Delightfully Strong Beers at Delilah's

Barleywines, bocks and other big beers all lined up along a wooden bar, all 99 of them for the sampling. It brought to mind the old song (yes, you know which one) and here it was -- all made real by the owners of Delilah's.

If the incredible range of strong ales wasn't enough to make fifth annual event really cool, it was made even cooler by the fact that it was held at Delilah's, a venerable north side pub with a rough and tumble personality. Most of the beers at the Strong Beer Fest came out of the bottle with a small selection on draft. Forty tickets purchased for $25 got us 40 samples of the 99 tasty brews along the bar. Well, it was actually, two bars -- upstairs and downstairs -- with most the beer downstairs. The upstairs bar had the most interesting setup. All the bottled beers upstairs were arranged by vintage for vertical tastings of several different years' brews. The choices from the upstairs bar included Gale's, J.W. Lees, Bigfoot Barleywine-Style ale and Anchor Old Foghorn.

My favorite beer among the many different vintages was the 1986 J.W. Lees Harvest Ale. The complex malt character of this beer measured up to some of the best vintage wines I've tasted. The flavors encountered included that of nuts, cardamom, bits of alcohol and minerals. That's pretty complex for a beer. The newer 2001 vintage sported some of the same flavors only bolder with the alcoholic kick being somewhat more noticeable. The Gale's range of beers proved interesting as the 1994, 1996 and 1998 vintages all tasted different. The 1994 is the one I liked the best with a profound nutty aroma and flavor. The 1996 Gale's was sour and the 1998 was a bit like the 1994 only much bolder and with a strong toffee character. The American beers didn't seem to be as complex, but were still tasty, with the Old Foghorn Barleywine offering more complexity than the Bigfoot.

The downstairs bar served up the bulk of the goodies with many different brands and even types of strong ales. My wife Carol and I decided to start to start at the light end of the spectrum. Of course, there were no light tasting beers, but there were some light colored beers. Some of these were remarkably light for the strength and flavor, such as Baltika Extra from Russia, and the Haywards 5000 of India. The Baltika was my favorite between the two beers mostly because of its interesting mineral-like qualities. I also couldn't pass up a 1998 bottle of Piraat. This beer is a favorite of mine and I am lucky in that I can pick up a fresh bottle down the street. I wanted to try the 1998 version, however, and I was not disappointed. The 1998 Piraat seemed to be much fruitier than the younger bottles that I've tasted in the past. This was one of my favorites of the fest, perhaps because it was one of my favorites even before I walked into the bar, but I really liked how it aged and becaue fruitier and softer in carbonation.

Not all the beers at the Fest had been aged. Other standouts included the Wingnut Imperial Pale Ale (2003, from a growler) which displayed the same wonderful blend of malt and hop flavors that it did earlier this year at Real Ale Fest. I wish I could tell you more about it, but all we have written down in our notes is, "Live well while you're here." Amen to that. Other newer beers found on draft at the fest included Flossmoor Station 420 Wheat Wine, Old Conundrum and Train Wreck of Flavor. The 420 Wheat was very disappointing. This was unusual for Flossmoor's beers, but something definitely went wrong for me, either in Todd Ashman's mind or in the keg. This beer was sour and I don't think that was the intention and even if it was I didn't like it. I like some sour beers but this one didn't sit well. The Old Conundrum displayed lots of caramel malt flavor and well-aged almost woody tasting hops. The Train Wreck was also wonderful as usual and held up well to its reputation (See our Real Ale Fest notes.) Another draft beer that allows blows our minds is the Three Floyds Dreadnought Imperial Pale Ale. Although the samples we had on Saturday were a little different than previous versions the Dreadnought was still quite tasty. Both Carol and our good friend and beer drinker extraordinaire Steve Shotsberger detected some coconut in their samples of Dreadnought. That's just not normal, but that's the Three Floyds motto, isn't it? Steve's brother (and our other good friend) Jim also joined us at our table, but he didn't detect any coconut in any of his beers. I can't remember what Jim's favorite beer was at the Fest, because either he didn't tell me, or he told me and I had too much beer later in the afternoon. Sorry, Jim. (Editor's note: I know I'm going to catch hell from Jim for mentioning his brother Steve before him in this story.)

For the bulk of the time we spent at the Fest, I decided to sample more of the British beers and Carol sampled the American ones. She's such a Patriot! I have to say that I liked the Greene King Old Suffolk 2001 and the 1998 Elizabethan Ale the best among the British beers. The Old Suffolk had a wonderful candy-like aroma. I liked the dark malt flavors that almost seemed to suggest the flavor of raisins. A surprisingly dry finish and the suggestion of minerals gave this beer a very nice finish. The 1998 Elizabethan Ale was a little different with great malt flavors reminiscent of port wine. I also sampled the 2002 Old Tom Barley Wine. This beer is rated 95 points by the Beverage Tasting Institute but failed to get my vote. It seemed a bit thin in body and a little too subtle in flavor. Perhaps I should have tasted it earlier in the day.

Back across the ocean, the beers from our homeland embraced malt AND hops, especially the Wingnut and Dreadnought. Carol seemed to enjoy the Greg Browne beers a little more than I did. Greg is one of the new brewers at the new Wild Onion Brewpub in the north Chicago suburb of South Barrington. His 1998 vintage 25 Bushel Barley Wine was very strong but I found it to be a bit one-dimensional. Carol described it as "a core sample of plush velvet and well made." She also tasted Clare's Hungry Ale (2002) and thought to be very complex. The 1998 Rogue Old Crustacean was very mellow and tasty. A 2000 vintage Bare Tree Weiss Wine from our local Two Brother's Brewery in Warrenville, Ill., tasted very mellow, with the soft wheat malt making it very drinkable. Other hometown ales such Goose Island's Old Aberration passed muster, too. A 2001 Capital Weisen Dopplebock from Capital Brewing in Middleton, Wisc., tasted of caramel malt, with bits of toffee and finshed with just a hint of sourness. A very tasty dark wheat bock.

I could go on and on about many other beers but the beers I've described above are the highlights. After 40 or samples the alcohol begins to kick in and it becomes more difficult to focus on note taking. My apologies to the other breweries not mentioned, but I think the fact that I can't remember all my tasting notes, is a good measure of how much fun we had at this Fest. Last and not least, I have to mention that Carol won an Orval chalice, dutifully claimed by our friend Ryan. One more bit of glassware for our crowded shelves. Thanks Ryan and Kudos to Delilah's for a great Strong Beer Festival!

posted 4/6/03

Send comments and suggestions to: marc@marcobrau.com