Russian River Sanctification

Sanctification
Russian River Brewing Company
Santa Rosa, California
6.47% ABV
Style: American Wild Ale

C: Cloudy
H: Yellow (almost like urine)
N: Tart Lemons + Funk + Acid = AMAZINGNESS!

The Ferm: Ok, as stated yesterday, American Wild Ales are really hit or miss. Well is there another company in the United States that is slamming home-runs with their American Wild Ales quite like Russian River? In my humble opinion....HELL NO!
Russian River brews some of the finest American Wilds in this country. Other companies such as Upland, Jolly Pumpkin, and Cascade do a fine job as well, but Russian River is a staple of quality and consistency.
Sanctifcation is no exception either. The beer is filled with super tart and sweet lemons. Very similar to a lemon Shock-Tart. This beer infact brings me back to the day when I was a kid and I was searching for the most sour candy available. While I loved finding things that brought a tear to my eye, I would go back to shock tarts as my go-to candy for the time.
Like Shock-Tarts, Sanctification isn't going to make you pucker your lips to the extent that you begin to cry, but it will make you a happy little person with the balance of tart and sweet.
VERY GOOD BEER!
Score: 4.3897551

Imperial Eclipse Stout Elijah Craig Barrel Aged (Purple)

Imperial Eclipse Stout - Elijah Craig (Purple Wax)
FiftyFifty Brewing Co.
Truckee, California
9.50% ABV
Style: Imperial Stout

C: How Clear is Black?
H: Deep Black
N: Chocolate, Bourbon, & hints of Vanilla

The Ferm: WOW, A Perfect Barrel Aged Beer? Maybe not perfect, but this is DAMN CLOSE.
Tons of chocolate with hints of bourbon all though the taste. The mouth feel is fantastic, even with little-to-no carbonation. I would like just a hint of more body, but honestly this is one of the best barrel aged beers I have ever had.
If you have the opportunity to try it, DO IT! Big thanks to JahLove for hooking me up with a taste of this!

Score: 4.90068

Iron Fist Velvet Glove

Velvet Glove
Iron Fist Brewing Company
Vista, California
9.00% ABV
Style: Oatmeal Stout

C: Little Dark to Tell
H: Dark Brown/Light Black
N: Chocolate, Molasses, & Hints of Brown Sugar

Very excited to try something from this rather small brewery from Vista, California. Big thanks to @TheArtofBeer for sharing this dark sexy monster with me.

Dark and Sexy this beer was. The nose was led to hints of dark chocolate and coffee. Pretty standard for an Imperial Stout. The flavor was one of the more balanced stouts that I have had in a very long time! Today we seem to have stouts that are over malty, hoppy, or just have some really unusual flavors....this is not any of those. Nice hop/malt balance. At 9% it hides the alcohol very well...it's almost dangerous. While I personally enjoy the over hopped or malty stouts...this beer was quite a change.

If you can find it, I would recommend snagging it and savoring, while it is nothing special it is a very well made beer!

Score: 3.795

Sierra Nevada Hoptimum

Hoptimum
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Chico, California
10.40% ABV
Style: Imperial IPA

C: Clear
H: Amber-ish in color
N: Strong floral and earthy hop qualities. A hint of sweetness is also present (I assume the malt build).

The Ferm: So far the coolest label this year has to go to the boys in Chico California. Typically Sierra Nevada is boring with their marketing and labels. Hey what works for them works. They are one of the largest craft breweries to date, and they put out some damn fine beers. Hoptimum is a bit of a different story though. Just look at the label art....How Cool!
OK, well the label can help sell the beer but the taste will be what brings people back. It is the season of Imperial IPAs first it was HopSlam & Nugget Nector, then it was Hoptimum and Pliny the Younger. All are amazing (haven't had PtY yet, but I can imagine) but they are all different. So without trying to compare Hoptimum directly to the other three that I have had....yeah that won't happen.
Hoptimum unlike Nugget Nector and Hop Slam seems to be more earthy hop bitterness in the aroma and taste. Very piney and viscous, not nearly as sweet as HopSlam (which I like) and not as malty as Nugget Nector (which I like as well). At 10.4% this beer will kick you on your ass, as it only comes in bombers, and the 12oz. bottles would be a perfect severing of this beer.
Overall a very well brewed beer with a kick ass label.

Score: 4.752

AleSmith Grand Cru

Grand Cru
AleSmith Brewing Company
San Diego, California
10.00% ABV
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale


C: Cloudy
H: Amber
N: Booze Heavy, Malt Strong, and lots of Yeast Odors

Miguel: This one is a gift that Kirk Diggler gave me for my birthday last month.  And as we opened it up we got some more knowledge dropped on us by Fresh Beer Webguy about the meaning behind the name Grand Cru.  That guy isn't a certified Cicerone for nothing.  This particular Grand Cru is of the Belgian Strong Dark persuasion.  A malty nose with hints of caramel in it and an obvious Belgian yeast character.  The taste is a lot of the same with some dark fruit added in.  There is a booziness about it that becomes even more so when it warms up.  While I think this is a solid beer I wouldn't say this is AleSmith's best effort.  They have numerous others that I believe are much more worthy of a name like Grand Cru.

Score: 3.7224

The Ferm: Holy Booze Batman.....this beer is HOTTTT! Tons of yeast in the attack followed by a large amount of dark fruit. But wait....the BOOZE comes back the tail-end of the taste is covered in Booze Burn. Very good beer even though it is hot. I could see this aging extremely well. Overall not my favorite AleSmith beer, but good!
Score: 3.802

Overall: 3.7612