Central Waters - Satin Solstice Imperial Stout

Today I'm going to crack open this bottle of Satin Solstice Imperial Stout from Central Waters Brewing in Amherst, Wisconsin.  This brewery has produced some great brews, and Steve and I have just grazed the surface of their line-up.  Most recently Steve tasted their Mudpuppy Porter, which sounded pretty tasty.

The label is yellow, bland, and boring.  Very little information is available on this brew - a short description on their website is about it.  According to BeerAdvocate, the brew is 7.5%ABV.  Bottled on date is end of January 2011.

The beer is a dark brown, almost black, that does let a tiny bit of light through, and builds about half an inch of tan head.  The aroma is mellow, with roasty chocolate notes and sweet malts, and some dark fruits in the background.  The taste starts with grainy chocolate malts, really gritty.  Then those flavors are overshadowed by bitterness (and maybe some alcohol?).  The bitterness hangs around briefly, and then towards the end the chocolate roast flavors come back, along with some bitter coffee and toffee.  Carbonation was a little higher than I'd prefer, giving the beer an odd body that's sticky in the throat, but leaves a 'lighter' impression.  There is also a strange aftertaste in the stickiness that is pretty unpleasant, a sort of rusty-tin-can flavor.

Overall Rating:  This wasn't great - one of my least favorite brews from Central Waters so far.  Not a bad beer by any means......I finished the glass.  But it was really average for an imperial stout, and not something I would actively seek out again.

Central Waters - Mudpuppy Porter

Tonights review is courtesy of Central Waters Brewing Co. out of Amherst, WI.  Dunz reviewed their Illumination Double IPA a little while back and found it to be a fantastic brew.  There was a lot of buzz around the city when this Illumination beer was released but I never heard a lot about the rest of their line up.  When I was making my six pack the other day I decided to throw in this Mudpuppy Porter and see how it holds up against the buzz around Central Waters.

The bottle label is standardized across all Central Waters brews.  Aside from their limited releases, all of their bottle labels, that I've seen at least, are yellow with a unique picture that depicts the name of the brew.  Since this porter is named after a mud puppy there is a picture of a strange looking lizard in the middle of the label.  I'm not entirely familiar with what a mud puppy looks like but Ill assume it has four legs and looks like a lizard.

The color is lighter, relatively speaking, than most other porters I've had.  Its almost a dark brown when held up to the light.  Roasted, dark fruits are the first noticeable aromas.  The flavor is more of the same.  A mild yeasty quality blends in with a muted roast and coffee flavor.  The finish is bitter, partially from the hops but I think its more from the roasted grains.  Very smooth and easy to drink.

Overall - This has turned out to be a nice session porter.  The roast character is present throughout the brew and not overdone.  A nice fruity quality from th yeast balances out the roastiness.  A good quality porter, I'd pick up a six pack next time I'm in the mood.

Central Waters - Illumination Double IPA

Tonight I'm going to be drinking a brew from Central Waters Brewing Co. This brewery was founded back in '98, and is located in Amherst, Wisconsin.  They have a cool section on their website that includes some "Recipes of the Month", recipes for food that in some way incorporate (their) beer...worth a look if you're the culinary type.  This Illumination Ale is a seasonal brew, available only in March and April.  For some reason, they don't even list this brew in their 'Beer' section, which is a little odd.  You brew and distribute a beer, but you don't bother to add it as an offering on your own website.... either their web-manager is a lazy asshole, or this is a super-top-secret classified beer.  What's your money on?

The label on this bottle is a contrast print with a green hop flower in the middle - simple and well-done, looks good.  The label also indicates this is a 9%ABV DIPA.  The beer is a slightly cloudy dark golden color, with a sturdy half inch of white head that holds onto the lace.  The aroma is fumagous, with grapefruit taking primary role, along with some pine and lemon zest.  This beer smells awesome. 

The flavor begins bitter, with resiny pine starting things off.  Then comes some grapefruit and lemon peels.  After that, an herbal, earthy sweetness appears on top of a lightly breaded malt backbone.  That sweetness helps balance out the beer, and prevents the hop profile from getting overly bitter to the point of harshness.  The body is medium, texture oily, but the carbonation is high which helps lighten the load of oily resins in the back of my throat.  Alcohol is vaguely apparent, but remains a distant afterthought to the rest of the flavors. 

Overall Rating:  (5.0 out of 6.0)  This DIPA was bitter and destructive to the palate, but I loved it.  Central Waters put together a brew that full-filled my craving for big hops, without overdoing it.  I can't honestly say it was balanced....it wasn't.  But the hop profile was awesome.  Hopinistas, go find this beer.