Barrel Aged Naked Evil BBW

Brewer: Hoppin' Frog Brewery, Akron, Ohio
Alcohol Content: 11.3%

Official Description from Brewer:
"Aging in oak barrels added a memorable richness, that we seek to achieve with this barrel aged Belgian-style barley wine-style ale. Being the ideal celebration beer to release on our 5-year anniversary, Barrel Aged Naked Evil is fermented with both British and Belgian yeasts and aged in whiskey barrels for a lightly spicy twist on this old-world beer style. Sweet malt flavors will become smoother and rich dark fruit characters will build with time, to add a wonderful complexity and depth of flavor."

Wilk's Take:
I procured Naked Evil during WiseGuy's "Rare" beer sale.  I am not particularly sure why I let the bottle fester in the depths of my refrigerator as long as it did, but last night I cracked it open.  Naked Evil by far is unlike any other beer I have ever tried.  This does not mean it's the best, nor does it mean it's the worst, just very unique.

The label is an unassuming black and white description of the beer itself and the impetus behind why it was even brewed in the first place.  The abbreviation in the name stands for Belgian-style Barley Wine.  A word of caution: if and when you decide to investigate this beer further, do not Google the word naked and BBW in the same line without being very specific.

Naked Evil poured a rusty orange color and the smell was reminiscent of the English style barleywine I previously encountered by Heavy Seas: sweet, richly sweet.  The difference here is that Naked Evil was aged in whiskey barrels and much like with any bourbon beer brewed today the sweetness of the whiskey is pronounced in every way.

At 11.3% this beer knocked me around quickly.  My last beer, Black Sun by Three Floyd's, was a stout with 50 IBU and reminded me of a black IPA.  This beer labels 48 IBU and I wasn't able to tell if hops had been included at all.  Any bitterness that was added in the process disappeared over time.  I never found a beer that tasted nothing like beer until I met Naked Evil.

Suggestion: Not sure if you can find Naked Evil any more because it was a 5 year anniversary release.  I was fortunate to snag a bottle and am thankful that I did.  If you are lucky enough to find it, grab it and drink it near a fire, because that's what it feels like you should do.

Value: I purchased the bottle for $25 at the rare beer sale and if you read this blog regularly you might know that I have another two bottles in the beer cellar.  Maybe they'll be worth more some day.  But letting them age could also alter the taste, so maybe we'll run that experiment later.

Michelle Factor: Michelle is a little under the weather and is opting out of a lot of great beer.  I even mentioned Naked Evil's lack of "beerness" and she still said no.  Maybe next time.

Black Sun

Brewer: Three Floyd's Brewing Company, Munster, Indiana
Alcohol Content: 6.5%

Official Description from Brewer:
"Black Sun has a nose of coffee, roasted malts and piney hops. This medium bodied stout has a broad depth of maltiness and a clean dry finish. "

Wilk's Take:
Here I am doing something I vowed never to do: write a full review of a Three Floyd's beer.  Sure I dabbled in little paragraphs here or there, but to take the approach on a full bomber?  The rationale behind never doing a full review came from the fact that there are far too many Three Floyd's apologists in the world.  Believe it or not, these guys can make mistakes.  Sure they have the best beer in America, but that doesn't mean all their beers are the best beers in America.

As is well documented on this blog I love stouts.  I can't seem to get enough of them and would drink a bomber everyday if my liver would let me.  Black Sun is no exception.  When I pulled back the cap and heard the carbonation escaping the bottle, I could detect the coffee and roasted malts before the cap could clink on the counter.  The undercurrent of hops was oh so subtle that upon first whiff you never would know they existed.

Black Sun did not pour thick.  Three Floyd's labels it a medium bodied stout, but on shear liquidity alone you could almost use the word light instead.  Curiously though, there was significant lacing on the glass as I drank so there is some staying power here.  The aroma was in full effect in the glass and the hops were more noticeable.  At 50 IBUs Black Sun is not the most bitter beer in the world, but the hops definitely kick you in the teeth.  If I didn't know any better I would say that Black Sun resembled more of a black IPA than a stout, but no IPA has had the flavor as this.

Black Sun is a great stout in its own right and with its hop character can certainly over power any other stout you may consider drinking in the same night.  Its uniqueness certainly requires admiration but no admiration reserved for Dark Lord or even current brewery favorite Zombie Dust.  Although, if you were to line this bottle up next to an oatmeal, chocolate, or imperial stout I'm not sure which would be more intimidating.

