The Beer Retard - January 15th, 2007

Already getting behind with these reviews. I'd tried a 3-ounce pour of this at the Winter Beer Festival in December, but since short pours don't count I'll make the executive decision to count this one. It's only the second beer I've seen here in Seattle from Skagit River Brewery (located an hour north in Mt. Vernon). The other is Sculler's IPA, which I've heard is good. Mt. Vernon is home to the Tulip Festival and was named #1 Best Small City in America....in 1998.

The Trumpeter is an imperial stout that the brewery describes as "a huge beer with rich layers of smoke, chocolate, roast, caramel, jet fuel, motor oil and hops." Now that's a lot going on. I found it to be very rich and flavorful for about the first third to half of the bomber. The chocolate, roast and smoke come through nicely with a hint of hops and not too much alcohol. Unfortunately, this doesn't last. Somewhere along the line, the jet fuel kicks in and the motor oil takes over. At that point, the Trumpeter loses its magic and becomes almost a chore to get through.

Rock Bottom is only a couple blocks from my work, but I never go there to drink beer. I guess I have a hard time taking their beer seriously since they're a big chain that has more in common with TGI Friday's or Applebee's than a craft brewery. Still, when my co-workers and I decided to have lunch there, I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to try a new beer. I did sort of snicker when I got a menu and saw the slogan "serious about our food, crazy about our beer." We'll see about that, I thought.

I straightened up a bit when the server told us that they had a winter strong ale and a Belgian tripel as their seasonals. Okay, maybe they do care about beer. Or maybe they have no business brewing a Belgian tripel and it would be a joke. I played it safe and ordered the winter beer. I have to admit it was pretty good. Nothing special, just an intensely malty dark ale that carries a nice punch but keeps the alcohol hidden under all the malt. Not something you'd rave about to other beer geeks, but good enough to get me back to Rock Bottom to sample more of their offerings in the future. Maybe I'll even try their Belgian.