Profiled by Ken Carman for Professor Goodales
Certified Evil
Lucky Bucket
La Vista, Nebraska
12.5%
Belgian Strong?
From their website…
“Certified Evil is the result of a 2008 collaboration project with
Todd Ashman of Fifty Fifty Brewing in Truckee, California and Matt Van
Wyk of Oakshire Brewing in Eugene, Oregon. Each brewer set out to
create a dark Belgian strong ale with their own unique spin on the
style. Since the first collaboration, six new breweries have been
added to the project to invent a truly unique beer. This beer is
properly named Certified Evil.The new Certified Evil recipe is more complex and interesting than the
brew from 2008. This new beer blends Certified Evil aged in Cabernet
barrels for one year with a younger batch of oaked aged Certified
Evil. The combination makes for a vibrant yet smooth and elegant
taste. The recipe also includes a wide variety of complex sugars
including turbinado sugar, molasses and honey. The result is an
amazingly complex beer. Truly a must try to any craft beer lover.”
Alcohol.
Alcohol.
More alcohol.
No nose except faint whiff of grain and alcohol.
There’s a complex grain bill here with some sense of raisin, but
too far in the background. Almost pumpkin ale like, but again: so way
back there hard to tell. Not really higher alcoholic, just dominates.
Have had higher that isn’t this dominant in the taste. Goes to balance.
Notice the awards from the brewer’s site? (The picture.) Wonder if the previous versions were better? Did they go too far tryng to dress up a good thing?
This is oak aged, but all that adds is a chew on wood sense. Hops
simply add to that and almost don’t express themselves as hops, just
add to the harsh.
Black as all hell, nice head that lasted even in a small glass. It
over flowed a bit when opened.
Mouthfeel… are you surprised? …alcohol. A higher gravity may
have helped, maybe. Harsh, as is. All that aging, the sugars of
different types, cask condition just didn’t seem to get beyond the
alcohol dominance. Not all that drinkable, to be honest.
Will see if aging helps.