1. Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon (Norway): An imperial stout with 16 percent alcohol (at $25 a bottle), this baby set the pace for a new wave of Scandinavian beers.

2. Goose Island Matilda (Illinois): A surprisingly authentic Orval Trappist ale knockoff.

3. Stoudt’s Smooth Hoperator (Downingtown): Maybe the best new Pennsylvania beer since Yards reformulated its Philadelphia Pale Ale: a hybrid, hoppy double bock.

4. Avery/Russian River Collaboration Not Litigation (Colorado/California): Two small brewers with the same brand name (Salvation) mixed their suds and produced a singularly outstanding Belgian-style strong ale.

5. Dogfish Head Red & White (Milton, Del.): Huge, fruity layers of flavor in a Belgian-style white beer that’s been doused with pinot noir juice and aged in wine barrels.

6. Schneider & Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse (Germany/New York): Another collaboration, this one matching yeasty Bavarian wheat goodness with assertive American hops. *

One is a pale beer that began its life as a traditional India Pale Ale but has been fermenting, first in a French oak barrel that formerly held zinfandel, now in an American oak cabernet barrel. When he puts it into corked, Champagne-style bottles just before Christmas, he expects it to be over the top: 10 percent alcohol by volume (a strength approaching that of table wine, which averages 12 percent), with notes of wine and oak and vanilla. Alderete wants it to be a beer to savor slowly, perhaps after dinner with chocolates or a cigar.

The other two beers in barrels are equally unusual: a 13 percent imperial stout that will be aged six months in a port wine barrel and a German amber aging in a French oak cabernet barrel. The amber is about 5 percent alcohol, the same as your basic Budweiser, but in a different world of flavor and intensity. Bud, for example, is aged less than 30 days in stainless steel on a layer of beechwood chips. Bud, like most beers, is meant to be consumed fresh. Alderete’s beers and others like them are the opposite. Aging blends the flavors and the beers mature just like good wine.

Those beer sound like they would be interesting to taste. On of my favorite more expensive beers is Brooklyn Breweries Local 1.

The most expensive sixpack in America

Samuel Adams Utopias (Massachusetts), $140 for 24 oz. ($5.83 per ounce).
Lost Abbey Cable Car (California), $30 for 750 ml ($1.18 per ounce).
Russian River Supplication (California), $14 for 375 ml ($1.10 per ounce).
Avery Mephistopheles (Colorado), $12 for 12 oz. ($1 per ounce).
Church Brew Works Quadzilla (Pittsburgh), $20 for 22 oz. (91 cents per ounce).
Allagash Interlude (Maine), $19 for 750 ml (75 cents per ounce).

6 great high-end bargains

Sly Fox Rt. 113 IPA (Royersford), $5 for 22 oz. (23 cents per ounce.
Southampton Imperial Porter (Long Island), $5 for 22 oz. (23 cents per ounce).
Rogue Chocolate Stout (Oregon), $5.50 for 22 oz. (25 cents per ounce).
Ommegang Abbey Ale (New York), $8 for 750 ml (31 cents per ounce).
Weyerbacher Heresy (Easton), $7 for 22 oz. (32 cents per ounce).
Stone Vertical Epic (California), $8 for 22 oz. (36 cents per ounce).

Since his experiments began, his spending on beer has doubled and, he admits, only half of his combinations are drinkable. “I’m learning that you don’t mix an ale with a lager,” Klem said. “I’ve learned that most flavored beers don’t mix well with others. I’ve learned that you only mix a few ounces of each.”

but they then go on to talk about Avery Brewing an Russian River Brewing combining two beers.

Two small breweries, Avery Brewing Co. in Colorado and Russian River Brewing of California, this year combined and bottled their Belgian-style ales that coincidentally were both named Salvation. The resulting beer, named Collaboration Not Litigation Ale, was recommended on beer Web sites, and the brewers had to make three times as much as they had expected because of demand.

I think I trust the brewers to do the mixing rather and me experimenting on what tastes good.

As you can see there was a large turn out from the local brewers

Capitol City Brewing Company, The District Chophouse and Brewery, Wild Goose Brewery, Clipper City Brewing Company, Great American Restuarants, Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery, Hook & Ladder Brewing Company, Shenandoah Brewing Company, Gordon Biersch Brewery and Restaurant, Fordham Brewery, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Old Dominion Brewery, Pilsner Urquell, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Cristal, Cusqueña, Aguila, Boston Beer Company, Sierra Nevada Brewing, Harpoon Brewery, Brewery Ommegang, Magic Hat Brewing Company, Paleewong Trading Company, Anchor Brewing Company, Dogfish Head Brewery, EX. Matt Brewing Company, Abita Brewing Company, Allagash Brewing Company, Victory Brewing Company, Rogue Ales, North Coast Brewing Company, Belekus Imports, Premium Distributors, Captial Eagle, Inc., and Global Brewers Guild.

I didn’t have as many beers as some of the people I was there with but my personal beer list was

Clipper City’s Loose Cannon

Ommegang’s Hennepin

Brasserie Lefèbvre SA’s Blanche De Bruxelles

Brouwerij Riva SA’s Lucifer

North Coast’s Red Seal

Cusquena

Dog Fish Head’s 60 minute

Clipper City’s Oxford Raspberry

Sweet Water’s American Pale Ale Thanks Nick for the end of night fill my glass beyond the sample line.

Rob Tod from Allagash Brewing and Vinnie Cilurzo were on hand to talk about the wonderful selection of beers they brought from with them for the tasting.

Rod on the left and Vinnie on the right
The Happy beer tasters
Vinnie
Both the Allagash and Russian River Breweries brought a wide selection of Belgian style beers. In total there were 11 samplings, 5 from each pub and a special JW Lee Vintage Harvest Ale from 1999 in a real cask.

Allagash Brewing Company brought

Tripel (9%)

Dubbel (7%)

Interlude (9 1/2%)

White (5%)

Curieux (11%)
Russian River Brewing Company brought

Damnation (7 -7 1/2% depending on if it is in a bottle)

Salvation (9%)

Diefication (7%)

Perdition (6.1%)

Temptation (7.25%)

Overall my favorites were the Allagash triple, a nice fruity beer, the taste comes from the yeast rather than adding any fruit. The Allagash Interlude which had a smooth tart taste. Finally the Russion River Temptation which has a lovely wine taste.