2008 (#4)
http://www.ratebeer.com/ratings/BestBeers_012008.asp

2010 (#36)
http://www.ratebeer.com/RateBeerBest/bestbeers_012010.asp

Great reviews you got going on there, I really enjoy the variety of styles and brewers that you put up. And also, I think it is great that review so many really good and well-renowned beers
In spite of the very high quality of your reviews (not a complaint at all) I just have a small correction. The Black Albert is not on the Ratebeer top 100. It has a overall percentile of 100, and a style percentile of 97 (of the imperial stout style). The weighted scort is 4,09.

I tried it recently and I just loved it. Really, really big beer, very complex and a perfect imperial stout to sit and enjoy with a lit fireplace and a nice record on the player.

Cheers from Denmark
Fredrik

I’m enjoying being snowed in… makes for a great beer day.

And it’s not that I’m unwilling to see a great beer for what it is just because of the price tag… a beer should be reviewed for quality independent of price point, But as someone who hasn’t been into craft beer for that long, I see myself going through the phases. And for a while, I had the Pokemon mentality of going after all the hard-to-get beers because they were the “best” beers… why would I drink that Dead Guy swill when I could drive out of my way and pay 3 times as much for the John John? It’s barrel aged!

But recently I’ve been let down by a lot of the highly rated limited edition beers. At the end of the day, a good beer can be had at any price point. It’s easy to say “let’s just brew a great beer the way we know how to and forget about how arduous the process is or how few bottles we’ll actually be able to make”, but it’s much harder to figure out how to brew that great beer using efficient enough techniques to where you can make that beer readily available, and it takes a great brewery to pull that off.

Call me crazy, but I’d be happy with to be stuck on an island with cases of Rochfort 10 and Old Rasputin instead of Westy 12 and Kate the Great. Sure… Kate’s great, but mostly… Kate’s just hard to get.

Incidentally, I had some 2007 Weyerbacher Insanity the other day and apparently I was expected to like it… it’s barrel aged and cellar aged! What kind of palateless beer-reject am I to not appreciate the universally innate goodness of those processes, anyway?

Not intending to hijack the thread… just in a phase

in any case, back to Black Albert. As much as I’ll whine about price, De Struise deserves your dollars. Everyone reading this go out and buy one of everything of theirs you have access to. Might be the only ones your wallet will ever let you drink, but you’ll be better off for having done so.

Pound for pound, the Old Rasputin is unquestionably one of the greats. And you’re in luck because Friday I will be posting a review of the Old Rasputin XII. As much as I absolutely love Old Rasputin, the anniversary version is mind melting.

As to De Struise, they’re easily one of my all time favourite breweries. Black Albert is a beautiful take on an imperial stout with a pleasant Belgian vibe keeping it interesting and memorable. My only problem is price… here in Philly, a single 12 oz bottle is 10-12 dollars, which is simply ridiculous. My local shop has had bottles of Tsjeeses, which I’ve never had and would love to try, sitting there at $10 a pop for a while now, and I just can’t bring myself to try one with so many other great beers out there at half the cost or less.

Speaking of expensive… my Allagash addiction is killing me, too… and they’re domestic!

I think one of my favourite imperial stouts out there right now is Old Rasputin. Fantastic beer, and even here in one of the most expensive beer markets in the country, you can get one for $2-3 a bottle. Maybe not as creative or outlandish a brew as some, but beautifully done none-the-less, holds it’s own against these exotic offerings, and affordable enough that I can actually enjoy one whenever I want, instead of once a leap year.

Big Mike