Clare's Thirsty Ale
Haymarket Beer Co. Pub & Brewery

Clare's Thirsty AleClare's Thirsty Ale
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From:
Haymarket Beer Co. Pub & Brewery
 
Illinois, United States
Style:
American Imperial Stout
ABV:
12.5%
Score:
99
Avg:
4.51 | pDev: 6.65%
Reviews:
50
Ratings:
342
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jun 21, 2023
Added:
Nov 16, 2011
Wants:
  138
Gots:
  7
An Imperial Stout aged for 13 months in Templeton Rye Whiskey barrels on Raspberries.

2014 - Aged 1 year in Woodford Reserve barrels.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
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Reviewed by MilwaukeeBeerMaker from Wisconsin

4.75/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Feel like I've been reading about this beer for so long and when I was recently at Haymarket Bridgman it happened to be on tap! Lived up to the hype; great barrel character, lot of chocolate and bursting with berries. Glad I was finally able to try it.
Jun 21, 2023
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Reviewed by stortore from Illinois

4.24/5  rDev -6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
12 ounce can into a snifter. Canned 1/18/22, had 9/3/22.

Pours near black and opaque, oily looking, with a brief head and a little oily lacing. Aromas of bourbon, roasted malt, raspberries, vanilla, some oak and char. Flavors of bourbon, raspberries, roasted malt, vanilla, light oak. Smooth, a little creamy, a very good full body, appropriately carbonated.

Very enjoyable. The raspberries show well, there’s a nice roasted base and the barrels are lighter, but good. Have had this on draft and at events over the years, and this wasn’t quite as good. A

R033115 0450
Jun 21, 2023
 
Rated: 4.24 by Duncian from Pennsylvania

Jan 23, 2023
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Reviewed by Sandis from Minnesota

4.03/5  rDev -10.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
2022 version poured from a 12oz can into a snifter. I'm not typically a big fan of fruit stouts but I'd heard good things about this beer and it didn't disappoint. Lightly tart fruit.
Dec 21, 2022
 
Rated: 4.02 by Stevem68 from Ohio

Nov 05, 2022
 
Rated: 4.75 by JamesLeung from Florida

Sep 18, 2022
 
Rated: 4.46 by MJSFS from Florida

Sep 10, 2022
 
Rated: 4.6 by Buck_Jones from Michigan

Sep 05, 2022
 
Rated: 4.43 by not2quick from Missouri

Mar 27, 2022
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Rated by DucksFan16 from Tennessee

4.53/5  rDev +0.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Untappd backlog, from 10/12/2019.
Jan 15, 2022
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Reviewed by Sabtos from Ohio

4.04/5  rDev -10.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
The last thing I expected to be at FOBAB was an old whale I never thought I would tick, but here we are and I'm so happy!

Despite all that, I can settle myself and dig in. As I do, here in this 8 ball black, short mocha headed ale, I get chocolate raspberry sticks and not a ton of barrel. There's just a little bite of slightly herbal wood, which I think more than anything helps to bring us to a powder dry finish.

I can see how this would have made the news in its heyday (see what I did there?), but in today's world of absolute confections and bombastic feats of oak, it's quite underwhelming.
Nov 23, 2021
 
Rated: 4.5 by GreatStoutman from Texas

Nov 13, 2021
 
Rated: 4.25 by beermanben from Wisconsin

Oct 05, 2021
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Rated by bret27 from California

4.43/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Can courtesy of JohnnyHops.
Aug 21, 2021
 
Rated: 4.5 by mattmarka1 from Minnesota

Jul 19, 2021
 
Rated: 4.25 by Rkitchen from Michigan

Jun 19, 2021
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Reviewed by kemoarps from New York

4.36/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Part of the wonderful deluge of midwest goodies sent my way by @FBarber during NBS BIF #13.

Gorgeous pour. Body traps light. Completely dark. Lovely finger of soft dark brown foam. Quite the beaut.

Nose has lovely rich velvety espresso with vanilla and milk chocolate and sure enough there's a hint of raspberries layered in there as well. Inviting.

The berries are much more prevalent here, beginning at the first sip. It starts off as just kind of a general berry/fruit sweetness that builds alongside the other components I will get to in a moment to reveal a jammy decidedly raspberry note. We'll come back to this later. The build alongside this has silky espresso and dark chocolate as well as a hint of vanilla and spice and oak from the barrel. This brings us back to the raspberry. You know how raspberries are actually kind of tart alongside their juicy sweetness? It's one of the great things about them, is they offer a balance and a range of experience, and that presents here. The finish has some bitter from the coffee, and a bit of pucker that feels like the raspberry tartness joining the oakiness of the barrels and a bit of alcohol astringency (that works well in this situation to accentuate the other flavours listed there) to give it a little 'ooh!' to the finish. Really enjoyable.

Body is velvety smoothe, and that tart finish I descibe above fades to leave behind some of the dark chocolate bitterness and a slight reminder of the alcohol contained therein. Would not descibe it as hot, but it isn't shy about it's double digit ABV.

I'm really enjoying this. Raspberry and chocolate are such a natural seeming pairing, but I feel like I still don't see it quite as often as I'd expect, in beer. I think it really really works well here, and am grateful to have had the opportunity to try it. Thanks Frank!
May 10, 2021
 
Rated: 4 by doctorgary from New York

Apr 12, 2021
 
Rated: 4.75 by Skellbop from New York

Mar 13, 2021
 
Rated: 4.38 by Nunya from Ohio

Feb 27, 2021
Clare's Thirsty Ale from Haymarket Beer Co. Pub & Brewery
Beer rating: 99 out of 100 with 342 ratings