I am bad at not ordering stouts

So, as promised, and despite snowmageddon 2010, my friends and I made the sojurn to Max's on Broadway. Tragically, I forgot that today starts their Belgian beer festival. This meant that their usually superb tap list was down from 80-some to about a dozen.

Luckily, they also have an extensive bottle collection. I was trying to find Rogue's Black Lager, but they were out. Luckily, they had another beer that I've been wanting to try - Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout.

It's pleasant and boozy upfront, with some nice roasted notes and what tasted like some bitter chocolate. The nice part though was the finish, which was smooth coffee. The beer poured *dark*, and even the head was a dark chocolate brown, rather than the usual tan head.

Oddly enough, it pours from a can, but was surprisingly full bodied and delicious. I felt like for an Imperial Stout, it was nicely drinkable, and didn't try to overwhelm me. Definitely a nice beer to have when hanging out and having a beer or two with the friends.

And when I say a beer or two, I mean it - that bad boy weighs in at whopping 10.5% abv, although you'd never know it from the taste. Speaking of mightily boozy beers...

I can't help myself. I swore I'd never spend $12 for a single bottle, but well, there I was. They had the entire Brew dog Paradox line. Paradox is a stout that is then taken and aged in a variety of different whiskey casks to get different flavors. I'd had the speyside before and was suitably impressed, but this monster blew me away.

I asked for a reccomendation and received Brew Dog Paradox Smokehead. The smell hits you - boozy and smoky. A little thin on the mouth, but you barely notice it, because you are drinking what can only be described as an unholy union of whiskey and beer.

There are other flavors - peat, smoke, things like that. The overwhelming flavor though is a smooth whiskey taste. It should surprise no one that this beer is a 10% abv beer, and damn you can tell it. It is rich and complex, and one of the more interesting beers I've tried. This is a sipper for sure, not something you can really drink with anything else if you want to appreciate it.

Was it way too expensive? Heck Yeah. But it's a bar, and bars as a rule are way too expensive. Was it worth it? Absolutely. It was one of the more innovative and interesting beers I've ever tried, and I am thrilled that I had the chance to try it.

Now, I'm going to go back to my stomach flu and wishing for the sweet release of death. Hopefully you're all having an excellent snow week without too much cabin fever. See you all next time!

-The Unabashed Ungourmet