Central Waters Salted Maple Stout Review

Name: Central Waters Salted Maple Stout
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 10.75%
IBUs: 32

Winter continues its icy grip on the Midwest, so leave it to the residents of the region to come up with ways to deal with the cold. Which brings us to Central Waters’ Salted Maple Stout, an imperial stout brewed with, what else, maple syrup. Oh and they’ve also added a dash of salt for good measure.

It’s worth noting too that while writing this article, I’m wearing what many would consider to be stereotypical Midwestern attire, which consists of a red plaid shirt, tan jeans and a pair of hiking boots. Hey, you have to dress for the occasion!

Appearance – Pitch black with a nice foamy tan-colored head. The lacing left behind is on the spotty side.

Aroma – Strong chocolate malt and roasted barley encompassed by a nice maple sweetness that doesn’t come across as too overpowering.

Taste – Dark chocolate and roasted barley start things off before transitioning to a subtle maple sweetness on the back end of the palate, while still maintaining that dark chocolate bitter sweetness. Aftertaste consists of some mild roastiness and a dash of floral hops and boozy heat.

You know, I like this! It’s nice, warm, possess a good flavor and, to top it all off, the price I paid for this was quite reasonable. It’s by no means the most complex imperial stout out there but this one is nice to sit back and sip on during a nice, quiet winter evening.

Central Waters Salted Maple Stout – 8.5/10

Central Waters Glacial Trail IPA Review

Name: Central Waters Glacial Trail IPA
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 5.5%

This weekend is a lightning round in terms of reviews; Meaning that I have a few reviews that are in the pipeline that I'm gonna get out of the way.

The first lightning round review on the list is from Central Waters Brewing with their Glacial Trail IPA. If there's one thing thats not short supply here in the Twin Ports, it's Central Waters amongst other things.

Glacial Trail pours a hazy orange color with a foamy head and some mild carbonation. The lacing left behind is also pretty good.

The aroma has a strong bread/yeastiness quality up front and some mild citrus hop notes along with some toffee malts.

The strong yeastiness also carries over to the flavor, which is also fairly malt forward with toffee, caramel and mild citrus hop notes before finishing with a mild bitter piney hoppiness.

The body is moderate in weight but light in carbonation; Giving it a mildly creamy mouthfeel.

Even though it calls itself an IPA, I feel more inclined to classify this as an English Pale Ale and unbalanced one at that because of the relatively strong yeast and malty characteristics and mild hoppiness. With that said, it's still a decent beer but an unremarkable one at that.

Central Waters Glacial Trail IPA - 7/10

Central Waters Mud Puppy Porter Review

Name: Central Waters Mud Puppy Porter
Style: Porter
ABV: 5.5%

The next beer in my lightning round review session is yet another beer by Central Waters Brewing, this time it's their Mud Puppy Porter.

Contrary to what the name suggests, it is NOT named after an adorable beagle which has been frolicking around in the mud. In fact, it is named after something that is the total opposite of adorable: A salamander that lives at the bottom of muddy river streams.

All I want is a hug!

Mud Puppy pours a Clear Dark Red color with a filmy head with an abundant amount of lacing and a high amount of carbonation.

The aroma is very roasty with roasted barley & malt notes, paired up with chocolate and some floral hoppiness, unusual for a porter to say the least.

The hoppiness is even more prevalent in the flavor with some roasted barley, coffee and chocolate notes. Aftertaste is a bittersweet dark chocolate flavor.

The body is a bit on the heavier side with some mild to moderate carbonation. Not ideal, but at least it allows you to savor the flavors which this has to offer.

It's not perfect but it's roasty, malty and surprisingly hoppy for a porter. Overall I say give this one a shot and decide for yourself; I enjoyed this and I hope you do as well.

Central Waters Mud Puppy Porter - 8/10

Central Waters Sláinte Review

Name: Central Waters Sláinte
Style: Scottish Ale
ABV: 5.2%

Recently I came across a mix-a-six of Central Waters and decided to review the last couple that I haven't tried out as of yet so keep an eye out for the others...when I decide to get around to it that is. The next beer I have from Central Waters is Sláinte, a Scottish Style Ale. Using my detective skills, I found out that Sláinte means "Health" in Scottish Gaelic and is one of the equivalents of "Cheers" in both Ireland and Scotland.

Sláinte pours dark brown color that borderlines on black. The head is brown and soapy in appearance and the lacing is rather abundant.

