Einstök Ölgerð - Icelandic wee heavy

Here's something neat - an Icelandic beer, and perhaps my first review from the Nordic island nation. It's a 9.00% ABV Scottish-style ale (aka "wee heavy") from Einstök Ölgerð, a brewery located 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle in Akuyeyri, Iceland.

The style is a Scotch ale, also called a wee heavy, which I've reviewed a few times here: one from DC, one from California, and one in Cleveland. Today's variant is made made with Angelica root and smoked Icelandic barley. The smoked barley I get, but Angelica root? Not even sure what this is, although subsequent research (Wikipedia) indicates it's a root used in traditional medicine. Not sure what it's going to add to the beer, but I guess I'll find out.

Not much aroma here, and there's not a lot of foam produced.

On par with most Scotch ales in terms of being malty, sweet, lightly bready, with a noticeable caramel tinge, BUT - remarkably light. Which is interesting. Most of the Scotch ales I've had over the years have been on the heavy, boozy end of the spectrum, but this is refreshingly light and definitely suited for those looking for a malty, Scotch-style ale that's not high in alcohol. I'd equate it more closely to an English-style bitters in body, like an ESB. See Molly Pitcher's "Redcoat ESB", which most closely equates in terms of body.

I grabbed a six-pack of 11.2oz - 330-ml- cans at the Wegman's in Sterling, VA, for $9.99, so not a high investment. According to my friend Amanda, who has been to Iceland, everything is crazy expensive there, so how is this so reasonable? Not sure, but it's a tasty beverage and a solid price, so can't really go wrong. There were a few other offerings by this brewery at Wegman's, but this looked most intriguing. I'm curious to try others!

Dogfish Head - "Double Dog" DIPA

Another short take - here's a 12.00% ABV double IPA from Frederick, MD-based Flying Dog Brewery. Flying Dog makes solid beer, several of which offerings I count as some of my favorites. Their "Dead Rise", a beer made with Old Bay, is a perfect hot day beer, and aside from their typical offerings ("Raging Bitch", "The Truth", etc.) they also do experimental releases, called Brewhouse Rarities. My absolute favorite from this series was their "Carolina Reaper" brown ale - stunningly spicy and awesome, so much so that I called the brewery to request they bring it back. Apparently others have done so, too, but the brewery has no plans to make it again. Bummer.

I was in the mood for something strong, and saw this on the shelf here at the Argyle Market in Mt. Pleasant. I was a little surprised, as I don't recall seeing such high ABV beers from Flying Dog in six-pack 12oz formats, so figured I'd give this a try.

Sheesh, OK, there's a lot of punch to this beer. Somewhat thick, with a full cap of what foam. Texture-wise, it's very full-bodied, and in terms of flavor is quite punchy with strong, heavy bitterness and massive grapefruit flavors, complimented by raw oak and wheaty, grainy hops. Long and lingering finish with more of that grapefruit and blood orange tossed in. In a good way, this reminds me of Great Divide's "Hercules" double IPA or DC Brau's "On The Wings of Armageddon." In the era of soft, hazy, sessionable IPAs, it's really nice to see a bulldozer of a beer. I've grown a bit tired of the New England style, and the pendulum is now shifting back to more of a West Coast-inspired beer. This was $14.99, so pretty decent for what it is. I'd get this again.