Burton Baton is one of several Imperial IPA offerings from Delaware’s Dogfish Head Craft Brewery.  The twist in this variety is that it’s flavored with oak.  The nose is woody and floral, and it’s a medium to full bodied ale.  There’s a good acidic bite from the oak in the middle, but without the overpowering alcohol flavor that you often find in ales flavored by or aged in oak.  The bite is offset by the sweetness from the malts in this big 10% ABV beer, and the finish is rich, sweet, and lingering.  This is a fabulously offbeat Imperial IPA, and it earns extra points from me for the uniqueness and execution, which is superb.

Dragon’s Milk Ale is actually a stout, rather than an ale, that has been aged in oak barrels and is from New Holland Brewing’s “High Gravity” line. It’s got a medium to heavy body, and the nose is vanilla, sweetened milk, and alcohol.   There’s more vanilla, sweet roasty malts, and alcohol in the middle, and a smooth, weighty finish, warming you with more alcohol.   This is a big beer at 10% ABV, and you can taste it all the way through.  It’s an interesting beer.  You certainly get the bourbon-like profile of an oak-aged beer, but it may have a little too much influence for my taste.

Another day, another fairly ordinary IPA.   The Saranac IPA from Matt Brewing is pretty basic.  Floral notes on the notes, and a mildly  hoppy, slightly disappointingly one-dimensional flavor.   It’s got the hops, and the bitterness that make an IPA, but there just isn’t anything to make it particularly interesting.

So as far as I can tell, “Barrel Trolley Brewing” which the side of the bottle tells me is “brewed by World Brews, Rochester NY” is a private label for Harris Teeter supermarkets, which is where I found this beer on special this summer.  It’s a pretty standard pale ale for the most part.  Floral hops in the nose, citrus and hops in the middle that solidifies into a lemony finish.  It’s good a decent medium weight body, I like the lemon, and it’s a good, if somewhat unremarkable beer.

Southern Tier calls Iniquity an Imperial Black Ale.  Whatever it is, it’s a big beer, at 9.0% ABV.   It’s got sweet, roasted notes on the nose, and reminds me of kind of a light version of a porter.  It relies pretty heavily on the roast for flavor, but it’s very nicely balanced with hops for a middle that only has hints of bittersweet chocolate and follows with a very dry finish.  This is a really unusual, interesting beer, and would be an outstanding choice late on a cold winter’s night.

Long Hammer Redhook Brewing’s version of an IPA, and it’s a pretty standard interpretation.  Lots of hops, citrus on the nose, bitter citrus and pine in the middle, and all piney hops in the finish.   It’s OK, but it’s nothing to write home about.

When I see “Pilsner” I think “lager”, but this is a better beer than a standard lager.   It’s got an unexpected bit of a bitter bite from the hops in the middle.   It’s probably actually closer, in my opinion, to a pale ale than to a lager.   It’s nice.

Adirondack Lager from Matt Brewing Company’s Saranac line is actually a nice beer.   If I sound surprised, it’s because I tend to be biased (probably unduly) against lagers in general.   This however, despite my lack of confidence coming in, is a really good beer.   It’s a lager, yes, but it’s got a pleasant floral scent and a well balanced flavor with some hoppy goodness.   I like it.

Curmudgeon, by Founders Brewing, is a big, rich (award winning!) beer.   It reminds me of a Belgian Strong Dark Ale like Brother Thelonious or Chimay Grande Reserve.  It’s got a heavy body, and you can taste the alcohol in this 9.8% ABV beer.   The heat is offset by syrupy sweet malts and the molasses that it’s brewed with.  This is a big huge beer, and a good one if you like the style.