Suggestion: In the end, if you are typical a hop head like my good friend Brett, and you are looking to stick a toe in the stout pool, Black Sun is the perfect entry.  If you're a stout head and you want a change of pace, you could do much worse.  This one certainly will be purchased again before the supply runs out (if it hasn't already).

Value: Three Floyd's is very easy to come by in my neck of the woods and for $8, I would say the value is there.  Then again, I bought it a while ago so I'm not exactly sure it was $8, but since that seems to be average price, I'll risk it.

Michelle Factor: Although Michelle was a champ at B.I.G. Winterfest and downed more beers than I could have ever imagined, she didn't want to give this a go.  She's sick, so her taste buds are skewed anyway

Jimmy Taps Another 1, or 2, or 3, or 4

Is there really ever a thing that can truthfully be labeled a healthy obsession? Health food nuts, exercise gurus, and PETA would certainly advocate there is. Readers of this blog are probably more familiar with the habits that are deemed not so healthy. In the midst of it all, Jimmy Jones straddles the fine line between healthy and unhealthy with an obsession for brewing great beer.

Jimmy is a Hoosier native, transplanted into the western suburbs of Chicago, with an eye for living in the city proper prize. His love of brewing has made him invest in a two bedroom apartment when a one would do. That second room however, filled with nothing but brew paraphernalia, can only be described as Jimmy's very own fortress of solitude.

I was privileged enough to be invited to a party where Jimmy was showcasing a sampling of his latest creations. Yes, creations. Jimmy does not brew one batch at a time (ok, he might I wasn't able to get that specific), but he had a variety on hand that could rival a tasting room. He designed his very own kegerator complete with check valves on every line, a drip pan under the taps, and four taps with a great collection of handles.

For our tasting pleasure we were provided Alicia's Sweet Ass, a cream ale; Red Amerika, naturally a red ale; Hairy Werewolf, which described by Jimmy was an attempt at a Zombie Dust clone; and The Hef, which was an English bitter ale attempt that mystically transformed itself into a hefeweizen.

Alicia's Sweet Ass was a good cream ale. Jimmy admitted he rushed the production in an effort to put it on the line, but you wouldn't be able to tell. I wasn't able to tell. The more refined craft beer palates out there may have been caught off guard by it, but all I tasted was a rich brew with a buttery finish that was a great way to start my evening.

From there I transitioned to The Hef. Wheat style beers are generally not my thing but I did enjoy the brew. My first reaction was a bit of sour and I conveyed that to my host. I was wrong in that notion however, for when I went to get a second pull it wasn't sour as much as it was tart. The beer had great flavor and was more potent than most of the other hefeweizens I've had, but I was not quick to get another glass (my second pull was a quick drink at most).

At halftime, as a thank you for bringing a bottle of Three Floyd's Baller Stout, Jimmy poured me a glass of Jolly Pumpkin's Baudelaire IO Saison. Do you like funk? Mr. Jones certainly liked his funk. A word like funk though brings to mind old gym socks, armpits without deodorant, or flaming cheese at your favorite Greek establishment. Baudelaire IO was infused with rose and hibiscus and with the beer under your nose you get both. Oh yeah, you get the funk too. It's almost like you opened a pack of SweetTarts, but not really SweetTarts. Before I lose you, imagine fresh fruit but in tangy form. It's bold on the first sip and then mellows to a fruity, yeasty blend that makes drinking a bottle an exercise in ease.

From here, I grabbed a shot of the Zombie Dust clone. As an aside, Zombie Dust is flying out of the Three Floyd's warehouse. Once they offer cases for sale, they are gone in short order. My host even mentioned that Zombie Dust is, "the best beer on the face of the earth." I didn't exactly share his sentiment, but it is a damn good beer. The clone however, reminded me more of Three Floyd's Pride and Joy, an equally hoppy experience but loaded with the taste of sliced grapefruit.

The last pour of the night was Red Amerika. The pride in Red Amerika was that it was a 9% beer that didn't taste like a 9% beer. Oh boy was that an understatement. With a long drive home ahead of me, I was very careful as to my beer intake. When I met Red Amerika though, I indulged a little. It was an amber, and I'll even go so far as to compare it to an Imperial Red (because you can put Imperial in front of anything these days) and I like the reds. It was bold, but smooth and akin to Southern Tier's Big Red, minus the hops.

Home brewers take immense pride in their beer and Jimmy is no exception. Given the means he will make a great brewmaster one day. It's unfortunate he took his skills to Illinois because the Hoosier beer scene would welcome his talents. Passion and pride are always a better ingredient to beer over barley and hops. As evident also at the B.I.G. Winterfest, home brewers are just like the bigger boys but with less capital. Brew on Jimmy, brew on.