CARLE THE GREAT by BROKEN GOBLET BREWERY
Recently I visited an up and coming brewery after their one year anniversary. That brewery was Broken Goblet in Bristol, Pennsylvania. If you get the chance and you are in the area make sure you check out this brewery and their awesome brews. When I visited them, I got the Broken Goblet Flight and was able to pick 5 different beers. Out of those five beers not a single one was bad, I loved them all. Now to backtrack a little, I was introduced to this brewery and their beers by my friend Kevin. He knew the brewers when it first opened and thought it would be a cool idea to go check them out, since he knows I love beer. When we stopped in Kevin introduced me to the owners, Jay Groose and Mike LaCouture. This was my first time at the brewery, so we decided to dive in and try some of the beers on tap. Broken Goblet has a taproom and located next room over was the breweries offices/brewery. Of all the beers we tried, I think the popular one was Bubba's Tea Bag. Kevin and I both enjoyed it. The other really awesome thing that I noticed were the names of the supporters on the wall, showing how they got to where they are. Now, time to look at the beer I am currently drinking from Broken Goblet.
Carle The Great Artwork
Carle The Great Label and Story
The brew that I am trying tonight from Broken Goblet Brewery is called Carle The Great. Carle The Great is an Imperial Russian Stout that was aged in Glenfiddich Single Malt Barrels. Carle The Great has an alcohol by volume or ABV of 10.8% and an IBU of 79. Imperial Russian Stouts were brewed to win over the Russian Czar's in the 1800's. They focused on stouts that boasted high alcohol content and malt character that had low to medium carbonation. In addition they had a roasted chocolate malt that hop levels varied, keep that in mind as I look into this beer to figure out what makes Carle The Great, so great. Also, when you try beers like this, make sure you use the proper glassware the beer was designed for. Carle The Great was aimed to be poured into a snifter glass or goblet glass.
Appearance of Carle The Great
The aroma is a pleasant coffee and a slightly noticeable sweet scotch aroma since being aged in Glenfiddich barrels. In addition to those aromas there is a faint chocolate aroma I picked up on towards the end. The head or foam of the brew is brown or chocolate in terms of color. The head of the beers is thick and creamy at the same time, in my opinion. After a while the foam dissipates and loosens up to show the beauty of Carle The Great. The color of is very impressive and very noticeable for a stout. Carle The Great color appearance is black and very dark to make sure nothing escape its greatness.
Carle The Great by Broken Goblet Brewery
Taste can be a big factor for some when trying Stouts and beer in general, so now it is time to look at this aspect of Carle The Great. See what the flavor or profile of the beer is. Took my first sip to try this beer for the first time and definitely noticed that this beer was an Imperial Russian Stout. By that I mean I picked up on the malt forward and chocolate presence in the beer. Another interesting taste note is the full body of the beer and then the heated spice finish. There is a fruit taste that I am trying to pick up on but the profile is mixed in with the spice kick finish that it is hard to pick out. The more and more I sip on this beer, the more flavors I begin to pull out, like the coffee note of the last sip I had. While sipping on this Imperial Russian Stout, I have noticed that there is a warming mouthfeel to this beer. In that sense, I think this would be a perfect beer for the winter because usually everyone is cold, but this would warm you up in a sense.
Another important aspect about this beer is that you should take sips of the beer and not chug this beer. That is only asking for an accident, because if you do not you are not thinking about the ABV. I poured half a glass into the snifter and I have drank a quarter of it so far and have noticed the ABV aspect of this beer.
Being aged in Glenfiddich barrels really comes through when tasting this beer. The sweet scotch profile blends well with the roasted dark malt and bitterness of the hops used. That does help in adding some ABV to this beer and help add to the enhanced profile of this beer.
I think the big impact and thing I took from Carle The Great was to enjoy a sip at time especially when it comes to being an Imperial Russian Stout aged in Glenfiddich Barrels. Looking at the Broken Goblet website and trying to find more out about this beer, I am humbled in trying this beer brewed in memory of the one of the brewers father, Carle. Carle The Great is a rich full body beer that is great beer.
The four owners/brewers did a great job in brewing this beer and I look forward to hopefully meeting all of you guys. Jay, Mike, Bub Groose, and Joe Fazekas.
Beers on Tap when I visited
Broken Goblet Flight
If you are in the area of Bristol, PA, make sure you go check this brewery out and support them. If you want to support them become an Irregular and get your name up on the wall. If you become an Irregular or a supporter you get the opportunity to try bottle release beers like Carle The Great and others. Broken Goblet's passion for beer really does come across in their beers and if you really enjoy a good brew check this brewery out personally.
Last opinion, Carle The Great is a good Imperial Russian Stout that you should try when you get the chance. It's a full bodied stout that for me is a little too much ABV for my full enjoyment. Great beer that will warm you up and give you a buzz that will last the night. Make sure that if you drink this beer that you are not going anywhere, except for enjoying others company. Below is where you can find Broken Goblet's website and twitter.
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