I was excited when I stumbled upon it last night when looking for something else. I hadn't had it for about a year and was suprised when I cracked one open. The first thing I noticed was the blast of hops that immediately hit my nose. That was odd, I dont ever remember this IS being a hop bomb. The second thing I noticed was that it poured much like a soda, being that it was semi transparent and had that caramel color to it. I remember this stuff being black as night. Though it tasted phenomenal, I was confused as to what I was drinking. Didn't remind me of an IS at all, but rather an extremely hopped-up strong ale. It was a completely different experience than I remember. Did they change the recipe?
I have always thought of Storm King as a hoppy beer. It is certainly one of the more bitter RIS' I have had, and this is probably attributed to the butt-load of bittering hops added to the boil.
I had a Storm King a few weeks ago; it was very hoppy as per usual. Fresh Storm King is always very hoppy (in a bittering and flavor/aroma way). Maybe the last Storm King you had was old? Storm King does age well: Victory provides a best by timeframe of 4-5 years for this beer. I have aged Storm King for 1-2 years. I enjoyed the aged versions but they lose the hops with that amount of aging. Cheers!
Depending on how fresh there is a ton of hop flavor in storm king. Delicious fresh or aged IMO. Also a steal since it is in sixers.
Yeah, I probably never had it as fresh in the past. I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure the best by date was 2020.
Victory provides a 5 year “enjoy by” date for Storm King. A beer brewed this year (2012) will have an “enjoy by” date in 2017. 1 year "enjoy by" date: Yakima Hop Wallop Whirlwind Sunrise Weissbier Moonglow Weizenbock St. Victorious St. Boisterous Baltic Thunder 3 year "enjoy by" date: Golden Monkey 5 year "enjoy by" date: Old Horizontal Storm King Cheers!
Surprised by the color you noted, as it does pour pitch black. But yeah, as everyone mentioned, it's a very hoppy stout for sure. Leans closer to BIPA to me
Oh good to know the 5 year old Old Horizontal I have is still up to par, and +1 to Storm King being more hoppy then most IS's
Storm King for me is a hop stout monster. Although I am an insane hop head, I prefer an Imp Stout that is less hop forward
Storm King gets extremely bitter with age... I still have two left in my fridge from about a year ago, and I'll probably use it in beer bread to be honest. But I'll try a sip or two first!
Yes, after taking another look, enjoy by date is 2017. The ones I had last year were to be enjoyed by 2012, so they were at least four years old. Probably explains why they taste so different. Either way, I love this beer! Wish I could find some more Hop Wallop.
Had a VSK the other day, i found it to be a bit thin for an RIS but it did have a good bitterness to it( I would not call it a hop bomb by any means) . I would buy it again.
Victory stopped bottle conditioning their Storm King Stout around a year and a half ago...despite the fact that the bottles and cases are marked for 5 years. Therefore it's shelf life is 5 months, just like many of their other beers. However, given the high among of hops added it will probably keep for a few months past five.
Havent had Storm King lately but Dark Intrigue ( Storm King aged in Bourbon Barrels ) is drinking real nice now. Just had one recently.
Had a storm king from the brewery the other week. It's always okay. I'm not a huge fan but they didn't have anything else great on tap.
Opinions, and results, vary when it comes to cellaring non-bottle-conditioned beers (one of the longest-brewed and most frequently cellared beers, Samichlaus, is not BC and is even pasteurized) but the lack of bottle conditioning alone would not make the "shelf life" of a 9.1% imperial stout go from 5 years to 5 months by most brewers nor for most people who enjoy cellared beers.
I remember reading Garrett Oliver saying that Brooklyn's Black Chocolate Stout is pasteurized, I believe, and in his opinion its ability to improve with age actually increased quite a bit after making the change a few years back. Whatever they do with it, I think it's pretty tasty.
Just had it last night. Definitely a hoppy beer with all the trappings of an imperial stout; viscous, oil black, roast flavors, licorice, dark fruits. Very much a stout. It sounds like you weren't drinking Storm King at all lol.
Bingo. Riddle solved. Your first experience with Storm King seems to have been some aged bottles. I agree with the consensus here. Storm King is very Hoppy Storm King cellars very well. I hope this has motivated you to get some more and begin a vertical. also try one at an annual interval to note the differences. Enjoy. What's funny is that I really enjoy the beer and just haven't had one in quite a while. Perhaps this thread just sold another sixer for Victory. God bless suggestive selling... Cheers
A vertical...... now there's an idea! Plus an excuse to buy more. The hard part will be trying to keep them though .
I shared a few bottles of 8-year-old Old Horizontal with friends and everyone loved it! There was a lot of sediment, though, so there wasn't as much as we'd have liked.
Any of their Braumeister Pils and the casked Uncle Teddy's Bitter always make a trip to Victory worthwhile. The bitter is a particular favorite of mine: besides UTB, I've never tasted an American interpretation of the style that comes close to what you get in England.
Storm King is heavily alcoholic, hopped up, and hot. I find it to be best at about three or four years.
As I understand, it's 3 years now. At least this is what I saw with the latest batch, second half of 2012. And the "enjoy by" is not on a label anymore, but etched on the neck. Although if anybody has a different explanation, I'd like to hear.
I did make beer bread with an old Storm King a couple months ago, and it was delicious of course, but not even close to being as strong as the loaf I made at the same time, with an old Hopslam!
That's what I was thinkin. Not quite, but getting close. If I'm in the mood for a true stout, I'll choose something different. That being said, I have only had the new ones. Looks like my last couple are going in the cellar.
I had a year old storm king, along with a year old dark intrigue recently. The hops did fade considerably but I can't say I really thought either was great.
