Now I'll point the obvious that people probably have different ideas as to what "harsh" means. For me, I guess something that's boozy, has alcohol burn and as a result was not easy to drink/flavor was overwhelming. But just because something is boozy, it doesn't mean its harsh. For instance, Aventinus Eisbock and DFH WWS were boozy as hell but went down smooth for me. Of course this is all subjective. The harshest beers I've had to date were Smuttynose Wheatwine 2010 12.0abv.. That might have been the worst culprit, I felt the alcohol burning me stomach. Bezelbuth, 13.0abv. Samichlaus Bier bottled 2009 consumed in August 2011, 14.0abv. EDIT: How the hell did I forget Hair of the Dog Adam? This was absolutely brutal but some argue that I may have had a bad bottle. You have to read my review for this one: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/173/945/?ba=Derranged
Double Bastard was also a bit hard to drink but mostly because of the hops and sweetness, not sure if I'd consider it harsh.
Stack High Gravity Lager. Smelling it made me shudder like I was about to drink cheap vodka, it may have singed my nose hairs. It's the closest thing to rubbing alcohol you can consume without death following.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/21678/54660 Yikes.. Beers that cheap and that strong are scary. I'd still have to try it if I saw it, just for the novelty.
2012 SN Bigfoot. Great flavors but man is this thing hot! Alcohol is a little much, could use a year or three.
I liked that beer, I didn't find it harsh. Although there was nothing to suggest it was a wit at all, definitely a fruit beer.
Great call on this one. I had it once and couldn't wrap my head around it at all. Just a weird, hard to drink, confusing beer. I never understood why they tried an Imperial Witbier for that series over an Imperial IPA.
The harshest beer I have ever had is Devil Dancer. Just absolutely awful in every manner. They turned the dial up to 11 on every aspect of that beer. Brutal. If you think Big Foot or Double Bastard are rough you ain't seen nothing yet. Those are tame by comparison (and delicious I might add!)
Smuttynose gravitation - for a quad, just unbalanced and tough to drink or enjoy Primator dopplebock - flavors just didnt mesh, leading to a harsh beverage
Avery's Mephistapheles, when fresh. I understtand that it's good with a couple years on it, but I've never tried it.
I'll second Samichlaus, I could barely drink it! Of course, that was pretty early in my craft beer odyssey, so I might have a very different impression now that I'm a bigger fan of (well-crafted) big, boozy, and malty-sweet.
Lost Abbey Angel Share (Bourbon Barrel Aged) Draft Horribly unbalanced. Watered down bourbon flavor dominated the palate. Where's the beer???
I'm glad you liked it. Wish I had. I just found it combination of tart and boozy that didn't agree with my likes.
Different tastes for different mates I reckon. For something like one might as well have a strong vodka and cranberry/sprite mixed drink.
Coffee is for amateurs, right? I'd put in a vote for one or both of those Brewdog monstrosities, Tactical Nuclear Penguin or Sink the Bismarck. Just yikes.
I have to go with Nogne O Red Horizon. It was a different sort of boozy burn... That beer taught me that Sake yeast belongs in Sake.
I had the first batch of Avery Samaels last year and it really just tasted and smelled like raisins, not overly alcoholic but my god it was an intensely harsh raisin flavor, its like extracting pure raisins to a 15% alcohol tincture. The first time I had Dogfish Head Raisin d'Extra and a 4 year old 2007 Fort I thought they were pretty harsh in both alcohol and flavors.
Had this early in my beer drinking career but i thought fresh stone IRS was pretty rough, had another with some age on it and thought it was much better. Also, fresh DFH Old school barleywine was pretty hot.
Buffalo Bill's Blueberry Oatmeal Stout and Beerlao Dark came to mind. Both tasted like they were made with some kind of harsh chemical. Nogne 0's Sweet Horizon was sweet to the point of being torture to drink, but I'm not sure I'd call it "harsh."
I work graveyard, so I just got off work. Is it abnormal to have a beer after a days worth of work? /didn't think so.
New Holland Charkoota Rye. Tried to employ the Schlenkerla prescription and drink the equivalent of 3 pints to see if it would mellow, but it was more or less 100% Band-Aid phenols 100% of the time. Had a major headache after that session...not from the alcohol, but from the stress and muscle tension sustained with every sip.
I tasted the alcohol, but didn't think it was out of control. I got 4, and I'll be keeping my last 3 for a much later date. I'm interested to see how it ages. Thought it was good fresh though. Double Bastard fresh was hard to drink for me. I have another bomber I'm going to save for at least a year. So much alcohol. Hopefully it ages like Old Guardian. 2008 is drinking great and I have a 2009 yet.
Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot was a sweet boozy mess drain pour to me. And t'Smisje Catherine the Great Imperial Stout was nothing like a RIS. Once again a sweet boozy mess. My friend and I had both to dump it. Lastly, Tuverbol tasted like lambic mixed with cheap vodka. It was full of chemicals and boozy. My third and last drain pour.
I know Sam Adams Triple Bock gets a lot of shit talking around these parts but when I tried my bottle of the 1997 it was the only time I have ever started to feel my stomach turn while drinking beer.
I don't consider most high-ABV beers "harsh", but for some reason when you mix high ABV with bourbon barrels they sometimes come across as harsh to me. No idea why, and I haven't run across the same issue with other barrel-aged beers yet. A few of the Lost Abbey beers have come across as harsh to me.
I'm not sure if this is the harshest, but that Amstel Light from what I remember of it was pretty hard on my tongue.
Instant hiccups. Tastes like carbonated HOT sauce. Had this at the Better Beer Authority (off camera). Thanks to Bogforce for sharing it, it was definitely an experience!
Double Bastard was a bit harsh but I still liked it. For whatever reason it got me way more drunk than any other 12% beer I've ever had though.
