The explosion of craft nanobeers should be changing this. The nanobrewers are putting out a lot of high-gravity, high-ABV beers in 22oz bombers because that's the only way they can keep their margins healthy. They can't afford to have their kettles brewing a 5.5% beer that would sell for $7 in a bomber, they financially have to brew the 9.5% IPA and the 10% milk stout year-round and sell them at $9-12/22oz.JL21 wrote:I've become a total junkie for high-ABV stouts and porters, and I know I won't be able to find this stuff from April through October.
For my money (and a lot of people's) Pipeworks is the best of the best in the Chicago area. Take a look at their batches last summer. In July, which was punishingly hot, they were cranking out milk stouts and double stouts and double IPAs and other big big beers. Most of their mid-August run was different imperial stouts. I've been begging BeeJay and Garrett for months to bottle up some pils or more saison beers and they politely decline every time due to the financials of it.
That's a plus for those who like the big beers--I'm kind of hopped-out and have a hard time getting excited for the next 9% Double IPA from anyone, but I do love big imperial stouts pretty much any time of year. It's also a drawback for those who want to see the adventurous brewers in their area crank out something lighter.
Edit to add: also, FWIW, imperial stouts are the rare kind of beer that you can store and age. Sour beers, barleywines, some strong ales. But if you find a really good imperial stout that's seasonal, if you have a cool dark place you can store it, it will hold beyond the typical 3-6 months that a beer is good for. By dark, just make sure it's literally dark. Put it in a box or cover it with a blanket or something. When beer skunks, it skunks due to being lightstruck, and that happens in a matter of minutes. It doesn't matter how long the beer is held, it matters how much light it's exposed to, so while it happens fast it can happen at any time or not at all. Make sure no light hits it so that you reduce the risk of it skunking. The only other risk you run in storing a stout is a Trans-2-Nonenal spoilage that happens when beer is old and gets oxidized, making it smell and taste like wet cardboard, but that's rarely an issue w/ a well-made imperial stout.
