SAY WHAT? AN EVEN OLDER VISCOSITY?

I visited the in-laws in San Diego last holiday season, and given San Diego's newfound status as beer nirvana, naturally I hustled out of the house a couple of times to find as many locals-only treats as I could. One such gem I encountered was OLD VISCOSITY from SoCal heroes PORT BREWING, aka PIZZA PORT, aka LOST ABBEY. I gave it a 7.5/10. Well my good pal CM was on a road trip himself not long ago, and stopped by Lost Abbey headquarters for a nip. They didn't have too many to-go bottles for him, but from what I hear he pretty much cleaned them out of their supply of something called OLDER VISCOSITY - yeah, older! One found its way into my hands, and just this past week into my belly. I'm here to tell you about it.

OLDER VISCOSITY is a black-as-"The Black Album" Russian Imperial Stout. How much more black could it be? "The answer is none - none more black". (Be the first to name the reference and win an HBJ t-shirt if and when we make them). Sweet, deep, and rich, and full of alcohol - a jacked-up > 12% ABV on this baby - whew. It has been aged "in the barrel", which can certainly work, but to my amateur palate is one of those brewer's marketing tricks which signifies very little. In this case it's resulted in a strange funk where notes of vanilla and toffee intermingle with that weird-ass smokey, oak chip flavor. I liked its "chewiness", I dug some of its flavors, and I found it pretty enjoyable most of the way through - and yet I'd still call this one for the extreme beer dorks, not for dainty 'lil sippers like me & you. 6/10.