The ABV Atlas

The Chimeras · 11.0–11.9% ABV

Chimeras prowling a scorched volcanic landscape, representing rich, barrel-aged hybrid beers from 11.0% to 11.9% ABV.

The Chimeras

Beers from 11.0–11.9% ABV

The great hybrids.. beers fused with barrel, adjunct and spirit into something new.

The 11.0% to 11.9% band. Realm of the fused and the barrel-aged. Pastry stouts, spirit-barrel behemoths, big quads and blended strong ales live here... beers as much creation as brew, stitched together from many parts.

The Chimera was the mythical hybrid beast of Lycia: a fiery creature that was a lion from its head down to its body, had a goat’s head sprouting from its back and a snake’s tail for legs. The adjective "chimerical" refers to something made up of different elements. There is no symbol more appropriate than the chimera for a group of beers created by combining ale, barrel, spirits, and adjuncts into one bizarre entity.
A fire-breathing chimera with lion, goat and serpent parts fused together. Emblem of Hop Horizons' 11.0–11.9% ABV very strong beer category, The Chimeras.

The Chimera is the monster made up of other monsters — lion at the head, goat coming out of the back, serpent for a tail, all breathing fire and all somehow magically a single being. It is the perfect mascot for the 11.0 – 11.9% band, since this is where beer most overtly becomes a hybrid. Combined with wood, alcohol, and flavorings, blended, layered, and adjuncted, the beers of this category are stitched together from many disparate elements into one that should not work but which triumphantly does.

The age of the adjunct

Eleven-point-something is home to the modern imperial beers, especially the pastry stout, which is a high alcohol stout made with large amounts of vanilla, chocolate, coffee, maple, coconut or even whole desserts' worth of adjuncts, which make them thick enough to be used as a dessert substitute. Also included here are the big barrel aged stouts and barley wines, imperial Belgian quads, and blended beers made from several different barrel types.

Blend of beer, wood and spirits

At this level of strength, the barrel not only adds flavoring, but contributes significantly to the identity of the beverage itself. Months spent in bourbon, rum, brandy, and wine casks contribute a complex blend of oak, vanilla, coconut, and spirit such that the beverage and its wood can no longer be separated. It results in a true chimerical product that is part ale, part spirit, part barrel, and something more and different than each of these ingredients alone. This makes the art of brewing closer to the art of blending and assembly.

Lavish, rather than refreshing

No attempt is made here to relieve thirst. They are decadent, post-dinner drinks — served in smaller portions and slowly savored; sometimes shared, since one bottle alone is quite an experience. Most of these are meant to age; their sweetness and heat maturing and becoming part of the drink through the process of years. Chimeras represent the pinnacle of beer's baroque creativity, and set us up for the remainder of the teen years when the monsters become even more monstrous.

Below is whatever Hop Horizons has logged in the 11.0–11.9% range, ranked and broken down strength by strength.

This category at a glance

357
Unique beers
281
Scored
85.5%
Mean score
87.3%
Median score
42
Styles
185
Breweries
26
Countries

Score range 44.70%–98.14%, standard deviation 7.60 (population, over 281 scored beers). Most common style: imperial stout (142). Most represented country: England.

Top beers across 11.0–11.9%

Unique beers by exact strength

213
11.0
7
11.1
11
11.2
12
11.3
5
11.4
68
11.5
12
11.6
10
11.7
11
11.8
8
11.9

Average score by exact strength

Bars are on a 0–100% scale; a missing bar (—) means no scored beers at that strength, not a score of zero.

84.4
11.0
86.9
11.1
88.8
11.2
82.6
11.3
90.7
11.4
87.6
11.5
82.7
11.6
86.7
11.7
83.7
11.8
91.7
11.9

Style distribution

imperial stout
142 (39.8%)
New World barley wine
28 (7.8%)
traditional barley wine
22 (6.2%)
imperial IPA
22 (6.2%)
quadrupel
20 (5.6%)
Russian imperial stout
14 (3.9%)
Belgian-style strong dark ale
12 (3.4%)
pastry stout
12 (3.4%)
sour beer
8 (2.2%)
milk stout
8 (2.2%)
imperial porter
7 (2.0%)
old ale
6 (1.7%)
Other (30 styles)
56 (15.7%)

Every strength in this range

11.0% ABV

213 unique beers · average score 84.38% · 47 not yet scored

Show all 166 scored beers at 11.0%
11.1% ABV

7 unique beers · average score 86.88% · 2 not yet scored

11.2% ABV

11 unique beers · average score 88.83% · 1 not yet scored

11.3% ABV

12 unique beers · average score 82.59% · 5 not yet scored

11.4% ABV

5 unique beers · average score 90.69% · 1 not yet scored

11.5% ABV

68 unique beers · average score 87.62% · 12 not yet scored

Prime pastry-stout and barrel-aged-behemoth territory... decadent, adjunct-rich and spirit-warmed. Some of the most maximalist, dessert-like beers in the whole collection gather right around here.
Show all 56 scored beers at 11.5%
11.6% ABV

12 unique beers · average score 82.67% · 3 not yet scored

11.7% ABV

10 unique beers · average score 86.69% · 1 not yet scored

11.8% ABV

11 unique beers · average score 83.73% · 3 not yet scored

11.9% ABV

8 unique beers · average score 91.72% · 1 not yet scored

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