Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's Narwhal Imperial Stout (2013 Ed.)

Hey readers. Perhaps you feel my beer reviews have been a bit repetitive. I know they've felt a bit redundant to me. I'm a metal connoisseur but a relative amateur in the world of beer. That said, it's silly of me to repeat the same basic set of terms for these reviews while I'm going all over the place with my music reviews. A good brewer has just as much artistic integrity and passion as any musician, so I'm going to try to spice my beer reviews up a bit in honor of the fine folks who have committed themselves to their craft.

Narwhal strikes me as a great beer to use for a renewed attempt at writing great reviews, because it's a fantastic take on one of my favorite styles of beer. The aroma's rich and textured, with multiple accents playing off each other. There aren't any peculiar or groundbreaking changes on the typical imperial stout formula, but this is a very well made beer in that it's a full experience. The liquid is thinner and the flavor is smoother than I would have anticipated, making for a surprisingly easy sipping dark beer despite its heavy nose and ten percent alcohol content. Grab a four-pack of this at your favorite beer retailer--it's Sierra Nevada so it should be pretty widely available.

Brux Domesticated Wild Ale (Russian River/Sierra Nevada)

Today's chapter of the Black Metal and Brews saga focuses on a beer that was purchased for nostalgic purposes. I may have mentioned in the past that I lived about a thousand feet from the legendary Russian River Brewing Company when I was twenty-one years old. My minimal knowledge of beer didn't prevent me from visiting and drinking many a delicious brew at happy hour. In fact, I give great credit to those folks for helping nourish my rapidly growing love and appreciation for beer. Sierra Nevada, too, was another brewery that stood out for me as one of the most consistently enjoyable breweries that I could find readily available at most beer retailers. Now that I live across the country, finding a beer with the Russian River name is almost impossible. I guess I have Sierra Nevada's distribution capacity to thank for this beauty finding its way into my possession.

This collaborative Belgian-style ale is intended to be a beer that can be kept and aged in the bottle, but I'm enjoying it after a mere two months of ageing here in my home. The flavors are light and citrusy, with elements more typical of a cider or champagne, although without the fizzy nature of the latter. Do not interpret the subtlety and lightness for simplicity though, as this beer has a lot more going on than the average lighter beer. As the label indicates, these flavors grow and shift over time, so it's no surprise that there are already many subtle hints of spices hiding throughout each sip. I find this to be perfectly representative of my enjoyment of beer itself in relation to these two timeless breweries. I almost feel that we've all grown together as beer drinkers and that this is a byproduct (yet by no means a culmination) of many years of happy drinking. At 8.3% alcohol by volume, this is certainly a beer I recommend sharing with a friend, which is (once again) perfectly related to the friendship that brought about this beer's creation.

I'm not sure if this is going to be a limited or permanent release, so I recommend jumping on this treat as soon as you're capable. As the flavors are intended to change over time, I urge you to grab at least two bottles so that you can experience the beer's growth as your own palate expands. Perhaps we'll all check back in on this one in a year or two and compare notes.