What's Worth Drinking

Seriously, what goes better with football than beer? Let’s be honest, watching a four hour pregame show and a game that’s nearly just as long can make you pretty thirsty. So today, in honor of the Super Bowl, I’ve got two awesome brews from each team’s home state lined up to represent their teams in our own pregame taste off. Football is a tough sport, so these aren’t going to be just any wimpy, watery, kick back-and-relax beers, both of the brews we’re taking on today have the strength and impact of a 300 pound lineman.

Brew #1: Sprecher Black Bavarian Lager

I wanted to start off with this brew for a couple of reasons. First, because it’s a lager, which many people would not expect to be the beer that would follow the kind of introduction that I just gave it, and second, because it is a dark beer, yet another point of confusion about lagers.

When many people hear lager they think of the crisp, clean, mildly flavored stuff that is so common for the style. However, all the term actually indicates is the type of yeast that was used during fermentation. Lager yeast generally is associated with fermenting at cooler temperatures, at the bottom of the fermentation tank, and for longer periods of time than those for ales. It’s true that these conditions yield a crisper, cleaner product, but it is not always light in color. Depending on the roast of the malts that are used in the brew some lagers may be pale, amber, brown, or in case of our first brew, black.

Sprecher’s Black Bavarian, which comes from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a hearty lager coming in at just under 6% alcohol and 32 IBUs (see Sunday Suds #2 for more information on international bitterness units). It’s made using five different malts (chocolate, caramel, and black, most importantly), and balanced by four different hop varieties, including Cascade (used for its citrusy, floral aroma) and Chinook (a more bitter, herbal tasting variety).

The aroma is dominated by deep tones of dark chocolate, intense alder smoke, and a dried fruit tone reminiscent of prunes or plump raisins. There is also a subtle caramel and espresso tone that is revealed with a spin in the glass.

Very roasted on the palate, this brew is absolutely dominated by alder smoke flavors. Dark and chewy, the palate shows subtle tones of black pepper, dark chocolate covered raisins, and cappuccino. This is a deep, complex, and evolving brew with tons of density and depth. It’s dark and rich, with sweet, creamy malt and nearly no perceptible bitterness. The darkness of the smoke and chocolate tones is elevated to a new level by the taste of plump raisins. This is a very impressive, well balanced, and simply delicious brew.

Worth Buying. 91 points.

Brew #2: Victory Brewing Co. Storm King Imperial Stout

Our second brew comes from Victory Brewing Company in Downington, Pennsylvania. It’s an Imperial Stout made from imported two row malt and domestically grown, whole flower hops.

What separates an Imperial stout from a traditional stout is its intensity. Imperial stout, like Imperial porter, Imperial India Pale Ale, or Imperial Märzen, etc, is much more concentrated and dense than the original version. Imperials are typically made with a higher amount of malts per water ratio, allowing the wort to reach higher levels of sugar, which following fermentation equates to more alcohol. To balance all this malty goodness a greater amount of hops are generally added as well, combining to make Imperials incredibly rich, intensely flavored beers, usually with a high level of appealing bitterness.

This beer’s appearance immediately catches my attention, with its dark chocolate to black color and massively thick, nearly impenetrable and lasting burnt marshmallow colored head. Densely sweet and malty on the nose, this brew initially shows notes of dates and dark raisins mixed with a subtle smokiness and a touch of coffee. Something slightly herbal and woody, almost like a rosemary bush, seems to also be hiding in this massively dark and complex brew as well.

Smooth and incredibly rich, the palate is dominated by bitter tones of coffee beans and cacao nibs. Almost burnt, charred smoky tones appear on the mid palate and last into the finish, with incredible depth and density. This is a heavy beer on the palate, with a rich, creamy foam and tons of flavor. There is an almost savory, food like quality to this beer, and it’s a pretty impressive effort. It’s very dark, charred, and unapologetically bitter in the charming way that a double espresso or 85%+ cacao chocolate bars can be, but it’s nicely balanced by cream and dried fruit tones that make it all come together very nicely.

Worth Trying. 90 points.

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What’s your Super Bowl prediction?