Flossmoor Station - 15th Anniversary

Well gang, in the last week I celebrated yet another birthday.  Besides recounting all the blessings and accomplishments of the past year, it's also a great excuse to drink whatever the hell I want.  Today, that translates into someone else that celebrated a birthday, too.  Today's review is for Flossmoor Station's 15th Anniversary Abbey style Tripel Ale.  Flossmoor's 15th anniversary has long since past as I've been holding onto this bottle for quite some time, but today seems as good a day as any to open it.  Besides, it's my birthday.  For those unfamiliar with Flossmoor Station, they're a local brewer located in (you'll never guess) Flossmoor, IL and have had some past success at events you may have heard of like GABF and those listed here.

The bottle specifically lists the brewery's 15th anniversary as July 8th, 2011.  Looks like I've been cellaring this longer than I intended.  The bottle also tells us that this brew tips the Toledos at 15.0% ABV, utilizes magnum and crystal hops, and pilsner, carapils, & demarara sugar malts.  Also, in my neck of the woods one will hardly ever see smaller breweries using nice wax-dipped bottles, which is always a nice touch.  Let's pour!

Aroma 12/12

It's the first sentence and there's already SO much going on in this beer.  The nose begins with lots of fruity aromas like apples, green grapes, honey, and a subdued Belgian yeast.  As it warms, the Belgian notes really come on strong with a pronounced banana note and a clove-based spiciness.  Later still, it becomes dominated by a wonderful sugary smell with a little warmth and a spiced-not-sweet Belgian yeast.  Finally, it puts all these things together by toning down the larger scents (Belgian, sugar, spice) and bringing out the fruity acidity.  Now THIS is a golden ale!

Appearance 3/3

Perfect.  It pours as golden as the wax crowning its bottle, but sits in the glass as a brilliant ocher color.  Oddly, looking down at the beer from the top it shows strong ruby hues!  And no I don't have red flooring.  Because I have aged this bottle so long, any sediment remains in the bottle and the resultant beer is crystal clear and bright.  The head is as white as the snow outside my window and rose to a finger in height; an impressive feat considering that the bubbles are nearly microscopic in size.  It lasted as a ring around my glass until well into the beer.

Flavor 20/20

This is an insanely complex brew!  It begins with unadorned sugary, malty sweetness and quickly moves into fruity sweetness full of apples and golden raisins.  Things blossom widely as those two flavors combine into the flavor of caramelized fruits (this is not an exaggeration).  Belgian yeast, not far behind, adds its goodness and a strong alcohol presence is felt.  Note that it is "felt" and not "tasted."  The strong warmth never impinges on the flavor itself, but gratuitously pricks the tongue while in the mouth.  A bitter note is present when holding the beer in the mouth for an extended period and adds complexity and balance to this sweet beer.  Way back in the flavor profile is a dull sour whose origin likely lies in fruity acidity.  This makes even more sense upon swallowing where the first impression of the finish is an almost citrusy splash of said acidity and a reprise of the aforementioned bitter.  The aftertaste is surprisingly clean after such a warm, sweet, clingy beer. However, the only sensation remaining in the mouth is the lingering effects of the alcohol on the tongue.

Mouthfeel 4/5

This is a beer that absolutely coats the mouth with its sweet, sugary presence.  It borders on syrupy at times, but its lighter flavors and ABV help draw it away from that characterization.  It also possesses a halfway sneaky alcohol warmth.  Granted, at 15% ABV, it's hard to do anything sneakily.  However, the flavor is never too boozy.  To the point, I've had many bourbon barrel-aged brews with half the ABV that taste twice as hot as this brew.  While it doesn't taste hot, the alcohol is undeniable in the mouthfeel and how it pricks the tongue. A lot.

Overall Impression 10/10

This is the lightest tasting big beer you'll never try.  It's not light in flavor - anything but! - but most big beers tend to be heavy handed with the hops or a very rich stout.  This beer is a giant, but still manages to taste like an excellent golden (an Imperial golden?).  The fruits and sugars are present to keep this beer sweet and innocent, even if the ABV and heavyweight body would just as soon mug you in broad daylight.  In your own driveway.  In front of your kids.

