Beer of the Week

The beer: Tiramisu Imperial Stout

The brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company, Lakewood, New York

Description (from the website): "The Blackwater Series presents Tiramisu Imperial Stout in all its layered lusciousness! Toasted sweet malts come together with rich, dark coffee and a silky-smooth ­finish to recreate the delicate deliciousness of classic Tiramisu!"

Would I buy it again? I haven't had tiramisu before, so I can't speak to this beer's fidelity with the food that inspired it, but I can tell you that this is a very tasty beer nonetheless. Sweet, bready, malty, it was smooth and pleasant to drink. Heavy, of course, but it's absolutely a beer that I would drink again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Carnival of Horrors

The brewery: Lone Pine Brewing Company, Portland, Maine

Description (from the can): "'There are three things that I've learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and pumpkin beers,' Linus.

"Carnival of Horrors is a menacing imperial stout brewed with pumpkin pie filling, maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and vanilla, and is definitely worth of a straight jacket."

Would I buy it again? You know, I was really expecting an imperial pumpkin stout to really smack me in the face with pumpkin flavor, but the pumpkin is surprisingly subtle. I'm actually not sure I'd be able to identify the pumpkin if you offered me a glass of this beer blind. Don't misunderstand, this beer is good – with that list of additional ingredients, it's tough to go wrong – but I don't know how much of a pumpkin beer this is. I'd probably buy this again, because it is good, but not if I'm specifically looking for a fall-themed pumpkin beer. It fits the thick, hearty winter beer stereotype much better.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Coocoo for Cacao

Brewed by: Austin Brothers Beer Company, Alpena, Michigan

Description (from the can): "Imperial stout with cacao nibs, chocolate breakfast cereal, chocolate bars, chocolate donuts, chocolate syrup, and vanilla.

Would I buy it again? It's a 15% imperial stout filled with chocolate. Of course it's good. But man, it's thick and heavy. You are not going to drink this one quickly. Or want more than one. It's good as an occasional treat, but I wouldn't go beyond that. Just imagine how many calories are in this thing.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Coconut Pie Face

Brewed by: Revision Brewing Company, Sparks, Nevada

Description (from the website): "Mountains of freshly toasted coconut, loads of cacao nibs and thousands of Madagascar vanilla beans on top of a rich imperial stout base round out this confectionary treat in a glass."

Would I buy it again? I'm not 100% sold on the mountains of coconut, but there's certainly plenty of chocolate and quite a bit of vanilla flavor to this beer. It's thick (duh) but smooth and not difficult to drink at all. Definitely a very good imperial stout, so yeah, I'd buy it again.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Chocolate Banana Split

Brewed by: Smuttlabs Brewery & Kitchen, Dover, New Hampshire

Description (from the website): "A well-balanced, deep and malty imperial stout with wonderful layers of chocolate, vanilla and banana notes and just enough alcohol to let you know this ain’t no kiddie treat. You know this one is going to be a hit when served in tall cold pints in all the coolest monkey bars."

Would I buy it again?: Honestly, no. I was pretty let down by this one; I was expecting chocolate and banana combined, but I only tasted chocolate. Which is fine, and the beer certainly tasted good, but it's not what I wanted. Plus, for an imperial stout, it's a bit on the weak side at only 8% ABV. Which isn't a bad thing, per se, but it is odd. Smuttynose (Smuttlabs is their experimental branch) is a big, well-known brewery, I feel like they have the resources to do better than this. I guess it was experimental.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Paradise Imperial Stout

Brewed by: Prairie Artisan Ales, Krebs, Oklahoma

Description (from Craftshack): "Coconut Vanilla Stout. It’s about to get really hot outside. How about a cold glass of refreshing Imperial Stout. Yep, you heard that right. Brand new to our line up is Prairie Paradise. We took a stout, gave it a hint of vanilla and a good deal of toasted coconut and created one season defying, genre bending brew. Imperial stouts are usually thought of as a cold weather beer, but here the coconut and vanilla blend push the image of the stout into a year round, all season style."

Would I buy it again?: Okay, here's the thing with beers like this. They're good. Very good. Of course they are. And this is no different. It's very thick and dessert-y, and I really enjoyed it. But I wouldn't buy it again. One can cost $9, and that's twice as much as it should. The only reason I bought this is because I'm collecting beer bottles/cans from every state, so in that regard, I suppose it was worth it. But in every other regard, I can buy something that's just as good for a lot less.