WARNING: The consumption of alcohol is the leading cause of inexplicable rug burns on the forehead.

No, this is not another post about me getting epically drunk. I just thought that title was funny. (It was selected from Rob’s Beer Quotes page.)

What it’s actually about is the acquisition of new (to me) and interesting (I hope) beers.

If you’ve been paying attention, you know I’m coming to the end of a three week run of being at work in Boston, which had a very short break in the middle.

Consequently I was able to go across the border already once, and will shortly do so again, and I could (legally, even!) bring several different beers with me each time. Of course I needed to make the effort to find some beers that I wanted to try. (As an aside, I have discovered that I am no longer the sort of person who can sit in a hotel room and do a comparative beer tasting by myself–while I want to try all these beers, I feel compelled to take them home and do it in a proper social environment with friends around.)

This batch is what I took home during the break:

From left-to-right those are:

• a small box of Victory Storm King Imperial Stout–I’ve been hearing good things about this Pennsylvannian beer for a while now, so why not give it a try?
• a small box of Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout from North Coast Brewing. Californian friends have been talking this up for a while.
• a single bottle of World Wide Stout from Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales. Note that this single bottle costs $10US. That’s not why I got just one though–that’s because it’s 18% boozy. It’s pretty rare for me to enjoy beer with a percentage much above 7%, although I have enjoyed Imperial Stouts with rates up to 11%. I’ve been wanting to try this one since early 2005, just to see if it’s possible to make a stout that strong that still tastes good. I have finally managed to find a bottle in Boston. However, I am suspicious, so just one bottle.
• A single, large bottle of Rogue Ales’ Russian Imperial Stout. For some reason this is the only Rogue product I can’t get at home–I can get the foul and offensive Old Crustacean, but not this. I don’t know why.

Note that this particular haul will allow me to check off 40% of my “beers to seek out” list.

Note also that most of these are Russian Imperial Stouts–not a Russian style, but a style originally brewed for export to the Tsars. Because it was brewed for lengthy export journeys, and for drinking in cold climates, it has a much higher alcohol content than the “normal” stout. Sometimes these can be quite good, even at alcohol levels that would frighten me in any other kind of beer…

The Wikipedia description of the style says “The colour is very dark, almost always opaque black. Imperial stout exhibits enormously powerful malt flavours, hints of dark fruits, and is often quite rich, resembling a chocolate dessert.” Sounds good to me.

Now I need to figure out what to get this trip.

I’ve already picked up a box of Sierra Nevada Stout to try, and based on some sampling I did at the Sunset, I might also want to get some Magic Hat Ravell.

And, of course, there’s still the Cadillac Mtn. Stout from the Bar Harbor Brewing Company on my list. Since I’ll be driving through Maine tomorrow, surely I can find some of that…

And maybe I should get a couple of more bottles of that World Wide Stout… I have a couple of pals I haven’t seen for several months showing up for poker this week, and they both have been known to enjoy a stout…