Total 49/50

Personally, I liked this beer a lot.  It's complex, big, and captures all the essentials of the intended style.  The flavors are out-of-this-world intense an unlike anything that you'll find anytime soon.  I checked the average scores on BA and RateBeer after this review and was shocked to see them so low!  Perhaps it was a different beast when it was fresh, but as it stands currently it is an "Imperial Golden" that will be my measuring stick for some time to come.  If anyone disagrees with this point of view, please remember that it's my birthday so I am right and everyone else can go suck a potato (insert good-natured wink).  Good work Flossmoor!  Please know that we won't hold it against you if you decide to NOT limit this recipe to just a 15th anniversary beer and to brew this one again.

Flossmoor Station - Pullman Brown Ale

I've been reading about how in June one is supposed to be drinking beers from the state in which they live to help support your true local craftbrewers.  While this is rather difficult for myself as I live in a small market, I would like to think that I should be able to represent the Midwest rather soundly, if not the state of Illinois itself.  That said, today's beer is from a brewery that has been garnering some talk around the craft beer aisles.  Its name is Flossmoor Station Brewing Company and it qualifies for being in my state (Flossmoor, IL).  They have several styles that are getting snatched up quickly so I had to try it for myself.  Let's pour!

Picture is my own.  Bottle art image used without permission for educational uses only.

Aroma 11/12
Wow!  This smells more like a stout than almost any brown ale you will find.  Loads of toasty malt, dark chocolate, the mellow sweetness of molasses, and plenty of alcoholic coffee.  Not that the alcohol is overwhelming, indeed the coffee is certainly stronger, but it someone has definitely spiked the morning joe.  Once the head vanishes (it does not take long), one can even pick a few grassy hop notes from the back.  Very impressive in a malt-laden style.

Appearance 2/3
This also looks like a stout.  It pours a dark chestnut brown that yields less than half an inch of dark khaki colored head.  It is all but completely opaque, except for the edges of the pint glass.  If the rest of this beer was not so solid, it would have received a lower score for the rather dismal head.  I basically has to throw this beer into the glass during the second pint in order to produce any head.  After that, it did leave some lacing.

Picture is my own.

Flavor 19/20
Big.  Robust.  Amazing.  First sensation is toasted nuts and transitions quickly to an amazing backbone filled with dark, sweet molasses (that could be confused easily for caramel), lightly charred malt, and black coffee.  The dark, dual sweetnesses of malt and molasses are wonderfully balanced with bitter notes of coffee, hops, and blackened goodness - exactly what one wants to see in a robust brown ale.  The finish should showcase the bitter as the flavors pass over the rear of the tongue, but this still seems to show the molasses and malt much more strongly than anticipated.  The aftertaste has a sharp, bitter finish with a spicy hop profile and notes of delicious burnt coffee.

Mouthfeel 5/5
Medium-bodied, ridiculously smooth, adequately low-medium carbonation throughout the bomber bottle.  There is even a moderate level of creaminess, which contributes even more to its "stout impersonation."  Nothing wrong here.


Overall Impression 10/10
Though this beer borders on stronger styles, it still has all of the markings of a brown ale minus some expected nuttiness.  The nutty sweetness is compensated for with the molasses and is much richer in flavor for it.  This is a fantastically dark, rich, charred, balanced, brown brew of goodness.  Not only will I drink this again, but it rivals some of the best brown ales that I have ever had.  Hands down.

Total 47/50 (Outstanding)
Cannot say enough about this brew.  It exceeded any hype that I had heard.  Its a burnt coffee bean splendor with enough sweet molasses and malts to keep it beyond balanced.  It is bitter, robust, complex and a damn good beer.  I will buy this.  I will share this.  I will sing its praises.  You should do the same.  Big, big kudos to Brewmaster Bryan Shimkos!  If the train on the logo is any indicator, this brewery is only going to pick up momentum and be almost impossible to stop.  This is a definite winner.