Favorite Big Beers

[bierman2000]

Favorite Big Beers and you may choose more than 1.

[Kiltlifter]

Unfortunately, I've only tried two of those on the list. So I voted for my favorite of the two.

Now ... if I could add Dick's Grand Cru to the list my vote might change. :p

[tony]

Dogfishhead make a very complex but very drinkable stout called WORLD WIDE STOUT excellent!!!!! 18% alc. by weight or volume I can't remember, but who cares! it is a great beer. spendy but worth it.

[Richard English]

18% ABV? Are you sure? That's sherry strength!

Most stouts hover around 5%; strong ones like Lion (Sril Lanka) are just over 8%.

Very few beers exceed 12% since most beer yeasts stop working around that level. Only a few specialist yeasts work past 15% and wines like sherry are, of course, fortified with pure alcohol so as to achieve their high alcoholic content.

[JorisP]

Yes, 18%! and more
The new World Wide Stout is at 23% ABV.
SImilary, DFh brewery has turned out a Raison d'Extra, a 21% ABV version of their already famous Raison d'Etre, American interpretation of one of the many Belgian styles (genre Gouden Carolus).
Cheers, Joris

[Richard English]

Amazing!

I'd have thought the strength would have overwhelmed the flavour.

I assume the beer is fortified since I've not heard of a yeast that will work up to 23% (though with new hybred I suppose anything's possible).

Do you drink this in sherry-size glasses...

[JorisP]

I loved the 18%, unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to taste either 23% or Raison d'Extra.
FYI, a small English brewery has brewed a beer at 26% (if I remember well, called Roger and Out), with help from the technical university of Sunderland (Dr. Keith Thomas). Yeast is based upon Champagne-yeasts.
In the USA, there's also Sam Adams with the Millenium version of the triple Bock...
Cheers, Joris

[tjthresh]

What is the point of brewing somehing that when finished doesn't taste like beer? Personally, I think that anything over 12-15% abv is overkill. Ideally, I think a good barleywine should be around 9-10% abv.

As far as Triple Bock and Millenium go, they are just nasty.

[Richard English]

Quote "...(if I remember well, called Roger and Out), ..."

Roger and Out is brewed at the Frog and Parrot in Sheffield and is strong, but not that strong. Unless it's been changed it weighs in at 16.5% ABV and for some years has been the srongest beer brewed in the UK.

The Frog and Parrot is a well-known brewpub and I can confirm that the beer is very tasty and still tastes of beer and not of some other kind of drink.

When last visited the pub, drinkers of Roger and Out were given a certificate with each drink to prove their consumption. The first certificate was clearly printed; the second slightly fuzzy and the third definitely blurred. I didn't try past three!

[bierman2000]

Have to go with the idea of how much alcohol is too much. It get to be a contest at times and yes the complexity of the beer is almost like a port or something that is really not beer-like. Samichlaus was at 14% and pushing the envelope. The World Wide Stout is smooth and dangerous and should be enjoyed very slowly.

[mountain beer]

I have read about dogfishhead in a magazine--Is that in Maryland? The article stated that they were almost in a competition with sam adams to try to get the highest ABV. Next time i go to the beach i'll have to stop by.

[bierman2000]

They are located in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Yes they make Big beers and they have been going back and forth with Sam Adams concerning ABV for about 2 years now.

[Glarus]

Indeed, the Dogfish head Worldwide Stout (fro 2002) is 23% ABV. You can read more about it at the brewery's website (http://www.dogfish.com/beer.html). They actually claim it is 23.04% ABV, and that it is the "world's strongest dark beer." They also mention that they use 6 different yeast strains... some of which I am sure are champagne yeasts, like Sam Adams uses with their Triple Bock.

Interestingly, the Triple Bock is only ~17.5% ABV according to the brewery, I don't know how many people saw their Millenium Ale, but that weighs in near 20% ABV. I still see it occassionally, but at over $100 for a limted edition 750mL bottle, I've never had the desire to buy one. Has anyone out there tried it? :)

Then there's the Sam Adams Utopias MMII. Supposedly, it's a whopping 24% ABV. I've never seen this one, though according to this site (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/news_read/173/) it's been out for a year or so.

Personally, I'm not too big on BIG, extremely alcoholic beers. While I enjoy wine and some liqueurs (besides beer), I've never found these heavily intoxicating beers very pleasant. I guess that's in part because to achieve such a high alcohol level, these beers use lots of sugars, and oftentimes taste rather cloying to me. Oh well, to each his own, right?

[Wkiml]

Sam Adams Mill.

I was tempted myself to try it until I inquired at the local store, which told me i would need to buy 6 bottles at over $100 a piece.
the minimum order they could place was 6 bottles and they wanted to guarantee that they could move it. I passed on the chance and haven't seen it since.

[pubscout]

Any discussion of big beers is incomplete without mention of New Jersey's Heavyweight brewing Company.

You can visit the site at www.heavyweight-brewing.com.

If you've never had Old Salty or The Hammer, your beer experience is incomplete.

[hnrblbrbrn]

At $600 a six-pack does a serving wench come with it? :D That's too rich for my blood but it does make the $10-$12 six packs look like a bargain.

[fretlessman71]

Yes, these beers are indeed using a new strain or two of yeast that is able to withstand the higher alcohol levels. Personally, if you're really after something STRONG, consider bierschnaaps instead. It's at 40%. Sierra Nevada distills their pale ale to make it. I haven't had the guts to try it just yet... maybe I'll get brave soon.