The nose starts off with a very roasty and chocolate aroma mixed in with some coffee, barley and light toffee.

While the aroma is quite roasty, flavor-wise it's got a surprisingly sweet chocolate taste along with coffee, roasted malts, toffee and even some mild citrus hops! Astonishing considering it's a darker beer and even the aftertaste has a sweet chocolate finish!

It possess a rather heavy body that has some moderate carbonation to it, allowing one to enjoy the flavors without coming off as too intense.

I'll admit I wasn't expecting too much when I got this but it's a malt-heavy, robust and flavorful beer. As such, I would highly recommend trying this out if you get the chance to do so.

Sláinte!

Central Waters Sláinte - 9/10

Central Waters Satin Solstice Review

Name: Central Waters Satin Solstice/Solitude

Style: Imperial Stout

ABV: 7.5%

I find myself in a bit of an awkward position with this review. In a previous review, I mentioned that Central Waters Brewing was responsible for one of the first Imperial Stouts that I had ever had and that I would do a review on it.

Well the good news is that I found Satin Solstice to review! The Bad News? It's no longer called Satin Solstice but Satin Solitude. Oh did I also mention it now looks like this?

Much like Summit Brewing, they underwent a label/branding redesign overhaul on all of their products. So this means that this beer has been sitting around for quite a while and probably a left over from last winter. Being the brave adventurer I am and (possibly) against my better judgment, I have decided to review this anyways. Fingers crossed that it aged well!

Satin pours a pitch black color with a high amount of carbonation along the sides of the glass. The head is fluffly-later-filmy brown in appearance with some good lacing.

The aroma starts it off with some chocolate, coffee, & cocoa notes with some nice vanilla bean, roasted barley and faint hops to back it up. So far it's looking pretty good!

Starting off the flavor are some fairly strong chocolate, coffee, roasted barley, and a slight oakiness. The aftertaste is a bittersweet chocolate finish.

Bodywise, it's pretty moderate in terms of weight but the carbonation packs quite a punch when you consider the style.

Well this was a pleasant surprise, not only did it still taste good but I get the feeling that it's been allowed to age somewhat and it ended up tasting better than what I remember it! Permitting it's not anywhere near as robust like Dragon's Milk but it's still a tasty beer that is definitely worth checking out!

Central Waters Satin Solstice - 8.5/10

Central Waters Ouisconsing Red Ale Review

Name: Central Waters Ouisconsing Red Ale
Style: Red/Amber Ale
ABV: 5%

Ah Central Waters Brewing, makers of one of the best barleywines that has ever graced my lips! What other treasures do you have in store for a faithful beer consumer like myself? Well, quite a bit actually; This brewery is responsible for one of the first Imperial Stouts that I had ever had when I first started drinking craft beer so keep an eye out because a review will be coming in the near future.

For the time being we're gonna focus on Ouisconsing, which comes from the Algonquin word for the Wisconsin River. The name Ouisconsing would later become the basis in which the word "Wisconsin"  would come from. The description says that this will make you "want to be a Badger." Given my....ahem, academic background, that is up for debate.

Ouisconsing pours a hazy dark amber color with a high amount of visible carbonation and a nice foamy head. The lacing left behind is also pretty good.

The nose has a nice nutty and roasted barley scent to it with just a touch of caramel. There are also some mild floral hop and Munich malt notes in there as well.

Piney hops start out the flavor followed by some mild toffee, citrus, caramel, nuts and roasted barley flavors. There's also a dry bittersweet resin aftertaste thrown in for good measure.

The body is fairly light but with some moderate carbonation, which thankfully works in it's favor because it allows some dimension to the flavor itself.

While this doesn't necessarily make me want to become a badger, I found this to be a quite enjoyable beer. It's well rounded with just the right amount of hops and malty character to go around.

Central Waters Ouisconsing Red Ale - 8/10

Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine Review

Name: Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine
Style: Barleywine
ABV: 11.2%

Originally I was planning on doing a review of Rugbrød from The Bruery to commemorate my 100th Post.....that is until I came across one of the beers I had on my bucket list from earlier this summer. That's right, it's Central Waters very own Bourbon Barrel Barleywine Ale!

