Flippy Stout: Antares Imperial Stout

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Antares Imperial Stout

Name: Antares Imperial Stout

Served at: Antares Brewpub (Mendoza), bottled version in various bars in Palermo

Brewer: Antares

Type: (Style / mode of delivery) Imperial Stout, draft and bottle

ABV: 8.5%

Label (5): 4

Look-Cs (color, clarity, carbonation, cap, and constancy) (20): 16

Snout (15): 12

Texture (20): 15

Flavor (30): 22

X-Factor (10): 7

Total: 86

If this beer were a holiday, it would be Christmas

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In late December in Argentina, people flock to the major seaside resort town of Mar del Plata to relax for the holidays. Three industrious young friends from this town started a brewery in the early 90s with the goal of rescuing the tradition of craft brewing. Several nice beers came out of this partnership, with the impressive imperial stout topping the list.

The beer pours a dark mahogany brown with a beige thin head, which lasts throughout drinking, with minimal lacing. The snout is very inviting: roasty, sweet, with coffee, pine, anise, cherry in the nose. The taste expands on the smell with a nice chocolatey, nutty flavor.

After two rough days of riding bikes from winery to winery, this beer served as the ideal nightcap for hours spent soaking up Malbec. While it was creamy and rich, the anise like flavor also provided a refreshing twist (much like a Gin and Tonic can be both the perfect summer and winter cocktail).

I've had a tough time coming to terms with the holiday season in 100 degree weather, and this beer made me want to run straight for my xmas stocking.

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The Rating System

The rating system is on a 100 point scale. You will notice that many of the beers I rate fall in the 60-70 point spectrum of the scale. It would be a mistake to compare these scores to "grades" in school-- I certainly would not give Guinness a D+.

I love drinking stout, and I designed my rating system so that in any one beer, if there was a particularly salient, brilliant feature (like the texture of the Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout) it would be highlighted through the scoring system.

Please do not mistake the lower scores for pretension, or a dislike for any specific beer-- all beers rated were tasted at least 3 times, and always solely for pleasure.

The System:

Background information

Name: This should be fairly obvious

Type: The category this beer falls into, such as Imperial Stout, Coffee Stout, Milk Stout, Espresso Stout, Irish Stout, Oatmeal Stout, Porter (!), etc.

Delivery: Can, draft, or bottle. May include information on the bar or location where the stout was imbibed.

ABV: Alcohol by volume. Most American beers are in the 4%-6% range. Stouts (especially Imperial Stouts) tend to run a bit higher.

Rated categories

Label (5 points): How awesome is the label?

Look-Cs: Color, Clarity, Carbonation, and Cap Constancy (20 points): The appearance of the beer is rated. How does the head look? How long does it last? What is the color of the beer? Does the carbonation hold up throughout drinking the beer?

Snout (15 points): You've got the "nose" on wine, I do the "snout" on the stout.

Texture (20 points): Some people call this "mouthfeel." For this category, I am trying to focus more directly on texture, finish, and how the beer holds up over time.

Flavor (30 points): Closely intertwined with texture, but I will try to focus on any specific flavors (especially rare flavors, like carob or hot peppers, present in a beer)

X-Factor (10 points): Do you believe in love at first taste?

If this stout were a __________, it would be a _________.

For those tired with foodie-speak, I will try to lay it right out there. Your own fill-in-the-blank is always encouraged in the comments.