar called the Hulmeville Inn, located a mere 15 minutes from my parents’ house. At some point I signed up for the bar’s email list, from which I learned of a number of special events that lured us from the city on various occasions. Last Sunday was another Hulmeville event, featuring a number of rare beers on draft and free food set up next to the pool table. Conveniently enough, we had already made plans to go to PA that weekend.
The Hulmeville staff introduced a welcome new feature to the event lineup — 8 ounce pours of all the strong beers! On previous visits, brews with double digit ABVs came in 12 ounce pours only. (Heck, one time the bartender ignored the glass guidelines and gave us a full pint of a 10% beer!) I initially ordered three beers in the small glasses, and then realized that a fourth beer would make for a fine photo opportunity. Check it out — the Black Flag logo made out of beer:
And as for the beer itself, here are reviews of the pictured beers, working from right to left, not that it makes all that much of a difference. Style descriptions and ABV are from the bar’s menu.
Great Divide Chocolate Oaked Yeti. A 9.5% oak-aged chocolate imperial stout. Very smooth drinking beer with a bunch of milk chocolate flavor up front and roast malt bitterness plus a touch of oak in the background. Disappointingly thin mouthfeel, which makes for a letdown in the overall impression. Tried it once, but won’t be likely to try it again.
Ballast Point Victory at Sea. 10% imperial vanilla porter. This is way, way too drinkable for a 10% ABV beer. That’s not a flaw on the part of the brewers, but it’s the sort of thing that could lead to lost time and vicious headaches if you’re not careful. Unlike the majority of vanilla porters I’ve tried, the vanilla has only a light presence in both aroma and flavor. In my experience, vanilla is the sort of flavor that can completely dominate the experience of a beer. In the Victory at Sea, vanilla is nicely balanced by the bitterness of hops and roast malt to make this a smooth and enjoyable beer. The finish is a touch on the bitter side, but not enough to draw away from the overall good experience.
Dark Horse Bourbon Barrel Plead the Fifth. Approximately 12% ABV barrel-aged imperial stout. This was number two on the list of beers we wanted to try, as we had had Dark Horse’s Special Reserve beer a few months earlier and been greatly impressed by it. Plead the Fifth was the clear winner on this day. Fantastic blend of the vanilla and caramel sweetness from the bourbon with the dark roast malt and bitter flavors of the imperial stout. Bourbony sweetness wins out in the end, but not before you get to enjoy a lot of the beer milkshake experience that is oh, so very lovely. Absolutely worth checking this out if you get the chance.
Port Brewing Older Viscosity. 12.5% ABV barrel-aged American dark strong ale. This was at the top of my “To-Try” list for the day, since Port is one of my favorite American breweries. The nose is all vanilla and wood from the bourbon barrels. The same combination dominates the flavor as well, making for a very sweet drinking experience. The earthy flavors of the beer itself hide out in the background and only make occasional appearance. This would be great to serve as two to four ounce pours as an after-dinner drink or as a pairing with dessert. Too sweet to drink very much of this at once. I did buy a bottle to tuck away for a while to see how this mellows out.