Part of their Brewers Reserve Series, this is a is a Barleywine which is aged in a bourbon barrel for a year before being bottled and released for purchase. One of my favorite styles of beer combined with bourbon barrel aged goodness makes me all the more grateful that I got my hands on this beer and I'm quite excited to finally try this out. I'm not sure if it varies from year to year, but the ABV in this year's edition is 11.5%.

It pours a dark hazy brown color with an off-white head that is thin but with good retention. There isn't too much going on in terms of carbonation.

Before even checking out the nose, I'm already getting a whiff of Vanilla and Oak as the glass sits a couple feet away from me. Upon closer inspection, I'm treated to an aroma of vanilla, oak, caramel, bourbon, caramel, hops and whiskey. It smells alot like Bourbon!

As for the flavor, I'm getting very strong & vibrant vanilla, oak, caramel, bourbon, hops, malts and whiskey. Pardon the redundancy but this....tastes like bourbon. It still tastes very much like a barleywine but if you handed this to me and didn't tell me what it was, I'd mistake it for bourbon at first! A very slight boozy flavor is present but it blends in so well that you can hardly notice it's there. The body is quite heavy but the carbonation is rather mild; Still take your time drinking this because it's a doozy!

I'm not declaring this to be the Magnum Opus of the barleywine style, but this may be one of the best Barleywines that I have ever had. It's rich and robust with flavors that are both common & rare in barleywine style ales and it blends together very nicely.

Slight booziness aside (which I feel will subside once allowed to age), I really can't find anything wrong with this beer.  If you love barleywines and you so happen to see this on the shelf, grab it before someone else does because it's that delicious!


Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barrel Barleywine - 9.75/10

Top 10 Beers I would like to try out (Part 2 & New Format)

Continuing on with the Top 10 Beer list from my previous post, it's now time to reveal the second half of my list. I've also changed up the format just to see how it works out so if you absolutely hate it and want it changed back, just let me know. Anyways, onwards with the list!


5) Russian River Pliny The Elder

Any craft beer fan knows that Russian River's Pliny the Elder needs no introduction. Widely regarded as one of the best beers in America multiple times, people will regularly form lines or camp outside the brewery just to get their hands on what many consider to be the Holy Grail of Craft Beer....

So why isn't this higher on my list? Since Pliny the Elder has so much hype regarding how awesome it is, I start to question if it actually does live up to the hype or not. In my past experiences, I've had similar experiences with movies, TV shows and even video games which have had hype surrounding how great it is. When I finally get around to experiencing it, I occasionally will come to the conclusion "Wait, THIS what everyone has been talking?" With that in mind, I would like to try this out one day. Since Russian River's is distributed in places very far away from me and I have no beer loving friends in California, it may be a while before I finally get to try it out.


4) Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

When I lived in Chicago, you could pretty much find Goose Island anywhere they had beer. Now I've had this before at the Goose Island Wrigleyville Brewpub and it was a fantastic beer but I never gave it a proper review and I would love to have some more again. I do know it's distribution is sporadic but it's not impossible to find. I will try to keep my eyes peeled for this in the future; Ya know, for science!


3) Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine

If you know me, I love my Barleywines, and I love my barrel aged beers. Central Waters Brewing offers the best of both worlds with this Barleywine. I think obtaining this will be a bit easier for a couple of reasons. The first is that they are located in neighboring Wisconsin and they distribute here to Minnesota. The second reason is that I've actually seen this on shelves in Minnesota so it's a matter of being at the right place at the right time.



2) Cigar City Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout

A couple years ago, I did a beer trade with a friend of mine who lives in Florida. I sent him some Surly and in exchange he sent me some beers from Cigar City Brewing, which the only major craft brewer in South Florida. When I tried them out, I was blown away with how good it was, especially the Jai Alai IPA & Cubano-Style Espresso Brown Ale. It wasn't until after I looked into Cigar City's lineup that I saw Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout; Knowing how awesome my beers from Cigar City were, I knew I had to try to get my hands on this. Hopefully I can arrange something in the near future but for the time being, it's a no-go.



1) Firestone Walker Double Jack

Firestone Walker has been at the top of my list of breweries to try out ever since I got into craft beer, but they currently do not distribute to the Midwest, they are only distributing West of the Rocky Mountains at this time. If I had access to Firestone Walker, this would be my first beer to try out because I love my Imperial IPAs like no one's business.


I hope you enjoyed reading because I enjoyed sharing this list with you. I have other obligations I must attend to at this time, but look out for a review later tonight!

Cheers!