For this #beersaturday post I'm going to do something a little different. I recently tried two different but very similar beers, so I thought that I would directly compare them to each other in this review. As a note, I've decided to weight the marketing and color of the beers out of 5, the smell and taste out of 7 and the texture of the beer out of 6 to come up with and overall "satisfaction and drinkability" rating out of 30. I've weighted things differently because some things are more important than others when drinking a beer in my opinion. For instance, taste and smell are very important in a beer, but marketing doesn't really matter too much at all, especially if you buy a beer on tap at the bar. I also wanted the rating to be a round number so texture got knocked down to 6 for that reason.

So anyway lets get to it already. Since I'm comparing two similar beers Im going to call this post the.... _{(que the loud bellowy voice effect)}

Battle of the Beers

_{beers eers eers eers}

That last part was my "echo effect...

Okay so let's get to my comparison review, starting with..._{(que the effects again)}

Winter Beard: Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout

_{Stout ouut ouut ouut}

Okay I wont do that again, I promise.

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Brewery: Muskoka Brewery
Origin: Bracebridge ON Canada
Style: Brown Ale???
Abv: 8.0%

Marketing: Black can with maroon/magenta highlights. Cartoon man and bubble lettering. Cheery and fun imagery and design, clever name, cheery and festive vibe. I quite like this can. 4/5

Color: The beer poured a dark chestnut brown, almost black but not quite. The head was a tan color and dissipated pretty quickly. 3/5

Nose: Very sweet aroma, almost sugary - like candied fruit. Nothing complex or distinct about it to me and it was missing chocolate and roasted notes that should be prevalent given the name of the beer. 3/7

Taste: Mildly sweet. Not much bitterness. Strangley, I couldn't really taste anything with this beer at all, other than a distinct alcohol taste. I generally find that residual alcohol taste to be unpleasant in a beer. As the beer warmed I noticed a slight cranberry like taste and maybe some very mild candied fruit. I really had to dig to find any flavor in the beer other than alcohol. 2/7

Interestingly, when I gave it to my wife to try without saying what the beer was called she said that she could taste a little chocolate in it. She said it was very light and a little fake tasting though.

Texture: Not overly carbonated with a weightiness on the tongue. Very pleasant mouthfeel. 4/6

Impression: I've seen this beer many times over the years and have never bothered to try it. Now that I have I'd say that it was a mostly disappointing beer all around. With a name like "Double chocolate cranberry" I would expect this beer to have a lot of flavor or at least a little bit of flavor, but it really had none at all other than residual alcohol taste from the high ABV. At a minimum this thing should be packed with chocolate and cocoa flavors, but I didn't get any of that at all. I would not call this a Stout either since it didn't have any of the roasted notes that one would expect when drinking a Stout beer. I'd say that this is a brown Ale so thats what I've labeled it above. This seems like one of those beers that is all about the marketing rather than the beer itself. "Style over substance," as they say. The name is very misleading in my opinion.

Overall rating: 16/30, or a 53.3% satisfaction rating.

On to the next beer!

Imperial Stout

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Brewery: Wellington Brewery
Origin: Guelph ON Canada
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 8.0%
IBU: 40
SRM: 53

Marketing: Generic beer name. Red coppery colored can. Subtle bronze and silver beer awards shown. Simple mascot brand logo imagery. This beers brand is a Wellington rubber boot which i think is cool. Simple but effective can. I like it. 4/5

Color: Poured jet black with a milk chocolate colored head of loosely packed bubbles. The head lasted a little but eventually dissipated entirely. 4/5

Nose: Roasted notes commonly experienced among stout beers, light smoke, dark fruit aroma, and some grape must coming through in the background. Quite complex and very pleasing overall. 5/7

Taste: I found this to have a very complex flavor. It started out with a very mild sweetness but was mostly quite bitter up front. Dark chocolate flavors came through, dark fruit - prunes and grape must, maybe some molasses, and very subtle licorice in the background. It had a long lasting bitter finish. I didn't notice any residual alcohol taste despite its hefty 8.0% ABV. Overall it tasted very true to the imperial Stout style. 6.5/7

Texture: Light carbonation, pleasant smooth velvety texture, heavy mouthfeel, full bodied. 4.5/6

Impression: This beer comes from a small micro brewery in a city that I used to live in. I've been to the site that it's produced at and taken a tour of the facility. I've played pool and other games in their serving room. I've always liked the brewery and the beers that it produces and this one is no exception. It had a lot of typical flavors commonly found in an Imperial Stouts and is definitely a good representation of the label. It had a high alcohol content but I didn't even notice it in taste, which is a major plus in a beer in my opinion. All around I found this to be a very excellent beer.

Overall rating: 24/30 or an 80% drinkability rating!

Conclusion

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The Wellington Imperial Stout was by far the winner in this battle challenge. It wasn't even a contest really. The only thing going for the Winterbeard is its marketing in my opinion, but it really didn't deliver in taste or aroma for me, which are the most important things in any beer, really. I would only buy one of these beers again and I think you know which. This battle definitely goes to

The Wellington!

_{que the air horn effect..}

Beeebeeee beeeee beeerrreeeuuuue

That's my air horn impression

Well thats it for this Battle of the Beer post. I may try this again sometime so until the next battle, thanks for stopping by. Cheers everyone!