Dark Beer Night - With Pictures!

I put a ton of time and effort into my beer collection and once every winter I host a "Dark Beer" tasting so I can enjoy some great beer and laughs with my close friends.

Last night was the 2007 dark beer night and 8 of us had a great time. Here is a list of what we sampled:

From left to Right – BeerAdvocate Score, Top 100 Ranking (if applicable), Beer, Year, ABV

95 (2) Three Floyds – Dark Lord (2007) 13%
94 (3) Founders – Kentucky Breakfast Stout (2007) 10%
93 (9) Deschutes – The Abyss (2006) 11%
93 (10) Stone – Russian Imperial Stout (2004) 10.8%
93 (11) AleSmith Brewing Co – AlesSmith Speedway Stout (2007) 12%
93 (14) Péché Mortel (Imperial Stout Au Cafe) (2007) 9%
93 (15) Founder - Breakfast Stout (2007) 8.3%
92 (24) Goose Island – Bourbon County Stout (2006) 11%
91 (63) Oskar Blues – Ten Fidy (2007) 10%
91 (82) Saint Arnold Divine Reserve #5 (2007) Alcohol Not Listed
90 - Dogfish Head – World Wide Stout (2003) 18%
88 - Saint Louis Brewery – Schlafly Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout (2006)
10.5%

Here is how I would rank the top 5 best of the night:

1. 2003 Dogfish Head World Wide Stout - Absolutely amazing, we drank it second to last and it still blew the others away after all that drinking.
2. 2004 Stone Russian Imperial - We drank it first but it stood out all night.
3. 2007 Dark Lord - Excellent as always
4. 2007 Alesmith Speedway Stout - Like all of the others this one is hard to get but worth it.
5. 2007 Goose Island Bourbon County Stout - Would have ranked higher but it needs a little time as it was just bottled 10/12/07

We were feeling pretty good towards the end but decided to finish the night with a DFH 120 from 2006 and a DFH Golden Shower Imperial Pils. :thumbs:

I'm jealous! Some great beers there. The Speedway Stout is one of my favorites. I've got to find some of that Dark Lord brew!

Nice Line up! World Wide Stout is an awesome beer!

That is a cool idea...wish I live closer!!!!

Originally Posted by newcigarz

Nice Line up! World Wide Stout is an awesome beer!

Yeah I knew it was good but I never would of guessed it to be the best of the night. A few years really does something special for that beer.

Damn, how do I get on the list?

The beer you setup for us to try at the Denver Charitable herf was amazing!!!!!

That truly is an amazing lineup, but next time I want to see some Mikkeller X, Kaggen Stormaktsporter, Surly Darkness and Barrel Aged Speedway! Step it up man!

Dude! You have some great taste in brew!

120 Minute is my favorite.

Had *a few* Sam Adams Winter Lagers tonight and I have to say this years batch is one of the best they've produced.

Nice selection of stouts there! I'm beginning my first forays into dark beer and finding my way through it. Thankfully I live in Oregon, so there's no lack of local microbrews to try! But wish I could get some of those East Coast brews that I see here all the time just to compare against the locals.

I'm interested in the Russian imperial stout. Sounds delicious.

That sounds like an incredible evening. My fridge is lacking currently and I've never really aged any brews...I might start though

Heading to the Liquor Store tomorrow to stock up for Christmas week. Unbelievably they still had Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale the last time I was there (2-3 weeks ago). If they still have it I'm picking some more up. Very good stuff.

I'm going to look for the Dogfish Head World Wide Stout and Stone Russian Imperial while I'm there. They have a large selection of both breweries.

Originally Posted by yourchoice

That sounds like an incredible evening. My fridge is lacking currently and I've never really aged any brews...I might start though

Heading to the Liquor Store tomorrow to stock up for Christmas week. Unbelievably they still had Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale the last time I was there (2-3 weeks ago). If they still have it I'm picking some more up. Very good stuff.

I'm going to look for the Dogfish Head World Wide Stout and Stone Russian Imperial while I'm there. They have a large selection of both breweries.

Yeah the SN Harvest Ale is good stuff. The Stone RIS came out a while back but some stores still have it in stock. From what I understand the new WWS just came out as well, I can't wait to try it fresh.

Originally Posted by jquirit

Nice selection of stouts there! I'm beginning my first forays into dark beer and finding my way through it. Thankfully I live in Oregon, so there's no lack of local microbrews to try! But wish I could get some of those East Coast brews that I see here all the time just to compare against the locals.

Oregon is a great place because you have Deschutes! The 2007 Abyss is about to drop so make sure to get a case of that so you can drink some now and age the rest.

Originally Posted by JRedner

That truly is an amazing lineup, but next time I want to see some Mikkeller X, Kaggen Stormaktsporter, Surly Darkness and Barrel Aged Speedway! Step it up man!

Damn boss I think we have ourselves a beer geek! I did get to sample the Darkness at this years GABF and it was good but not knock my d*ick in the dirt good. Did you see what a bottle of it just sold for on Ebay??? LINKY

BTW, are you a fellow BA?

Originally Posted by jcarlton

Damn, how do I get on the list?

The beer you setup for us to try at the Denver Charitable herf was amazing!!!!!

Consider yourself invited to the next one!

Oh, that beer at the herf was the 2007 Double Bastard and I agree it is freaking tasty.

Damn boss I think we have ourselves a beer geek! I did get to sample the Darkness at this years GABF and it was good but not knock my d*ick in the dirt good. Did you see what a bottle of it just sold for on Ebay??? LINKY

BTW, are you a fellow BA?

Yeah I hit up BA fairly regularly. Same user name. But, I am more active on ratebeer. I missed GABF this year because my wife was pregnant, but I'll be back on track next year!